I've been having some problems lately. That's why I didn't update until now. Things are back on track, so I will try to make up to you by releasing three chapters until Sunday. This is the first.

Chapter 16 - Race to the Border

"Eheh, I'm starting to like Iwagakure! Hello lady!" Kankuro approached the kunoichi from Iwagakure, as soon as she and her partners arrived at the rendezvous point.

"Hmph, I don't like grown guys who still play with dolls." Kurotsuchi countered with a smirk.

"I'm starting to like the Iwagakure as well." Temari chuckled, causing Kankuro to glare at her.

"Hey! We don't have time for this." Baki interjected himself, as he predicted another argument between the siblings.

"Fine!" A furious Kankuro shouted, with Temari forcing herself to restrain her incoming laugh. "Can we just start searching for them?"

"If you can guarantee us that you won't jeopardize the mission because of your childish antics, then yes." Kankuro and Temari didn't take Ittan's words well, since we was being serious instead of joking like they first thought.

"Gosh, don't be like that Ittan. It's normal for siblings to have arguments." Kurotsuchi tried to make things easier.

"I'm just trying do my job the best way I can." Ittan explained why he was being so strict with the Suna Siblings. Kizu carefully remained in silence, since he didn't agree entirely with neither of his partners.

"Should we go then?" Kurotsuchi asked sweetly and everybody nodded. "I should ditch them as soon as possible..."

"Wolf Fang Over Fang" A huge double-headed wolf attacked, while Muda's eyes were being targeted by parasitic insects. Anko opened her eyes and saw the white wolf standing on top of the defeated purple snake. She and Iruka were surrounded by the members of Team Yamato and Team Guy.

"You better find a way to run Kabuto or I'll kill you myself!" Muda furiously hissed, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"This is getting difficult..." Kabuto thought after seeing the numerical disadvantage he was in. The wolf transformed back to Kiba and Akamaru and then Yamato started to give orders. "I'm still at a considerable distance from the border. My little adventure may cost me dearly..."

"Tenten, Kiba, Sai, take them back to the village. Iruka and Genma need immediate medical care and Anko is also in pretty bad shape, so be quick."

"I'll fight." Anko refused Tenten's help, struggling to stand on her own.

"You've done your job, Anko-san. Let us take care of him with our fists of love. You just need to make sure your flames of youth keep on burning." Guy said with his nice guy pose.

"Geez..." Anko rolled her eyes in annoyance by hearing Guy's antics. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Are you doubting us, Anko?" Yamato asked with a smirk.

"Hmph, how could I, Mokuton no Tenzo?" Anko answered with a smirk of her own. She finally allowed Tenten to help her climb to the top of one of Sai's ink birds. The Root ANBU had already layed Iruka on top of a second bird and Kiba carried Genma to the back of Akamaru. "Be sure you don't rush into things."

"Thanks for the advice, Anko-san. Yosh!" Guy answered with another thumbs up, without realizing the intended irony in her words. The ink birds and the ninja dog left towards Konoha full speed ahead.

"Well, I've seen you in better shape." Yamato teased his opponent. "You seem to be a little pale, huh Kabuto?"

"You're wrong my friend. I'm better than ever." Kabuto didn't show to be worried and picked up another scroll.

"You were not the only one who changed." Neji stated, before dropping into the Gentle Fist stance, his Byakugan active.

"Should we test it then?" Kabuto waved the scroll and shouted. "Dead Soul Jutsu"

"Oh, this is disappointing!" Lee seemed upset when he saw the three corpses standing in front of them.

"It is indeed." Shino agreed with Guy's hot-blooded student. The Aburame clan member spread his arms, while Lee assumed the Strong Fist stance. The bodies rushed towards the Konoha shinobi but...

"Leaf Gale" Lee hit a spinning leg sweep on one of the bodies, making him twirl in midair. While his "opponent" was in a precarious situation, Lee hit him with two consecutive spinning back kicks, before making a somersault and hitting an axe kick to the dead's stomach, emitting a light of youthful energy. "Springtime of Youth Full Power!"

"Slow, clumsy and predictable." Shino analyzed the corpse's attacking pattern. The host of parasitic insects moved one step away and hit him with a backfist to the jaw. As the corpse lost its balance, Shino lifted his arms, releasing thousands of insects from his sleeves. When the dead regained a stable stance, he had numerous spheres of insects waiting for him in the sky. Shino lowered his arms and the spheres fell against the body, pressing it against the ground, with the insects taking turns at sucking the chakra that made him move. "Parasitic Insects: Hailstorm"

"Palm Heel Strike" Neji grabbed the corpse's wrist and lifted his arm, before delivering a well-placed rising palm strike to his torso, sending him into midair. As the dead was falling, Neji focused his attention on the small concentration of Kabuto's chakra located in the corpse's chest. With a double palm strike to the helpless body, Neji got rid of that chakra, making sure it didn't move again. "Is that all?"

"Not bad..." Kabuto stared at the three young men with an impressed look in his face. "It was a mistake to summon Muda. I don't have enough chakra to defeat all of them. I have to get out of here."

"Boys, that's enough. Let me and Yamato-san make him surrender to the influence of justice." Guy stepped forward.

"Oh, come on, Guy-sensei! We didn't even warm up yet!" Lee tried to convince his mentor to let them take care of Kabuto.

"I actually agree with Lee this one time, Guy-sensei." Neji supported Lee's point and Shino also nodded in agreement.

"Eh, you should let the boys fight. I think they're already stronger than you." Kabuto kept the argument going on, so he could gain a little bit more time.

"You're being a bit overconfident boys." Yamato told them. "Even though we made some interesting discoveries about his powers, he's still Kabuto."

"Tenzo, my youthful friend, let's work him out until he can't even move!" Guy suggested as he assumed his Strong Fist stance.

"It's a shame that Hayate isn't here with us anymore. He would love a team reunion." Tenzo stated while he assumed a fighting stance of his own.

"Oh, a Tiger Fist stance? So it's true that some secrets were leaked from the old Kirigakure, huh?" Kabuto was genuinely surprised by seeing the stance. At the same time, the blood that was slowly dripping from his left arm finally covered the snake contract tattoo. "About damn time! Summoning Jutsu"

"I knew those snakes would be a problem." Yamato dropped his stance, as he recognized the blue snake summoned by Kabuto.

"Delay them!" Kabuto ordered the summoned creature, before fleeing from the battlefield.

"He's getting away!" Lee shouted before rushing forward. The snake slithered in front of him, blocking the path. "It seems I'll have to take care of you first. Leaf Whirl..."

"Don't do it, Lee!" Guy intercepted his student and pushed him out of the way.

"Guy-sensei?"

"This is one of Anko-san's favourite snakes, Jadoku. She isn't like the other snake summonings. Look at her." Guy ordered his student who promptly did so. The snake seemed to be anguished by having to serve Kabuto, the man she had attempted to devour some good minutes before. "We should not hurt something or someone that is forced to fight because of a summoning contract."

"So what should we do?" Lee questioned.

"I will stop her with my Wood Style! You guys go ahead!" Yamato ordered and performed a hand seal. Many pillars of wood erupted from the ground to bind Jadoku but the snake slithered away from them. However, the distraction was enough for Lee, Neji and Guy to pass by the snake with their great speed, while Shino used a platform of parasitic insects to pass him over the snake.

"DAMN IT!" The Raikage shouted before crushing his office's door. After losing his left arm in the battle against Sasuke, he was having a hard time to adapt to his new reality.

"Please calm down, Raikage-sama. I know it's hard but you'll get used to it." Shi entered the office with Darui following him. "You still need to decide who you're sending to find Sasuke."

"Nobody! I'll take care of that punk myself!" The Raikage shouted. "Since Bee is the priority, I want half of the Chunins and everyone above searching for him. That includes the Guardians of Kumogakure, the Kinkaku Force and have Motoi leading a team of Barrier Ninjutsu specialists. He may try to escape them. You two will leave with Sabu. If you meet Bee, I want Sabu to make him an offer to be his singing teacher. That may work."

"That's a fine search team boss, but you really should send someone to find Akatsuki." Ē glared to Darui for interrupting him, but the latter calmly continued. "The village needs their Raikage with it and besides you're in no condition to fight at this point."

"Grrr...Fine! Tell Team Samui that they will be leaving to find that bastard! Actually...have Atsui going too. They may need some firepower..."

"Eheh, that was a good one! Atsui and firepower..." Darui started laughing but stopped as he felt a slight amount of killing intent coming from Ē. Shi slapped his own forehead. "Sorry, boss. Please continue..."

"As I was saying...tell them that when they find him they are to report to me immediately so I can kill him myself."

"Very well, Raikage-sama." Shi bowed and Darui sighed in relief before leaving.

"Hey Shi, can you go ask Mabui for another door? I already went there twice today..." Darui rubbed the back of his head and this time it was Shi who sighed.

"Darn it!" Kabuto cursed as Lee and Guy stepped in front of him. As he tried to turn back, Neji appeared. "They're too fast!"

"Surrender, Kabuto-kun. There's no way your degenerated youth will be a match for our unmatchable fists of justice." Guy tried to convince Kabuto.

"A match for unmatchable? Kami, you're stupid." Kabuto shook his head and almost laughed. Neji approached him from his right side, so Kabuto tried a chakra scalpel backslash, but Neji ducked out and thrusted his palm towards his opponent's right shoulder. The medic-nin took a step back to avoid the blow but, by doing so, he didn't have enough time to avoid the next attack.

"Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Spin" Neji intoned and spun, a dome of swirling chakra sending Kabuto flying away.

"Dynamic Entry" Lee roared and delivered a jumping high kick to the lower back of the midair Kabuto who could do nothing to counter. The impact of the kick sent Kabuto towards the awaiting Guy, who thrusted his fist into his stomach. Kabuto's eyes were never so wide. He coughed violently and drooled, while his body hanged over Might Guy's right forearm.

"I don't like to use cliches and corny sentences...but I told you so." Guy pushed Kabuto slightly and delivered a powerful uppercut to Kabuto's jaw, followed by a elbow strike into his chest with Guy using the other arm as support. "Leaf Rock Destroyer"

"It's over. Don't you think, Neji-kun?" Lee asked, after seeing the way Kabuto landed on the ground. Neji however, was staring to Guy-sensei with a very strange look on his face. "Neji-kun?"

"Doesn't like to use cliches? Doesn't like to say corny things? Doesn't...doesn't he have the slightest notion of how he is?" Neji thought, his mouth slightly opened. When Guy noticed this, a thumbs up and sparkling teeth followed, causing Neji to sweatdrop.

"This...ain't over yet..." Kabuto was panting heavily as he spoke. While the corpse summoner rolled to his belly, another figure approached.

"I offered myself to make part of the team that was supposed to fight you. Why did I do that?" Shino fixed his glasses as he spoke. "Because my techniques are better suited to capture my opponents than Tenten's."

"You guys sure did good..." Kabuto complimented his opponents, after seeing that the ground surrounding him was covered by kikaichu. "Still...I have a last summoning to make."

"You won't have the time." Shino informed his opponent. "The moment you try to perform the summoning, you'll have your body covered by my insects."

"Eheheh, what if I already did it?" Kabuto chuckled and then, to every Konoha shinobi's shock, a giant black-coloured snake erupted from the ground and swallowed Kabuto.

"A worm snake?" Guy recognized the type of reptile in front of him.

"I can't see its chakra signature nor Kabuto's! Stop it before it goes back underground!" Neji warned his partners. Lee was too far away to reach the fast burrower and Guy missed his Dynamic Entry. Shino tried to cover the reptile with his insects but the snake returned underground before they could reach him. "Damn it..."

"Can't you see him at all, Neji?" Guy worriedly asked.

"No! It must be able to create a barrier around itself to hide its own chakra and the chakra of what it swallows! I can't follow it!" Neji angrily explained.

"My insects will follow it through the tunnel." Shino was still calm, but he became a bit tense a couple of seconds later. "It's even faster underground. My insects can't reach it."

"But they should be able to tell you the way he's taking by going through the tunnel, right?" Lee offered a new possibility. "Then we'll follow him from above."

"If he comes out of the ground at the place he's going to hide, I'll know his hideout. If he comes out before, he won't use his burrower any longer, so Neji will be able to track him with the Byakugan." Shino concluded. "It's a good idea."

"No, it isn't..." The two Chunin turned to Neji who had a deep frown on his face. "He'll only erupt when he's close enough of his hideout, which will be outside the Land of Fire. If he erupts in the Land of Sound, like it's expected, it will be fine, but if he erupts in another country..."

"We can't enter other countries without an authorization. The country in question has to agree that we continue this mission on their borders. Otherwise, it will be considered a declaration of war." Guy shared the same frown as Neji. "Delivery, escort and messenger missions are different than tracking missions like this one, since it will likely involve a shinobi battle in their territory. There are many factors. We can't proceed unless he's going to Otogakure, since theorically Kabuto is their leader."

"Shino-kun, please tell me he is going towards the Land of Sound." Lee and the others turned their attention to Shino, who had his left ear touching the ground. Shortly after, Yamato reached them.

"I've taken care of Jadoku. She's dispersed already." Yamato informed. "What about Kabuto?"

"Land of Hot Water..." Shino suddenly spoke. "We lost him."

"Ahahah...I almost didn't make it." Kabuto layed inside his worm snake, battered and bruised. "They wouldn't dare to follow me into another country. I'll make a little detour and then return to Otogakure." Kabuto chuckled and slowly picked up a scroll. "Just this little thing is worth the beating I took. Orochimaru-sama...I'll be stronger than you. Just you see."

"Has any of you fought an Akatsuki before?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Only Kankuro here. He fought Sasori of the Red Sand but got his ass kicked." Temari said and chuckled.

"At least, I did something to save Gaara!" Kankuro furiously shouted to his older sister. "If it wasn't for me, Naruto and the others couldn't find Sasori and that bastard Deidara!" Kurotsuchi suddenly turned and hit a hard right hook to Kankuro's face.

"Don't you ever again say Deidara's name or I'll kill you!" Kurotsuchi shouted, pure killing intent coming from her eyes. Kankuro slowly stood and started to chuckle.

"Deidara..." Kankuro mockingly whispered. The kunoichi from Iwa ran towards the puppet user and hit him with a left roundhouse to the face. Before she could continue her assault, Temari stepped between both of them.

"If you know him, then you should know he was a member of Akatsuki. Not only that, he was also the one that kidnapped Gaara."

"The hell with that! At least your brother is alive, while mine his dead!" Kurotsuchi yelled, tears forming in her eyes.

"He was your brother?" The surprised Temari asked.

"She was referring to Han, the former..."

"What does it matter, Ittan?" Kizu interrupted his partner. "She'll only answer if she wants to, but there's no point in lying to protect Tsuchikage-sama's reputation. Deidara tarnished his own name, not the Tsuchikage's nor Kurotsuchi's."

"I have...had three brothers. Akatsuchi is my younger half brother, Deidara was my older half brother and Han was my only full brother and the oldest of us four. It's too much of a story for now..."

"Then tell us later if you still want to. Kurotsuchi, are you willing to work with us or should we take you to our village for treason?" Baki interrupted, just before a hawk landed on his shoulder to deliver a message.

"Treason? Are you insane?" Ittan furiously shouted, but Baki continued to calmly read the piece of paper.

"She did attack one of ours after all." Baki finally looked up and showed the message to the others. "We still need to find a team of Konoha ANBU that are nearby, so they can return to Konoha with the guarantee that someone is still searching in this area."

"Fine by me." Kurotsuchi wiped her tears and after awhile all of them agreed to resume their trip.

"You hit like a girl." Kankuro provoked Kurotsuchi with a grin. "That bitch is good. If she betrays us we may have some trouble."

"Oh shut up Kankuro!" Temari shouted to her annoying brother. "Even though I love to see Kankuro getting his ass kicked, she could be a problem. I need to keep an eye on her..."

"At least, you get hit like a man and ask for more." Kurotsuchi smirked, causing Kankuro to stare at her surprised before his grin returned.

"Oh, look who it is!" Naruto pointed to the small figure that landed by their side.

"Hey guys, Kakashi says it's time to rest." A ninken said after reaching Team Nawirama.

"Ah, you must be Pakkun. Sorry for the trouble little guy." Nawirama said with a smile.

"Don't worry, it's part of our job. See you later." Pakkun disappeared. Since the teams were moving close to eachother, Nawirama and Kakashi decided to send him between them in order to communicate.

"We'll camp here guys." Nawirama opened a scroll and all the items needed appeared. "Naruto and I will take care of this. Would you two go to find some water?"

"Sure thing, Nawirama-sensei." Sakura winked before pulling Hinata to come with her.

"Not sensei..." Nawirama groaned.

"So Hinata..." Sakura and Hinata found the water they needed and were starting to go back to the tents when Sakura spoke. "Have you been talking with Naruto?"

"Wha..Aah!" Hinata immediately blushed and tripped on the root of a tree, almost letting her bucket fall. "W-well, we talked y-yesterday."

"Uh, when?" Sakura's curiosity suddenly grew. "We arrived at the Konoha 11 meeting at sunset, so when did they talk?"

"A-after our me-meeting." Hinata stuttered.

"Really? About what?"

"N-nothing." Hinata turned beet red. "I fainted when he called me Hinata-chan..." Sakura rolled her eyes. She knew Hinata was shy but sometimes it was too much to believe.

"But it was almost evening. He didn't leave you there alone did he?"

"No, he took me to his place." Hinata's face was covered by yet another layer of red. "Why can't I keep things to myself?" She thought as Sakura stopped and stared at her in desbelief. She threw her bucket to the air and smashed her knuckles furiously.

"He did what? I'll punch a hole through his head! That baka won't take advantage of you ever again!" Sakura shouted with blank eyes and an angry look on her face.

"N-no Sakura-san!" Hinata pleeded to her teammate. "Naruto-kun was only trying to help. He didn't do anything disrespectful to me. He just took care of me."

"Uh, the knucklehead taking care of someone? Really?" Sakura doubtfully blinked. "Well, he really cares and respects her. Who would think that Naruto would turn out like this?" Sakura thought in amazement. "Sorry Hinata, I won't hit him...yet. So, what did you two do then?"

"H-he brought me dinner to bed and then we went to a place with an amazing view of the village." Hinata was once again blushing by remembering everything they did last night.

"Why didn't that baka told me about this? I guess I have to hit him after all..." Sakura thought to herself. "So it was a date?"

"N-no, no-not really. We just went there and..." Hinata stopped and put both hands on her mouth.

"And what?" Sakura's eyes widened with curiosity.

"A-and h-he told me that that h-he, he..." Hinata was gasping for air.

"Calm down Hinata, take long breaths." Sakura advised. "C'mon I want to know..."

"H-he told me that he thinks he likes me and, and wants to know me better to, to be sure." Hinata said, staring down embarassed.

"The baka already made a move? He's really putting everything he has in this." Sakura was truly amazed. "And how did you react Hinata?"

"I...I fainted again." Hinata said before hiding her face in her hands. A sweatdrop appeared in the back of Sakura's head.

"Oh boy..." Sakura then understood something. "Wait! Did he take you back to his place again?" Hinata nodded, her face still hidden. "He's so dead..."

"No, don't hurt him!" Hinata grabbed Sakura's arm firmly, much to the latter's shock. "He put me on his bed and went to sleep on the couch. I woke up and was about to leave when he offered to take me home but I refused because he needed to rest. He didn't do anything wrong so don't dare to hurt him." Hinata stopped and stared down ashamed of what she did. "I-I'm sorry Sakura-san."

"What was this?" Sakura was shocked. She never saw Hinata angry like that. In fact, Sakura had never seen her angry and from what she saw, she thought it was enough. "D-don't worry Hinata, you're right. I'm sorry as well. Uh...we better go. They're waiting."

"My Paper Angel Jutsu...is over..." Konan was having a hard time breathing, due to the effort she put in to defeat Madara. There was a lot of smoke in the air, a result of the enormous explosion caused by her sea of 600 billion exploding tags. She fell on her knees, her body almost completely drained of chakra. She was so tired that she didn't notice the swirl pattern slowly appearing behind her. "I didn't think...it would take this much but...but now...Madara has to be..."

"Dead?" A completely unscathed Madara whispered at her ear.

Next Chapter: Under the Crescent Moon

Wikia

1. Jutsu:

1.1 Leaf Rock Destroyer - Original name is Leaf Rock Destroying Rise, changed it because its quite weird.

1.2 Parasitic Insects: Hailstorm - Search in Narutopedia for Parasitic Destruction Insect Hail. It used to be called Parasitic Insects: Hailstorm before being renamed and I like it better. The jutsu consists in gathering many spheres of insects that rain down on the opponent to strike him and drain his chakra. The jutsu ends with a last and much bigger sphere, but Shino didn't use it in this chapter because he didn't feel it was needed.

1.3 Tiger Fist - A fighting style like the Strong Fist and Gentle Fist. Its origins come from the old Kirigakure. How Yamato learned it is unknown.

-Nawirama13