Well, there goes my morning release. Why is it when I have college I can wake up before my alarm, but at the weekend I'm dead until 1pm? So annoying... Anyway, I think I found a new pattern with my stories. Working on them so I can update first thing, then spend the rest of the say working on the next chapter has been working well so far, so I'm gonna see how long that keeps up. It also gives me a third day if i need it, without ruinging my two day update... whoa... I can take three days to release something with a two day deadline... I feel a little like Doctor Who.

Disclaimer: Apparently man is the only male mammal not to possess a penis bone. Do you reckon Kimimaro is the exception to the rule?


The distancing clouds

Naruto and Fuu both found a place to sit around the fire, watching quietly as Zetsu stepped closer to the spitting flames. White Zetsu finished the fish and discarded it, swallowing as he raised his hand into a single seal. He gave pause as he glanced around his company, making sure they were all ready. When it was confirmed, he channelled chakra into his ring, casting the signal he had been ordered to send.

The calm of the night was suddenly disturbed as amidst the flames appeared a flickering silhouette, of the person known as Pein. Fuu was shocked once again as she thought for a moment that a ghost had appeared; she suddenly huddled up and pressed her back to the tree. But when she came to realise that the others were watching the spectral figure, not fazed for a moment. In fact, they all seemed to straighten up under that figure's gaze.

The figure's eyes suddenly snapped to Fuu, who flinched from the sudden attention from the unearthly form. For some reason, only his grey rippling eyes seemed fully visible, she could see a misshapen Zetsu behind him. Nonetheless, from the subtle looks she received from Naruto, she too straightened up, though she didn't feel the slightest bit better about the situation.

"So you are Fuu-san?" came a distorted voice that must have belonged to this Pein person. She felt his eyes scan her body, and she did what she could to resist shivering. This person was very creepy, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Fuu faltered, blinking in surprise. She hadn't known what to expect, but for someone to say something like that to her, there was only one way she could react. She quickly got to her feet, her hands slipping behind her back as she smiled to Pein.

"Nice to meet you too!" she said, giving the slightest of bows. Naruto, Utakata and Yagura looked at Fuu with strange eyes, what was with her? Pein however seemed to think nothing of it, as he bowed his head to her before turning to Naruto and Gaara.

"Now that the fifth Jinchuriki has joined you, it is time that I must tell you something." Pein said, the static causing his voice to hiss. Naruto and Gaara both creased their brows as they understood the serious tone, while Yagura, Utakata both looked uneasy. Fuu on the other hand had no clue about the situation, and was just bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. But Pein locked eyes with the two boys he was most familiar with, Naruto more prominently so, "You must not return to Amegakure."

Naruto and Gaara's frowns deepened from Pein's announcement, but Gaara's reaction was slighter. Naruto shot to his feet, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Not return?!" he repeated, thinking he had misheard, "What do you mean don't return?!"

"There was already a risk before, but now it is much too dangerous." Pein explained, undeterred by Naruto's sudden outburst, "Kiri will almost certainly be searching for their Mizukage, and with the disappearance of Fuu-san, including Gaara-san and your own absences, it will be impossible to mask Akatsuki's actions. It is for that reason that from here on out, Yoinokuchi will have no affiliation with Akatsuki whatsoever."

Naruto's eye twitched, but his expression fell to blank shock. He knew he shouldn't have been so surprised by this, maybe he should have expected it. But he couldn't really help it; this was a blow he hadn't anticipated. He calmed down though after a moment, he was ok now. Pein waited for this before continuing on, expecting no further interruption.

"You will continue to gather Jinchuriki as you have been doing, but you will have to do it on your own from hereon out." He said, turning around to look at Yagura and Utakata too, "Akatsuki will assist you only through indirect means. Our current mission will provide enough of a distraction to allow you room to work, and Zetsu-san will provide you with all the necessary information we possess. Afterwards however, you must work on your own."

"But…" Naruto began, at a loss for words. This was so sudden, they were on their own? How were they supposed to deal with that? "I don't get it…"

"You should be happy, Naruto-san." Pein said, looking to Naruto and speaking quietly. Naruto came to a pause at this statement, not having a clue what Pein was talking about. However, there was something of a meaningful look in those grey eyes that told Naruto he shouldn't even have to think to recall, "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

The blond boy was silent, his lips parted as his brow creased further. This was… what he wanted? What was that supposed to mean, he- wait, he was talking about way back then? Naruto blinked as he thought back, he could barely recall the conversation that had started all this, and yet now Pein was bringing it up like this. It was a troubling thought; did Pein really take him seriously back there?

"Man… hope I didn't say anything else to bite me in the ass." he thought, before rubbing the back of his head. His brow and eyes screwed up as he thought deeply, before he let out a sigh, "Ah well, no point complaining about it now."

"If we are to do such a thing, we will need a base of operations." Gaara said, earning Pein's attention. The Akatsuki leader looked over to him, focusing his own eyes upon Gaara's.

"As I say, from here on out you act without Akatsuki's assistance." he said, in a direct tone. He paused however, considering something himself, before speaking again, "…However, according to Kisame-san not too long ago you evicted the tenants of a place that would do quite nicely."

* * * * *

And so that's how it was, quickly and suddenly Naruto and the others were forbidden access to Ame. Naruto had gotten over it faster than he thought; he hadn't much liked staying in a village again anyway. But he couldn't deny that this was an unfortunate situation. This time he hadn't even the chance to tell Rika and Yuuka he was leaving, he had a feeling they'd be more than a little upset with him for this.

He and the rest of the Jinchuriki stood at the base of what had once been Zabuza's hideout, looking up at the peculiar structure in silence. It had taken a week's worth of travel to get here, and the result was of divided opinion. Neither Yagura nor Utakata seemed too pleased that they would be staying in the place that had once housed a man they both despised, but they kept that to themselves. However they did make mention of one fact that was troubling them.

"What happened to the body?" Yagura asked, fixing his eyes upon the place he had seen Naruto kill Momochi Zabuza. There was no sign of a corpse, or the blade that had been discarded there.

"Maybe Kiri hunter-nin found and took care of him?" Utakata offered, uncertainly. The idea made sense to him, but there was an aspect of that which didn't really fit, "But it must've taken more than one person to get rid of that sword. I only know of a couple of guys strong enough to pick that up on their own, and neither of them were hunter-nin."

The two of them wore deep and troubled looks as they watched that place, but their attentions were soon returned to the moment as they heard the sound of footsteps on wood. Gaara and Naruto were already making their way up, with Fuu hanging back only to see what Yagura would do. The two Kiri boys followed the other two boys up the bridge, with Fuu just behind them.

She couldn't keep herself from looking around, this place was both creepy and cool at the same time, she couldn't decide which one was foremost in her mind. She was impressed with the place, even if it did seem to her to be basically a giant tree house. She didn't have a problem with that though; in fact she seemed to like it better that way. She couldn't help but smile, she had been in a rather good mood lately.

"We'll probably have to fix up any damages from last time we were here." Utakata muttered, with a tired sigh. He rubbed his head lightly, before looking up and raising his voice, "So what's the plan then?"

"We need to make sure this place will be suited to our needs first." Gaara replied, without looking back. He and Naruto didn't seem to share the troubled thoughts of Utakata and Yagura; they were having an easier time with this than was expected of them. But maybe that was due to their having lived in a detached manner for the past few years, "We'll also need to analyze the data Zetsu-san gave us, so it should be a week or two before we do anything definitive."

They entered the first floor of the base, and it was just as they remembered. Walking into the room Zabuza had used to meet with potential clients, they could see it was in the same condition as they left it. Though considering how empty the room was, that was hardly enough to evaluate from.

"Separate and check the place out, find out if there's anything missing, needing repaired, whatever." Gaara said, as he stepped over to the bar lined against the wall and took out a thick folder from his sweater. He dropped it on the wooden surface, before turning to face the others, "We have some money, but we may have to take on other mission too if we want to maintain a steady method of living."

"I think Zabuza kept his money upstairs." Yagura replied, as he turned around and made for the door, "I'll see if it's still there."

"Guess I'll check the food stores then." Utakata added, before heading for a room just to the right of the bar. Naruto and Fuu glanced at each other, before the two of them turned around and headed for the upper floors.

"Gaara-san is pretty organised, huh?" Fuu asked, watching as Yagura stepped out of sight. She and Naruto continued past him as he walked through the storage room. Glancing around the many crates that filled the area.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed, slipping his hands behind his head casually, "He knows what he's doing."

They continued to climb higher up the winding pathway that led around the building, making their way slowly to the top. Fuu kept a couple of steps away from Naruto, maintaining a slight distance with him. Though they seemed to have gotten on well in the past week, Fuu was still quite wary of him for some reason. He seemed to enjoy hunting for dinner better than eating it, and she had a hard time relaxing around someone who could wrestle with such gigantic dogs.

"What's at the top?" she asked, raising her eyes to the ceiling. She could see the doorway upper most room at the end of the spiralling path, it seemed to be larger than the rest.

"Master bedroom." Naruto replied, scratching his ear with a bored expression. Fuu looked down at him with a raised brow, before quietly repeating the words he had spoken. A sly smile spread across her lips, and she suddenly began running up the path to the top.

"Call it!" she yelled, jumping up to the end of the path. She didn't even notice that Naruto wasn't trying to follow her, and just burst into the room with a broad grin on her face. The look certainly wasn't to last however, and Naruto knew exactly why.

He joined her in the wrecked room, looking over the slashes across the walls, ceiling and across the bed with a look of pride. Fuu shared no such response, her jaw had dropped as she realized just why Naruto had been in no hurry to claim this place.

"Yeah, I sorta passed through here when I took on the owner." Naruto said, clapping Fuu on the shoulder as he turned around and made his way back to the path, "Enjoy."

"Hey!" Fuu cried, whipping around and glaring at Naruto accusingly, "You knew that was gonna happen!"

"You don't want it?" Naruto asked, looking over his shoulder with an insincerely innocent look that made Fuu fume. He gave himself away with a grin as he turned ahead and continued on down to the lower level, waving back as he descended, "Check the damages would ya?"

"What're you gonna do?" Fuu asked, frowning as she watched him skip the next level down, the one she thought he was going to check out.

"I gotta get Akira and the others to mark the place so they can keep an eye out." Naruto replied, as he began to disappear from sight, "Not much left to do here, so I'm gonna do some training."

Moments later he was gone, leaving Fuu on her own. The green haired girl watched the place he had been with a raised brow, she was actually feeling pretty curious, wondering just what sort of training he was planning on. However, interested though she was, she already had her task. Reluctantly she turned around and headed back into the wrecked room, regretting opening her big mouth in the first place.

* * * * *

Gaara sat on the stool at the bar, the folder before him opened and sheets of paper spread out in front of his eyes. There was an oil lantern that he had found placed on the table, lit so that he could see the contents more clearly. He had removed his muffler and rested his cheek in his palm as he looked over one of the files that had caught his eye. It was of a Shinobi from Iwagakure named Han, who was according to the file the Jinchuriki of the Gobi. Though there was no picture of the Shinobi, what had caught his eye was a small note scribbled on the bottom of the page.

"You won't get this guy without my help. When you're ready, come find me- Deidara."

Though he didn't know who this Deidara was, Gaara took the note seriously. In the case of all the Jinchuriki, even of Naruto and himself, there was little information. Anyone who knew something of value was someone he needed to find. But in this case, that person was a member of Akatsuki. Gaara knew that under this new situation they would most likely have to hire Akatsuki if he even wanted to just meet with this person. To that end they would need money, but how much, he wasn't sure.

Gaara looked up as he heard approaching footsteps coming from outside the room. He watched as Utakata stepped inside, heading straight towards him and gesturing back the way he had come.

"Yagura-niisan said there's a half million ryo up there." Utakata said, coming to a stop just a couple of meters away, "Zabuza probably kept the rest with an accountant."

Gaara nodded in understanding, he wasn't surprised that there wasn't much money here. Considering what an easy time they had sneaking in here last time, this place was easy to infiltrate. That was something he intended to change, but it was one thing in a steadily growing list of what they would need. He could understand Pein's reasons for making the decision he did, but he felt that some notice would have been handy.

"With the money we already possess, that gives us about three million." He said, turning his head back to the file, "We'll need more than that."

"So what do you think then?" Utakata asked, placing his hand on his waist as he glanced over at the files on the bar, "Should we offer our services to Nami no Kuni?"

"Nami no Kuni is friendly with Konohagakure, we can't risk getting noticed by any of the hidden villages." Gaara replied, dropping the piece of paper he was holding back down onto the bar. He then sat back, taking a deep breath as he rolled his shoulder, "We'll have to act discreetly, so we'd be better off working privately."

"That's not exactly a great way to bring in money." Utakata commented sceptically. Gaara let out a sigh, Utakata was right. Those who hired privately were more likely to want discretion, so they would have a hard time finding clients in the first place. Judging from what he was looking at, their mission was going to be costly, "I can't help but wonder what was Pein thinking."

Gaara didn't answer to that. He himself knew exactly what Akatsuki's leader was thinking, to him it was clear as day. But there was no point in explaining it, it would only make things more complicated than they needed to be. Instead he turned his attention back to the papers, Utakata taking that as his cue to leave.

* * * * *

"HAAAAAH!!!"

Naruto threw his straightened hand into the tree before him, the spiralling wind around his arm striking the wood hard. Bark and splinters of wood flew in every direction as the intangible drill pummelled its way into the trees body. But just a few seconds after impact it faded away, leaving an ugly and jagged hole in the surface.

"DAMN IT!" Naruto yelled, punching the spot right next to where his Jutsu had struck. Sweat dripped down his face and trailed down his bare back, he had been at this for almost an hour now. The trees around him were littered with other holes just like this one, there were at least seven others, "Why won't it work?!"

He drew his hand away from the tree, noticing there were splinters embedded in his knuckles. His brow twitched in anger, his arm was going numb. He cursed to himself as he turned around and headed towards Eko, who was placed against an intact tree with Naruto's haori hanging off the hilt.

"Why does it matter? Do you even need a Jutsu like that?"

"Yeah." Naruto replied, turning around and slumping next to the blade. He then raised his slightly injured hand so he could see the splinters, and with his other he tried to pick them out, "It's something Kisame-sensei decided a long time ago. I don't belong to a village, so I don't have a rank or anything. So he told me. He said that if I could create my own unique Jutsu for each rank, E through to S, then I'd be strong."

Eko listened as Naruto spoke, watching as the boy stopped his futile attempt to rid himself of the splinters. Naruto was looking down at his hand, the nerves in his arm were recovering and he could feel every slight tense as static coursed through his limb. But he barely noticed it, he was too busy watching the chips of wood embedded in his fingers.

"I managed to make E, D, C and B-rank Jutsu." he continued, wincing as he flexed his fingers. Then his fist tightened again, and his expression was serious once more, "But I can't get this one right. I won't believe that all I'm capable of is B-rank Jutsu. I can do more than that, I know I can!"

"You sound pretty confident."

Naruto whipped his head up in surprise, looking straight at the two people emerging from the trees. Yagura and Fuu stepped into Naruto's midst, the former smirking while the latter just stared at Naruto with a raised brow.

"What're you guys doing over here?" Naruto asked, watching as they neared him. He noticed that Fuu's eyes flickered to his chest before she quickly turned away. He couldn't help but smirk at that. But his question was still raised, and he looked to Yagura for an answer.

"Fuu-san said you were training, and I got pretty curious." Yagura replied, with an indifferent shrug. But then the look in his eyes changed as he focused completely on Naruto's, earning the blond boy's interest, "We never got around to finishing our fight."

Naruto stared at Yagura with a confused expression that was also worn by Fuu. The two of them watched his expressionless face, which was failing to match the suggestions of his words. Naruto rose slowly to his feet, reaching just over eye level with the straw haired boy. Even then Yagura maintained his gaze, awaiting Naruto's response calmly.

"Our fight?" Naruto repeated, his brow raised in surprise. But as he let the idea sink in, it grew on him more than just a little. His lips spread out into a confident grin, his brow creased as he gave Yagura an equally intense stare, "You sure you can keep up with me?"

"We won't just be throwing Jutsu around baka." Yagura replied, his brow twitching in annoyance. He raised a hand to Naruto, indicating with his fingers that he was about to list something off, "There are conditions."

"Hm?" Naruto murmured, surprised by the mixed signals he was getting. But he was still interested, and was willing to hear Yagura out, "Like what?"

"Hey, can I watch?" Fuu asked, leaning in with a keen smile.

"Uh, sure." Yagura replied, glancing at her before regaining his demeanour. He looked at Naruto again and jerked his head back, gesturing for him to come along. Naruto did just this, and the two stepped into the centre of the clearing, "First condition, this is only for training purposes." Yagura said, as he came to a stop and turned to face Naruto, "Second, you may only use those Jutsu you were just talking about, the E through to B-rank ones. Third, use only your body, and do not use the Kyubi's chakra."

Naruto gave Yagura a tired look, those were some pretty broad limitations. He could only use four Jutsu, each of which were his Futon ones. He couldn't even use Eko, he felt kind of at a loss. But at the same time he could sense the challenge, and that more than more than made up for the restrictions. Once more he let out a grin, he was definitely intrigued by this idea.

"All right." he said, rolling his head from side to side. He then took on a combative stance, moving one foot back while he raised his arms slightly so that his hands were level with his stomach.

Yagura gave a nod as he too prepared himself, removing his staff and tossing it aside. He didn't take on a combat stance, but he did have his hands ready at his sides. Fuu saw how this match was going to go and took several steps back so that if need be she could take cover behind a tree.

"Ok then, lets start." Yagura said, his eyes locking onto Naruto. The blond gave a nod in reply, he was ready too.

* * * * *

Nagato sat down in the basement of the tower, in the centre pod chair of the three available. He rested his chin on his knuckles, looking across to the broad mirror on the opposite wall. He couldn't help but smile, it seemed like he had thought of something rather funny. But he let the look die away as he sensed a presence, and put on the stoic expression he usually wore as Pein.

"Come up here Zetsu." he said, watching the floor in front of him. His eyes slowly rose as Zetsu emerged from the concrete, standing before the Akatsuki leader with a look to match Nagato's, "Well?"

"They've settled in, looks like they're making preparations to secure their base." black Zetsu reported, before white Zetsu decided to comment with a smile, "They were playing tree house, it was so cute!"

Nagato let out an inward chuckle, his lips turning to a cool smirk. He was used to white Zetsu's peculiarities, but recently he had come to enjoy them in a sense. However once more he was serious, there was another matter he wanted to discuss.

"And them?" he asked, his eyes fixed upon Zetsu's. The white side seemed to take particular joy at this aspect of the conversation, had they been saving the best till last?

"Wait until you hear this!" white Zetsu snickered, while black Zetsu added, "There's been an interesting development."