Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.
-J. K. Rowling

Chapter 36: Never Trust Anything

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." The veiled man slammed his hand back against the wall, and a small puff of smoke appeared. A small black snake dropped to the ground, hissing as it curled under the man's chair. The Oto leader brought his hand back onto his lap and glanced around the Kage box. The pesky ANBU that the Hokage had sent to guard him hadn't noticed the slight chakra fluctuation. The chakra pulses from the arena were too frequent for such a weak pulse to be noticed.

He heard a soft hissing sound and glanced down to the edge of his chair. He scoot over slightly to the side, leaving a small swath for the snake to slither up beside him. The Oto leader move his arm above the snake, cloaking the small serpent underneath his long robes. "What are your ordersss, master? And what compensssation will you give for my misssion?" The snake hissed from underneath the mass of cloth. The black creature lashed its tail eagerly. This master always gave the most... interesting of missions.

"Your compensation is the mission." The man's voice was barely audible through the cheering crowds. His eyes stared blankly towards the arena where the three genin fought. "I want you to take care of the man in front of me. He's a... nuisance, shall we call it. You will realize his value soon enough. Do whatever you like to him, but makes sure he is dead." The snake hissed discontentedly before diving off the chair, landing with a thump on the ground.

His master did give interesting missions, but compensation was rarely all that great. Yellow eyes searched the small box. The man in front of his master was cloaked in red and white. The hat on top of his head signified that he was some man of rank, however, from this angle it was hard to tell much more. The ANBU were on a near continuous control. It would be hard to approach the man without being sighted.

He crawled over into the shadows and coiled up by the edge of the raised platform. Katsuo counted the seconds as the ninja patrolled around the box. He would have to time this perfectly in order to get through. After waiting for a minute, he clocked the timing of how the ANBU patrolled. There was a ten second gap between the second and third ANBU where neither of them would be able to see the back left corner of the Hokage's chair. Katsuo slithered underneath his master's chair and crawled over to the other side of the platform. And then, he waited.

The black clad ANBU stood at the corner of the platform before walking again, and Katsuo leaped at the chance. He scurried to the underside of the Hokage's chair and held in a deep breath. After a few moments, he realized that he was safe. He opened his mouth and flexed his fangs. He probably would not have much time to bite the man, so he had to be prepared. Katsuo eyed the Hokage's feet. They were disgusting targets, and it would take longer for the poison to circulate, but they would do.

He slunk under the chair and coiled behind the Hokage's legs. Katsuo opened his mouth and dove towards the back of Hiruzen's legs. That was when a hand struck out and grabbed him by the throat. The black snake thrashed in the man's grip as he was brought out into the sunlight. Gai stared at the serpent before turning to the Oto leader. "I believe this is yours." Gai's grip tightened, and the snake vanished into a puff of smoke.

Hiruzen started from his chair and moved to face the Oto leader. "ANBU! Seize that man!" The Oto leader tilted his head to the side, but Gai could just see the hints of a cruel smile from under the veil.

His eyes widened, and Gai yelled for them to stop, but it was too late. An owl-masked ANBU grabbed onto the Oto leader's arms, causing the jutsu to snap. A large smoke cloud filled the Kage box, and the ANBU screamed out in pain as snakes fastened to his arms. Gai held his hands to cover his face as the leader's clone body exploded into a hoard of poisonous snakes

The snakes dived in all directions, biting into anyone that was within reach. Hiruzen leaped back, dodging the cloud of snakes. He snatched senbon from the sleeves of his Hokage robes and flung them at the snakes. A few of the serpents were skewered by the sharp spines and disappeared, but there were still dozens more.

Gai stumbled backwards, collapsing against the Kusagakure platform. Four snakes were clamped tightly onto his body, and Gai could feel himself losing strength. "Gai-sensei!" Gai looked up to see the hazy outline of Tenten coming towards him. The genin slashed at the necks of the snakes, forcing them to disappeared. She kneeled down beside Gai, and Gai could hear the echoes of her calls for a medic nin.

He reached out and grabbed her by the arm and said, "Otogakure's leader is..." Gai clutched at his chest with his other hand before gasping out, "Orochimaru..." Tenten's chocolate eyes widened as Gai fell forward onto her.

"Gai-sensei!" She screamed.

-TSUME-

Shikaku ducked out of the way of Chouza's strike. He was reminded for the first time in years how fast the larger man was. The bo staff was a blur as Chouza continued his attacked. Shikaku found himself being constantly pulled out of his thoughts as the staff came perilously close to him. He had to think of a plan of how to escape this mess, preferably, that plan would include no one dying. He looked past Chouza to see Inoichi and Chouji on the other side of the hall. Inoichi seemed to be doing all right. That meant he had a bit more time.

Shikaku rolled out of the way and pressed himself up against the wall. The measurements of the hallway weren't too bad. It would have been a bit more helpful if the hallway was larger, but the size only eliminated 31 strategies. He still had a good number of ideas to sort through. Shikaku threw senbon at Chouza, who struck them away with the oak staff.

Shikaku noticed that neither Akimichi had used any size-related jutsu in their entire fight. That meant that they probably didn't want to catch attention or that they were restricted to not destroying the facility. That meant that that plan was probably the best one to execute. Shikaku pulled out a flashbomb and threw it at the ground. He closed his eyes as the bomb exploded and grabbed the materials out of his side pocket.

Most ninja didn't carry around rubberbands, sheets of paper, and pencils, but Shikaku wasn't like most ninja. He scribbled a few numbers on the sheet of paper and wrapped it around a kunai with the rubberband. By the time the flashbomb faded, he had stowed the pencil away. Shikaku flung the kunai, and Chouza dodged out of the way. The kunai embedded into the wall on the other side of the hallway Inoichi plucked it out.

Inoichi pulled the sheet of paper off and deflected Chouji's attack with the kunai. He threw the smaller boy off and unrolled the paper, glancing over it quickly. The numbers 08.29.99 were written on the sheet of paper. Inoichi crumpled the paper in his hand and dodged out of the way as Chouji struck at him. The end of the oak staff passed worringly close to his head as Inoichi leaned out of the way. Chouji continued his strikes, each aimed at Inoichi's head. Inoichi knew a single hit with the staff would be enough to derail him for at least twenty seconds. Inoichi couldn't afford that.

Inoichi weaved in and out of Chouji's blows and slowly noticed a pattern between the strikes. Luckily for Inoichi, Chouji wasn't a master with the bo staff. The boy's strikes were fast, but not incredibly varied. Inoichi slipped a kunai out of his side pouch and threw it. The kunai flew right past Chouji, but that was Inoichi wanted. The blade pierced the end of the oak staff, and Chouji's strikes slowed. The unexpected weight on the bo caused the staff to be unbalanced, something Chouji hadn't trained for. Inoichi took the opportunity and signed, "Doton: Doryuu Taiga!"

The ground turned to sludge underneath Chouji, causing the boy to slip backwards. His grip remained fast on the staff even as he dropped to the ground. Inoichi jumped towards Chouji and kicked him soundly. Chouji slid along the mud slickened ground before crashing into the wall behind. Inoichi glanced over towards Shikaku. He was in position. Now he only had to fulfill his half of the mission.

Inoichi turned and shunshined away from Chouji and to the other side of the hallway. Once he landed on the other side, he pointed his hands at Chouji and yelled, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Inoichi felt himself leaving his body as he inserted himself inside of Chouji. The genin tried to evade, but the slick mud prevented him from getting away.

At the same time, Shikaku ducked out of Chouza's reach and threw four senbon. The needles smashed into the bulbs that light the hallway, sending the four ninja into darkness. Chouza fled backwards towards one of the lit areas at the end of the hall, yelling for Chouji to do the same. It was just as Shikaku thought. He looked over to the side to see Inoichi's form falling to the ground and called out, "Kagemane no Jutsu!" His shadow shot through the darkness towards Inoichi. The black jutsu snagged onto Inoichi's shadow, causing the body to right itself.

Chouza, realizing that his son was trapped inside shadows, fished a flash bomb out of his pocket. He would need to evacuate Chouji out of the area or at least take him to a better lit place. He was about to throw the flashbomb when he saw Chouji running towards him. "Chouji! Get out of here qui-" Chouza ducked out of the way as Chouji's staff came hurtling towards him. Chouza played back the jutsu he had heard his old teammates say in his mind. It was strategic plan 8, sub-type 29, placement 99.

Chouza growled. It was one of the strategies that Shikaku had devised when they were still a team. The Nara had them memorize hundreds of battle strategies. All of the sub-type 29 strategies were only to be used when Shikaku and Inoichi worked alone. Chouza cursed himself for allowing them to communicate with one another. He blocked Chouji's, no, Inoichi's bo strike with his own staff and pushed the smaller boy back. He didn't want to hurt Chouji, but how was he going to free the boy?

It was impossible to do in the current situation. Chouza wasn't a tactical genius like Shikaku, but he knew when he was at a grave disadvantage. He would have to retreat and find backup. Chouza turned down the hallway and ran, hoping that he would be able to return and save his son.

-TSUME-

"Would the pretty lady like to tell me what this plan is?" Jiraiya said with a wink. Thoughts were racing through his head. Gamakichi hadn't been able to get his message out, so Jiraiya had to create a plan without relying on reinforcements. He could handle the kids, but he couldn't get a feel for the power of the woman. It was impossible to tell her muscle distribution and she hadn't shown any clue as to her chakra affinity yet. Jiraiya glanced out the window towards the forest. All he knew was that he'd have to get out of the building. He couldn't dodge effectively in such close quarters.

"No, she wouldn't like to tell you," the woman said as she shoved Samidare down the hall. The thin genin scurried away, and Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. He couldn't let him get away.

"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari!" Jiraiya slammed his hand against the wall. Pink rubbery esophageal tissue spread across the walls, crawling along the floor. Samidare glanced over his shoulder to see the mass coming towards him and bolted to run, but the tissue grew beneath him. As he turned the corner, he slammed into a wall of organ and stumbled down to the ground.

"Konan-sama! I can't get out!" Samidare yelled, tugging at his arms that were stuck four inches deep into the tissue. The organ clung onto his clothes and skin, preventing him from getting back up. Jiraiya started at Samidare's words. Konan?

The woman clicked her tongue and said, "Samidare-san, I told you to not address me in such a manner while with other people. You've just made things more difficult." She reached a gloved hand up to her face and pulled back the hood. Blue locks fell onto her shoulders, and Jiraiya froze.

"Konan? Is that you?" Jiraiya asked dumbfounded. He had lost track of his students after they had left to pursue their own goals. He had even heard rumors that they had all died. To see Konan here, and live, was something he would have never dreamt of.

Konan stared back at her old teacher blankly before saying, "Yes, my name is Konan. But if you are asking if I am the Konan you remember, no, I am not her anymore. I've changed too much to bethatKonan anymore." Konan glanced up towards the ceiling and said, "It's a bit nostalgic seeing this again, but remember Jiraiya," Konan held up four paper bombs between her fingers, "I am your former student. I know how you think and how your jutsu work." She flung the paperbombs.

The paperbombs embedded in the soft tissue before detonating. The tissue contracted as the explosions burnt into the flesh. Jiraiya frowned. He needed to end the jutsu quickly. It wasn't as if the muscle he summoned wasn't attached to a toad. Small injuries such as kunai marks were of no consequence, but explosions could gravely injure the toad that the organ was attached to. Konan's eyes glinted darkly as she noticed the thoughts running through Jiraiya's mind.

"Shigure-san, Samidare-san, once there is an opening, you will both flee. You will be of absolutely no use here," Konan ordered. Shigure opened his mouth to protest, but Konan was already dispersing. Paper notes peeled away from her skin. Soon, Konan was simply a cloud of paper notes. Jiraiya watched the cloud warily before catching sight of two inked notes among the mass. He hurled two kunai into the storm, but the notes swerved out of the way before connecting with their target, the weakened flesh around the window.

Jiraiya could almost hear the toad scream as the notes connected. Immediately, he dispelled the jutsu, sending the organ back its owner. The window exploded open, sending glass spraying into the hallway. Shigure and Samidare took off at a run down the hall while Konan flew out through the window. She reformed outside, hovering in the air with her broad papered wings. Jiraiya growled. He hated having to make lose-lose choices like this. He climbed up onto the window ledge and jumped.

He fell through the air before a tree met him halfway. He tumbled along the branches before landing on the ground. Konan stared down at him and raised her hand off to the side. Jiraiya was about to sign a jutsu when the sound of a branch snapping caught his attention. He flipped backwards as a three-pronged scythe flew past him, embedding into the tree he had just fallen from. "Ah! I missed! Dangit!"

Jiraiya looked over into the brush warily. Two against one were not odds that he liked.

Konan flew down to the ground and demanded, "What are you doing here, Hidan-san?" A loud groan came from the thicket and a grey haired man stepped out into the small clearing. He jerked the scythe out from the tree and glanced towards Konan before looking away. Konan growled. Hidan twirled his scythe around his hand and gave a careless shrug.

"Waiting isn't my style. Come on, woman. Did you really expect me to wait for a full flippin' month without going stir crazy?" Hidan waved the scythe threateningly at Konan, "I haven't sacrificed anyone to Jashin for ages! It's about time anyways. One hour, two hours, it isn't that much of a difference anyways. Plus, this old coot looks interesting!"

Jiraiya frowned. Things were looking bad. He could have chalked up Konan's appearance to her joining Amegakure, but Hidan was a known member of the Akatsuki. He wasn't even hiding it. The red cloud pattern on his cloak clearly showed that he was here to represent the S-Class group. Did this mean that the rebellion had chosen to affiliate itself with known criminals? He couldn't imagine anyone doing that, even if they did want the Hokage overthrown.

Jiraiya bit his lip. The situation had gotten much more complicated than he would have liked. Jiraiya glanced around the forest. It was a bad place to have a fight, but he needed to get help. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Smoke erupted from the ground. The ground groaned and the trees creaked as sudden pressure pressed upon them. When the smoke cleared, a dark red toad stood in a makeshift clearing with trees bent every which way in order to make room.

"Jiraya! What do you think you're doing calling me out here? I don't fit," Gamabunta grumbled, puffing on his long pipe. Jiraiya laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I sort of need your help. I know that this isn't the best place for you to fight," Gamabunta snorted, "but I've gotten myself into a fix again. Can you handle it for a little while?" Gamabunta looked down at the smaller man with a bemused expression on his face. The great toad sage was actually willing to ask for his help and not simply expect it, huh? This was bound to be interesting.

Gamabunta glanced over to where Konan and Hidan stood, Hidan with his scythe at the ready and Konan with paperbombs between her fingers. The toad frowned when he noticed the red clouds on Hidan's cloak. "I see..." Gamabunta looked down towards Jiraiya. "I will do what I can to help."

Jiraiya smiled broadly. "Good, good." He turned back to Konan and said, "Don't think that because I trained you I'll go easy on you!"

Konan tilted her head to the side and a hint of a smile crossed her lips, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Jiraiya-sensei."

-TSUME-

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten's shrill scream echoed throughout the arena. Kakashi bolted up from his seat in the stands and stared at the rim of the Hokage box. He had to get up there. He peeled down his face mask and opened his second eye. The sharingan whirled as Kakashi picked out a path to the Hokage box through the masses of people in the stands. An unexpected movement in the corner of his vision caused Kakashi to jump back, a kunai flashing over his head.

Kakashi instinctively pulled three kunai out from his bag and held them to the side. He looked towards where the kunai came from and frowned. "Don't wave those things around as if they were toys, Hatake-san. They could hurt somebody. Why don't you put them away?" Genma chewed on the senbon between his teeth as an all too pleasant smile crossed his face.

"I don't see why I should. It's not as if I took them out for my own amusement. Perhaps you two should explain yourselves first," Kakashi said coldly. He knew that they had to have thrown the kunai. Otherwise, they never would have confronted him. If the ninja wanted to kill him, they would have disappeared into the crowd. Obviously, they were trying to stall him. The crowd around them parted away from the three ninja and fled from the arena. Kakashi glanced over to the side. Something was up. And apparently, he was the one left out this time.

"We're doing this for your own good, Hatake-san. We don't want to hurt you if we can help it," Shirakumo said lowly. His arms were crossed tightly, and Kakashi wondered what the man hid under his arms. He stepped back warily, eyeing the two jounin. The corners of Shirakumo's mouth turned down at Kakashi's hesitance. "It is in your best interest that you stay here."

"Haven't you heard?" Kakashi asked innocently. "I've never been good at doing what's good for me. Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you both. Attacking another Konoha ninja unprovoked is a criminal offense." Their headbands still had the Konoha emblem on them, so why were they doing this? They obviously hadn't become missing nin.

"Soon, Hatake-san, you will be the one committing treason if you carry through with what you plan," Genma interjected casually. He propped his head back on his hands and looked over to the arena. "I like you Hatake-san. We're gone on enough missions together to become what I consider friends. We don't have to do this. All you have to do is sit still for a few hours."

Kakashi growled. He wasn't stupid. He understood the implications of what Genma had just said. "I'm not going to betray my Hokage. I had thought better of you, Shiranui-san, Hayama-san. It appears that I was wrong though. Rats and vermin have scurried in the corners of Konoha under my watch. It appears I will have to correct that."

Genma sighed and took his hands away from behind his head. "It's a pity, Hatake-san. I didn't want to have to do this, but it appears we must fight."

-TSUME-

Gaara pulled to a stop abruptly and turned towards the grandstands. Naruto furrowed his eyes before he heard it. A piercing scream came from the edges of the arena. Gaara and Naruto shared a glance. They both knew what that sound meant. "What is going on?" Hinata asked in confusion. She looked from Naruto to Gaara. Why were they looking at each other as if they knew something that she didn't? "Do you know?"

A coil of sand crawled up Hinata's leg and snagged her firmly in place. Hinata started and tried to jerk it out, but the sand held fast. More sand streamed up her sides and made a noose around her neck. Gaara walked up to her calmly and stared into her eyes. Hinata looked away. The sand was tight around her neck, making it harder for her to breathe. "Tell me, woman. Are you or are you not part of the rebellion? If you lie to me, I will know, and I will kill you." Hinata gulped. She didn't doubt that Gaara would kill her. It was the other part that confused her.

"I don't know about any rebellion!" Hinata gasped out. She wanted to claw away at the sand around her neck, but the cocoon of sand made it impossible for her hands to move. Gaara's green eyes bored into her for a moment before he snorted. Suddenly, the sand retracted away from her, causing Hinata to fall to the ground. She grunted as she hit the dirt. "Is that what is going on, a war?"

Naruto clicked his tongue from beside Gaara and turned to look at the other male, "It would be just like Hyuuga-san to exclude his daughter. It would be fortunate for him if she died or was captured after all." Hinata felt a chill run down her spine. What were they talking about? Her father would have wanted her to die? She slumped backwards, hitting a tree. Thoughts connected in her mind. The rebellion had to be an inner-Konoha struggle. They mentioned her father, so her father was against the Hokage? Why would he do anything like that?

A memory flashed into her mind. Of course. She had disregarded it as her father's normal grumblings, but that had to be it. He had always been dissatisfied with the idealistic way the Hokage dealt with problems. Hinata was shocked that Hiashi that it was important enough to try and overthrow Konoha for though. "Let's go, Gaara-san. Hinata-chan, you should stay in here. No one should come in here for awhile."

Hinata got up from the ground and said, "I can't just stay here while the Hokage is in danger! Let me help! You obviously know what is going on, so there must be some way for me to be of use!" Naruto hummed in thought.

"Hinata-chan, I'm doing this for your own good. Unless you think you are strong enough to fight against your friends and even your family, you shouldn't come," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Don't look down on me, Uzumaki-san. When I took my ninja oath, I swore to protect Konohagakure and my Hokage. I'm might not be able to do anything important, but I'll still be able to help. Let me come with you." Naruto met Hinata's eyes for a moment before he smiled.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan. I didn't mean to do that. Come on, we shouldn't wait around here any longer than we have to." Naruto waved at Gaara to follow and the three shunshined towards the stands.

Author's Note: Woohoo! The story crossed 300 reviews! Thank you so much for that! You guys give me the motivation to keep on writing. ^^ I hope you continue to enjoy Team Tsume!

Thanks to pokepikachu1 for betaing me! ^^