Author's note: Another chapter finally here. I apologize for the Evil Cliffhanger no Jutsu at the end of the last one. At least I didn't keep you waiting for too long. And next teo chapters are in the works already, so it shouldn't take too long to complete and publish them.

For those of you who hadn't noticed yet, I've reposted the whole story with less grammar and spelling errors. I also changed some of the geography to fit the latest official world map of the Elemental Countries. So what originally was Claw Country is now Frost Country and Fang Country is Hot Springs Country. Otherwise there's no major change.

Enough rambling, now on to the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And this is the fiftieth time already I had to say it. I'm really getting tired of repeating it over and over again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha gates~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hana was marching back and forth, waiting impatiently for whenever her slowpoke teammates would finally bother to show up. Her dogs picked up on her mood and growled and snarled at everybody who came nearby. Finally after what felt like several hours to her they arrived.

"What took you so long?" she barked.

"We're early," Hotaru answered. "What's your problem?"

"You're too slow," the Inuzuka insisted.

"Don't be impatient, Hana," Tenzo chastised her. "We said to meet in an hour and it hadn't passed yet. I know it's your brother in danger, but being rash and irrational won't help him."

"That's easy to say for you," Hana grumbled. "It isn't your brother who might be even now being tortured and killed by enemy ninja."

"Don't be so dramatic," the purple-haired kunoichi tried to calm her down. "Considering where they were headed, the chance of encountering the enemy is low."

"But it isn't zero," the dog mistress insisted. "They went northeast, that's towards the battlefields."

"But they stayed close to Konoha," Tenzo reminded her. "That area is regularly patrolled, so it's safe."

"But something happened to them," the Inuzuka pointed out. "They wouldn't just get lost on a simple search and rescue mission."

"Maybe they need rescuing from whatever happened to the original travelers," Naruto suggested.

"Stop the joking, Tiny," Hana glared at her youngest teammate.

"They're ninja," Hotaru pointed out. "They should be able to take care of themselves."

"But a lot of things can go wrong," the Inuzuka reminded them. "Remember what happened on our first search and rescue mission together."

Naruto winced when he remembered his fall. His first C-rank sure wasn't a high point of his ninja career.

"Maybe they just got delayed and we're worrying over nothing," Hotaru tried to ease their worries.

"Maybe," Hana sighed. "Or maybe they're in real trouble."

"This conversation isn't going to solve anything," the jounin stated. "We won't find out until we get there."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

The team headed out, with Hana setting a fast pace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Underground prison~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hinata sat on the ground quietly. It wasn't like she could do anything else, considering that she was bound. She had tried to undo the knots, but after several hours of useless fumbling she concluded that whoever had bound her had really known what they were doing. The ropes didn't give a bit. Or maybe she was just so bad at escape techniques. Though she had done well at the Academy, it obviously wasn't good enough for real life. She was just a failure. Maybe if she wasn't, they wouldn't be in this situation now. She closed her eyes, remembering how did she end up in her current predicament.

She had been happy when she had graduated from the Academy. Not that she had been really looking forward to being a ninja, but because she had feared the consequences of failure more. So this way her father hadn't chastised her much, only pointing out that her scores and class ranking should have been much better. Hinata had accepted his critique quietly.

Then she was assigned to a team. She was happy with her teammates. Aburame Shino was quiet, which suited her just fine. He was also strong and smart, which gave her confidence that her team would do well. She wasn't even freaked out by his bugs. Much. She was still getting used to them. Inuzuka Kiba was his exact opposite. Loud and boisterous, but a really nice guy underneath. And he was a decent ninja too. And she really liked their jounin sensei. She had met Yuuhi Kurenai before and the woman had always been nice to her. She was even so nice that she had asked her father whether he was okay with sending the clan heiress into the field, especially now, during wartime. Overhearing his answer hadn't been so nice. Hinata grimaced when she remembered it. Hiashi had never before said that he didn't care whether she lived or died in so many words.

And then came their first C-rank mission. She had been so scared, but Kurenai-sensei had assured them that they wouldn't be doing any fighting. They weren't even going anywhere near the frontlines. They were just supposed to search for a group of travelers who got lost in the woods. As a specialized tracker team, they should have no problem with it.

At least that was the theory. The reality had been quite different. At first everything had seemed alright. They had consulted their clients in the village and found the trail easily using their directions and followed it into the wilderness. It was so obvious that they could follow it with their eyes closed. Then they were attacked. Hinata didn't understand how they could have been blindsided so completely. They had the Kikaichuu bugs, an Inuzuka dog and her Byakugan to warn them about danger. Yet they had no clue that the enemy had been lying in wait until the trap was sprung. Hinata couldn't help but consider it her failure. If she had used her Byakugan, which she didn't because she had been too tired and had to conserve her chakra, they wouldn't have walked into the ambush. If she hadn't been so weak that she couldn't even use her only asset, her teammates wouldn't have been defeated and captured.

The sound of a door opening brought her out of her musings. She raised her head to see two people approaching her cell. First was a blue-haired woman in a green kimono adorned with camellias. She carried herself confidently, with an air of authority. Hinata concluded that she must be somebody important, maybe even the commander of this base.

But it was the man walking behind her that made her breath catch in her throat. He didn't look particularly intimidating, despite the fact that he was obviously a powerful ninja. But with his light hair, dark eyes and slight smile he looked like an easygoing person. It was the flak jacket and hitai-ate he was wearing that made Hinata's blood run cold. She'd recognize them anywhere. Kumo.

"So that's her?" he asked, studying her intently.

"Yes," the woman answered. "A main family Hyuuga, just as we promised. Now it's your turn to deliver your part of the bargain, Shii."

"Don't worry, Guren-san," Shii answered. "Kumo stands true to its word."

"You'd better do," Guren replied. "If you didn't, Orochimaru-sama would find some use for her."

"I said you don't have to worry. Raikage-sama would personally see to it that you get your payment. He'll be pleased with your work."

"He'd better be. I lost some good men there."

Then the duo left and Hinata remained alone in her cell with her fear. Her worst nightmare had just come true. She was going to be sent to Kumo to have her eyes taken and be forced to bear children for them for the rest of her life. She had been explained what was in store for her in case of captivity shortly after the last time Kumo had attempted to kidnap her. Back then her father had saved her. Now she didn't count on it. He didn't care about her, though he probably cared about the Byakugan falling into the enemy hands. But she didn't count on being rescued anyway.

She sighed. It was all in vain. She was going to be taken to Kumo. Uncle Hizashi's death would become meaningless. She could barely remember him anymore, but she knew he had been a great man. His sacrifice should have meaning, but it wouldn't because of her. Because she had been weak enough to get captured. And because of her the whole Team 8 had been targeted and now they were in captivity too. They weren't meant to be sent to Kumo, at least the Cloud ninja didn't show any interest in them, so they were probably going to stay in Orochimaru's care. That was probably even worse. She had heard horror stories about the Snake Sannin's research. And now her teammates would become his new victims and it was all her fault.

She couldn't take it anymore. She slumped to the ground and cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wilderness~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trail was old and faint. They had found it easily enough after consulting the villagers and Team Eight's original clients, but they had learned only that the genin team had been there and left after the missing travelers. But that was the moment the mission stopped being easy. The trail was barely there. Yesterday's rain had almost washed it away. But there was still enough left of it for the keen noses of the Inuzuka hounds to follow it. Yet despite the best efforts of the Haimaru triplets they were going slow, having to backtrack several times when the trail disappeared for a hundred paces and they had to search to pick it up again. And the trail was getting fainter and fainter as the time since Team 8 had passed through here increased.

Hana squashed her urge to panic. The thought that if they wouldn't make some sort of breakthrough soon, they'd lose the last traces of her brother was just too terrible to bear. Yet no matter what she did to keep calm, she couldn't help imagining that the next time they'd lose the trail they won't be able to find it again. It was getting harder and harder every time.

She almost screamed in frustration as the Haimaru lifted their noses from the ground, suggesting that they'd lost the scent once again. But then she realized that they were sniffing something. What was it? She sniffled the air too. Her nose was almost as good as her dogs' so she caught a very faint scent. What was it? It was familiar, but she couldn't tell more. Then the wind blew and carried more of the scent. Now it was strong enough to recognize it, though just barely. She laughed while her canine partners barked happily and then all four of them ran towards the source of the scent.

"What did you find?" Hotaru shouted after them. Hana didn't answer. She was too busy racing forward. Her teammates just sighed and chased after them.

Soon she could hear it as well as smell it. Quiet barking and whining. Finding its source didn't take long after that. There under a bush laid a small white puppy.

"Akamaru!" she exclaimed. "Where's Kiba?" The dog whined in answer. "You don't know?" she asked in dismay. She had hoped she'd find her brother close to her dog, but it seemed that it wasn't going to be. Then the puppy filled her in on all he knew. Unfortunately it wasn't much. "Is that all?" she demanded. Akamaru whined in shame. The puppy eyes he gave her made her realize just how young he was.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Are you hurt?" Then she realized how stupid the question was and immediately activated her medical jutsu.

By that time the rest of her team arrived.

"What's going on?" Tenzo demanded.

"Puppy!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Quiet," Hotaru chastised him.

"That's Akamaru," Hana introduced him. "He's Kiba's partner."

"So where's Kiba?"

"Akamaru doesn't know," the brown-haired kunoichi sighed. "They'd been following the trail without trouble when they were suddenly attacked. There was no warning. Akamaru was kicked at the beginning of the fight so he doesn't know what happened after then. Just that when he woke up everybody was gone and when he tried to follow the trail, he lost it."

"Who attacked them?" Tenzo inquired.

"Akamaru doesn't know either," the dog mistress sighed.

"Aren't Inuzuka dogs supposed to be smart?" Hotaru questioned.

"Akamaru is just a baby," Hana explained. "He shouldn't be used in the field yet. But he's Kiba's partner and they were partnered just as the war started. There was no helping it."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Now Akamaru will take us to the site of the ambush."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Underground prison~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was tied up and locked inside a cell, but he wasn't helpless. His captors hadn't sealed his chakra and even if they had, they couldn't remove his kikaichuu. No Aburame was truly defenseless as long as he had his bugs. It was a fact Shino meant to take full advantage of.

He knew he had to be very careful. If their captors realized what he was doing, they would make sure to prevent him from trying it again. They might even kill him. And Shino didn't want to die. Though maybe compared to what he had heard could happen to captives during wartime quick death didn't sound so bad. But if he was dead, he couldn't help his comrades. Though they hadn't been a team for a long time, they had been classmates for years and he really cared about them.

But getting emotional was pointless. Shino knew he had to keep a level head if he wanted to get out of here. Being always calm and logical was crucial, such was the philosophy of the Aburame clan. Unfortunately logic was telling him that their chances of getting out of here were negligible. His teammates were bound and locked up inside cells too. That rendered them helpless. He had no idea what had happened to Kurenai-sensei. He hadn't seen the jounin since the battle and had no idea whether she was alive or dead. They were vastly outnumbered by superior enemies and they couldn't count on being rescued either, their attackers were very adept at covering their tracks, as proven by their successful ambush.

Shino forbade himself such thoughts and concentrated on calming down his restless hive. It wouldn't do if the kikaichuu's buzzing gave his advantage away. During the battle he had been knocked out so fast he had no opportunity to use them, so it was quite possible that their captors didn't realize he had them. He had to keep calm and find a way to gain at least something from this unfavorable situation. But what? He didn't know.

'When you don't know, gather more information,' a memory of his father's lecture advised him. Shino decided that it was a good advice. He needed to find out more. And finding out information was exactly what the kikaichuu were good at. He'd just have to be careful that no-one would spot them. If he managed to place some on the guards, they would take them all around the base. If they were lucky, some of the bugs might even get out. And if they were found by another member of the Aburame clan, they would relay their findings to them, thus enabling Konoha to deal with this threat.

Yes, that sounded like a plan. With that thought Shino concentrated on implementing it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ambush site~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One look was all Team Tenzo needed to tell that a battle had taken place here. Though somebody had taken the care to collect all the used kunai and shuriken, the telltale holes in the surrounding trees remained. There also was a large chunk of the soil overturned probably by a Doton jutsu. And then there was a stain on the grass that looked like blood.

"Whoof!" Akamaru barked.

"He says it happened here," Hana translated, as if her teammates couldn't see.

"There are no bodies," Hotaru observed.

"Hopefully they're still alive," Naruto speculated.

"Or they just took their bodies for examination," Tenzo outlined another possibility. The change in Hana's demeanor was immediate.

"You really didn't have to say that," Naruto muttered.

"I did," the jounin disagreed. "A ninja has to keep a realistic outlook on the situation during a mission. Clinging to false hopes would only get us in trouble."

"Kiba is still alive," the Inuzuka growled.

"You can't be certain," Tenzo countered.

"I am," the kunoichi said at the same time as Akamaru barked. "You hear this? Akamaru would know if Kiba was dead."

"How?"

"This is how it is between us and our dogs. Akamaru would have known if Kiba had died."

"I hope it isn't just your wishful thinking," the former ANBU muttered.

"It is not," Hana assured him.

After that they proceeded to comb the area for clues.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Underground base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When do you plan to leave?" Guren asked her companion.

"Tomorrow," Shii answered.

"Why not today?" the woman inquired. While the Kumo group had behaved themselves for the two weeks they had spent here, she didn't like having foreign ninja in a facility that belonged to her master. The possibility of some treachery was always there.

"Our forces will provide a distraction so we can slip through Konoha's lines unhindered," the Cloud jounin explained.

"The area around this base is clean," Guren informed him. "Our scouting team confirmed it."

"But did they confirm that the whole road to Kumo is clear?" Shii countered.

"You should be able to avoid some Konoha patrols," Guren said dismissively, brushing her kimono absent-mindedly. Something stuck to her fingers. She almost threw it away, but out of some curiosity she looked at whatever had dared to stain her clothes. It was a bug. She narrowed her eyes. A bug here wasn't good. There weren't many experiments going on inside this base, but that didn't mean that those that were weren't important (at least in her mind). And if a bug could get here, who knows what else could contaminate them. Orochimaru-sama would be very displeased if his research got ruined or just delayed. And she lived for Orochimaru-sama's pleasure.

She took a closer look at the insect. It looked a bit familiar. Maybe she had studied a bit about it. But she wasn't an entomologist. But in the end the species of the bug wasn't important. She'd just squash it and have the base disinfected. Then everything will be alright again.

"Is that a kikaichuu?" Shii asked worriedly.

"What?" Guren snapped.

"It looks like the bugs the Aburame clan of Konoha use," the Kumo jounin explained. "I've fought them before so I know."

"Damn it," the Oto kunoichi swore, thinking about the implications. "Did they find us?"

"And you assured me the area around the base is clean," Shii said in an accusatory tone.

Guren understood his annoyance. If Konoha discovered them, it would be bad. But maybe... she narrowed her eyes. She had paid little attention to the captives aside the Hyuuga, but now that she thought about it, there was one boy...

She headed towards the prison cells without a word.

"Where are you going?" Shii questioned.

"To check something," she answered curtly. The Cloud shinobi just sighed and followed her. Soon they reached the underground cells. Guren threw the door open, not caring about the startled exclamations of the guards. Then she marched towards the cell holding the genin with high-collared coat and dark glasses. She threw its door open too and lifted the boy from the ground before unzipping his coat. Sure enough the insects crawling all over his body were revealed.

"So you are an Aburame," she spat. Shino paled. He realized that the game was up. He didn't know what she was going to do to him, but he knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. But he had no intention to just sit down and take it. He commanded his hive to attack.

Guren suddenly found herself covered in bugs. It was gross. She screamed. Then the kikaichuu began biting her and draining her chakra. That helped her get over her disgust. She concentrated her chakra and turned everything touching her into crystal. The Aburame insects were encased in small purple stones and fell to the ground where they shattered. Shino watched it in dismay. That had been a large part of his hive that had just died.

Guren stood up and walked out of the cell. "Stun him and seal his chakra," she commanded. "And don't let him regain consciousness again. We don't want him to repeat this trick again." The guards hurried to obey her.

"It was just a little kid trying his stupid tricks," she stated.

"It seems so," Shii replied, but he didn't sound completely assured.

"Do you still want to leave tomorrow?"

"Yes," he sighed. He didn't like staying in a location that might be compromised, but unfortunately the decision wasn't his. "We have to wait for the diversion group."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The forest~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had examined the ambush site thoroughly. They got whatever information they could out of it. Unfortunately that wasn't much. The battle had been short and very few techniques were used. And those the team could identify weren't specific to any village nor any clan. The attackers could have been from anywhere. But it wasn't a complete waste of time. The Haimaru triplets had picked up some faint scents that belonged to the attackers. They also found a trail leading away from the scene. They followed it as far as they could, but it disappeared after a while.

"Why did they have to remember to wipe their tracks now?" Hana whined. She was about ready to tear her hair out in frustration. Akamaru howled mournfully in her arms. She patted his back absent-mindedly.

"It would be too easy if they didn't remember at all," Naruto replied.

"Enough with your stupid jokes, Tiny," the dog mistress barked.

"Hey, I wasn't even joking!" the boy defended.

"Enough with the bickering," Tenzo chastised them. "We have a trail to find."

"Yes, let's go," Hana agreed, urging her dogs forward.

"We don't know if they went there," the jounin pointed out. The Inuzuka paused. She nearly kicked herself for falling for the oldest trick in the book when it came to confusing potential pursuers. It was very likely that the attackers had changed directions the moment they had wiped the trail. It was a trick an Academy student could fall for, but a seasoned chuunin like her really shouldn't.

"You're right," she sighed, all the time cursing her stupidity. She really had to get a grip. She won't be any help to Kiba in her current state and she might even waste their only chance to find her brother and his team.

"We'll fan out and look for clues," Tenzo decided. The three chuunin nodded.

They searched for a long time. Everybody was doing their best to spot any trace of a group of shinobi passing there. Naruto found a broken twig, but closer examination revealed that it had been stepped on by a deer, not a human. Hotaru had found some suspicious scratches on a tree trunk, but that too turned out to be the work of a deer. It made Naruto speculate whether there was a conspiracy of deer trying to make their job harder, which caused Hana to snap at him and Tenzo had to play peacemaker.

Finally it was Hana who actually found something useful. When she announced she had found a bug, her teammates were ready to call it another false alarm. But the dog mistress was sure that this time she had a real clue.

"It's a kikaichuu," she explained, showing the insect to the rest of her team.

"You can tell?" Hotaru questioned. "Bugs look all the same to me."

"I'm positive. The Inuzuka clan often cooperates with the Aburame, so I've seen them before plenty of times."

"It is indeed an Aburame bug," Tenzo confirmed. "But it looks weak, as if it hasn't fed on chakra for a long time."

"You're right," Hana agreed. She knew enough about animals to be able to tell when they were starved or distraught. "It must be Kiba's teammate's, Shino's."

"That's just speculation," Hotaru pointed out.

"How many Aburame do you think are around here?" Naruto asked.

"It's the best guess we have," Tenzo said.

"It keeps crawling that way," Hana pointed after observing the kikaichuu's behavior for a while. "Either it senses something interesting or it wants us to go there."

"Just how smart is one bug?" Naruto questioned.

"I don't know," Hana shrugged.

"It's the only clue we have," Tenzo summed up their situation.

"Then we have to follow it." They took off where the bug led them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prison cell~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiba was feeling useless. When they had been first assigned this mission, he had been happy because it had looked like his opportunity to shine. Tracking was his clan's specialty. So after they talked with the clients in the village, they picked the trail easily. He and Akamaru took point and led their teammates to what he thought would be their first success.

Oh, how wrong he had been. The noses he and Akamaru were so proud of proved to be absolutely useless. There had been no warning before the trap sprung. One moment they were following the clear trail and the next there were enemy ninja raining from the trees. Akamaru growled and bit one man in the leg. The man just yelled angrily and kicked the puppy so hard he flew into a nearby tree, where he slumped down. That made Kiba snap. He attacked the man with a Tsuuga so fast he forgot to perform the Beast Imitation technique first. It was completely useless. The Sound ninja dodged and then Kiba had only a faint recollection of sharp pain in his cranium.

He awoke inside a cell, his arms and legs bound. He could see Hinata in the cell across his and he could hear Shino in the one next to his. He had no idea where Kurenai-sensei was. He hoped she wasn't dead. He hoped Akamaru wasn't dead. But considering the last sight he had of him that was a definite possibility. But he would have known if his partner was dead, wouldn't he? He wasn't so sure.

Another thing that bothered him was how helpless he was. Shino at least had tried something, even if it failed in the end. But he could only lie down helplessly. Maybe he could try chewing through his bonds when the guards weren't looking? It sounded like a stupid idea even to him, the ropes looked strong and he couldn't reach them with his teeth well, but at least it would give him something to occupy his time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside the base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It looks like it's here," Hana said. The behavior of the kikaichuu bug suggested that they had reached their destination. Akamaru barked and sniffer around.

"I can't see anything," Naruto stated looking at the surrounding foliage.

"Of course it's camouflaged," Hotaru said.

"I know that," the boy replied. Considering how well the culprits had erased their trail, it was obvious that they would conceal their hideout as well. "But that doesn't help us if we can't find the entrance."

"It should be right here," the Inuzuka said after observing the bug some more.

"Right here, but where?" Naruto muttered looking around.

Tenzo meanwhile examined the ground around them. He used his Mokuton techniques to scan underground. If he concentrated, he could feel the roots underground and make them move. It didn't take him long to determine that there was an area they couldn't reach.

"We're standing on it," he announced.

"What?" Naruto and Hotaru exclaimed in unison, looking under their feet. All they could see was a perfectly ordinary patch of grass.

"That's some good camouflage," Hana remarked, impressed despite herself.

"It is," the jounin agreed.

"Let's go inside," the Inuzuka said. Akamaru in her arms barked sharply in agreement.

"Should we really?" Hotaru wondered. "We don't know ho many enemies are inside. And it's probably trapped."

Akamaru yapped furiously. Hana scratched his back.

"We're not leaving Kiba there," she declared forcefully.

"While it would be better if there were more of us, Konoha's short on manpower so we can't call for reinforcements," Tenzo analyzed the situation. "We have to manage."

"Alright," Hotaru sighed. "But I still wish we had backup."

"We'll manage," Naruto reassured her.

"Now step back," Tenzo ordered. The three chuunin did so. Tenzo made a few handseals and removed the soil from the entrance with an Earth jutsu. A reinforced door was revealed.

"How are we going to get in?"

"Blow it up," Hana suggested.

"That could collapse the corridor," Hotaru pointed out.

"Dou you have a better idea?" the dog mistress inquired.

"Pick the lock," the purple-haired kunoichi suggested.

"It's probably trapped," Tenzo said.

"Speaking of which, why didn't we see any traps earlier?" Naruto questioned.

"These people are pretending they aren't even here," the jounin analyzed the situation. "If somebody accidentally sprung a trap in this area, a thorough search would follow and they don't want that so they banked on stealth instead. We had trouble finding the entrance even when we knew where it was."

"That's true," Hana agreed. "So how are we going to go about the door?"

"Fast," Hotaru answered. "They must know we're here now."

"Maybe they'll come out to attack us," Naruto mused.

"Or maybe they'll run through a back door and we won't see them ever again," the Uzuki girl supplied.

"We're blowing the door up now!" Hana growled. She already reached into her pocket for Exploding Tags.

"Wait!" Tenzo stopped her before she could use them. "If the entrance collapses, we won't get inside."

"We can't just stand here!" the Inuzuka insisted. The thought of having her brother so close now yet being unable to help him was driving her mad.

"I think I can destroy the lock with the Rasengan," Naruto said after studying the door for a while.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Hana barked.

"Try it," Tenzo said. Naruto nodded and formed the spinning ball of chakra in his right palm. Doing it with only one hand wasn't a problem for him anymore. Well, most of the time. And this time he could concentrate in peace, so the chakra sphere that slammed into the lock was almost perfect. It took just a few seconds before the lock gave and the door swung open.

"We're in!" the boy cheered. Hana almost charged inside, but Tenzo stopped her.

"No recklessness," he chastised her. "We're doing this like seasoned ninja, not Academy students." The Inuzuka didn't like it, but she understood why caution was important.

"Stay here and hide," she ordered Akamaru, who was growling at the dark tunnel, trying to look tough. The puppy looked like he wanted to argue, but then he crawled into the bushes.

Then the team slowly entered the enemy hideout.

And that's it for today. Not so evil cliffhanger no jutsu.

Next time: What will Team Tenzo encounter inside Orochimaru's base?