Shippuden Chapter 7: War, Crime and Punishment

"So, where exactly are we going?"- Temari asked, standing on her flying fan. They were flying through the night, lit only by moonlight. Hono smirked, sitting on Keegan's back. Eris was sleeping like a baby inside of is hood, warm puffs of air coming out of her nose, sending chills down his body from the sudden change of temperature.

Yet again, they were searing through the skies on the back of dragons, fans, eagles, puppets and, in Gaara's case, sandclouds. Like the last time, Akasha was on Keegan's back, but she wasn't standing. She was curled up in a ball, laying her head on Hono's lap. She was soundly sleeping, not because of snoring, but because all they could hear throughout the trip was her breathing. Hono thought it was kind of cute, and the consistent and persistent petting on her head made her look like his second pet. Temari didn't fail to try and capitalize on Akasha's mistake, sending winks and blowing kisses at Hono, sometimes even getting in obscene positions, giving some stupid made up excuse after. Hono didn't pay much attention, though.

Shino was standing on Kasai, accompanied by Mizore. The dragon seemed to have a connection with Hono's bodyguard. Keegan hated to have anyone other than Hono riding him, but Kasai didn't mind at all as long as Shino was there. It was strange, but normal at the same time, just like the Aburame when you got to know them. Mizore was aqlso standing up, or rather, leaning against her boyfriend, trying desperately not to fall asleep and seem professional. She wasn't fooling anyone, but no one blamed her. She hadn't slept in two days.

Moka wasn't having the same problem, as she kept herself awake by flirting with the freshly recovered Kankuro, who was flying on one of his puppets, right by her side. She wasn't ignored as the sand puppeteer kept winking at her before flashing one of his puppet's weapons, most of them covered in poison. Normal people would have been scared, but to the weapon-loving Moka, it was as hot as something could be, and she responded by flashing her own hidden weapons. It was a strange ritual, but no one questioned them. Either by not caring, by being happy for them or simply because they didn't want a poison covered scythe to the face before being burned down with a flamethrower.

So basically, the night reeked of love, except for the lonely Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara. Hono wondered if the Fourth Kazekage's third offspring desired love. Obviously, being a village's ultimate leader would attract some fangirls, but that couldn't be considered love. That led to Hono considering wether or not he loved Akasha. He liked how she looked, he liked how she was deadly, funny and smart and he liked being around her. He felt at ease with her. And then he realized that they were almost never together. He promised himself he would take a day off to be with her as soon as they came back from this. He also promised to hook Gaara up with a girl of his liking so he could feel the same.

He then looked back at the Sunagakure blonde. Wether or not she wanted love was unquestionable, but he was afraid that what she wanted was unreachable. He was with Akasha and that was final. At least for the moment.

"That fight, days ago, wasn't really a fight."- he answered. This didn't help much as Temari's face turned into a confused expression.- "We weren't trying to kill Deidara."

"Then what was the point of using all those jutsu and powers? What was the point of turning into the cursed seal's second level?"- she asked. Hono simply smiled as Shino cleared his voice and answered in his place.

"If you place a trap on the floor and wait, will the mouse simply run into it? No. You need to put cheese or other kinds of bait as well, or he isn't going to fall for it."- an expression of understandment (does this word even exist? xD) took over Temari's face as the bug user explained what his leader had just said.

"So it was all a trap? What was the trap exactly? I mean, it's not like we got something out of this."- She never seemed to run out of questions did she? Hono started to pet Eris before replying.

"The Aburame have ths saying. Never underestimate an enemy, even if he's a mere bug. This saying reflects itself when they engage in combat. They quickly devise strategies in order to gain advantage. I had discussed with Shino that our mission wasn't a search and destroy, but rather a tail mission."- he replied. Temari narrowed her eyes. Just how smart were they? How many steps did they plan ahead? They seemed like Shikamaru.

"As Akasha, Mizore and Hono kept them busy, Moka placed one of my bugs inside a hidden pistol. She fired it and managed to land it on Deidara the precise moment before he left. I placed a female on him. The females of this species are rather special. Their smell can only be detected by males of the same species. I am currently communicating with my bugs, and they are telling me that Deidara is a mere kilometer away from us."- Shino said, smirking.

"So we should fasten our pace, let's go!"- the Sand sibling proclaimed. None obeyed. Hono shook his head.

"Mendokusai. No. We don't want to kill him just yet. We want to follow them to Akatsuki's HQ and eliminate any of them. You have to think about the bigger picture here."- Hono explained. Wait, when did I get so Nara?

"Please, everyone be quiet. The insects I've scattered around are picking up signals of strong ninja. From the smell, they tell me that the ones coming are Gai's and Kakashi's team."- Shino announced.

"Fucking great, that's all we needed. Those Konoha drag-alongs coming to try and rescue us."- Kankuro commented. Hono quickly got to thinking.

"Ok, Kankuro, Temari and Gaara, go greet Kakashi's team. Don't attack head on. Find out what they are up to and act accordingly. Moka, Mizore and Akasha, go and greet Gai's team. Me and Shino are going to stay on track of the Akatsuki members."- he decided.- "Move it!"

"Roger!"- they all shouted at the same time before disappearing. Hono and Shino asked Keegan and Kasai to speed up.

"Are you sure about this?"- Shino asked. Hono shrugged.

"We've come this far. It was complicated already, now it's just a big fat mess."- Shino nodded at the white haired jinchuuriki's reply. They got closer and closer.

"Wait! My bugs are telling me that something's wrong!"- Shino warned. A plain white bird appeared out of nowhere and flew inches away from Hono's face.

"KATSU!"