Exams are coming up, and I might have work all summer. America was good, a bit weird, a bit mental but not bad.

As much as Max had previously disliked the girl, Sakura wasn't a bad medic. The only proof that she'd had a tanto through her shoulder were the two vivid white scars. One just below her collarbone, and the other just above her shoulder bone, two more marks to add to her collection.

Also thanks to Sakura, Itachi was almost back to normal. By almost, there was the slight problem that his chakra was inaccessible. Max had no idea how she'd missed it when she'd found him in that cave. The day's events might have sent her for a loop but she should know better.

It had taken some effort to pry Naruto off her when he'd found she was in Suna. Max was relieved to see he was ok. A slice of terror shot through her chest when she remembered Sasuke had a mountain size grudge against Shisui and was unlikely to have left peacefully. She flashed FA to make a quick head count and sighed in relief when she found him and at least most of the others.

She'd managed to only be found by Naruto so far, and obviously Sakura, she didn't want them to find her just yet. She'd convinced both of them to keep quiet, it had taken a lot of work and a promise to stay around for at least a month. Itachi and DiNozzo were keeping low profiles around town. Itachi could get away with being there and no big deal being made, DiNozzo wasn't known to a lot of them.

"Stop it." Max had been dangling her legs over the side of the Kazekage's building in peace, stargazing like she always did in Suna. It unfortunately made it easy to find her, at least to people who knew she was there, as Itachi had. He still had the child tucked into a sling, carefully laying against his chest. It was obvious he had been tasked with looking after the boy or he would have handed him over to one of the girls who had been squealing over the child earlier.

There was the slight possibility it was his, Max had been gone long enough. "It's Deidara's." Itachi seemed to read her mind, Max nodded in understanding. They sat there in silence for a bit, uncertain what to say despite having a lot they wanted to talk about.

"I'm glad you're back."

Max's eyes watered, she couldn't help but wonder if this could have been prevented if she'd stayed.

"Where are the others?"

"Dead, missing or captured." There was no need to sugar coat it. They both were more than aware of the harsh realities of ninja life. Max wanted to ask for a more specific count of each but was afraid she didn't want to know the answer, the guilt was already weighing in against her chest. Another thing was building up, her determination to make things right, she was not going to tolerate Shisui sitting in a seat he didn't deserve.

"Shisui isn't going to let you take back Konoha if he can stop you. Promise me you won't do anything rash."

"When do I ever do rash things?" Max joked. It fell a bit short of its mark and the two were silent again. Max was half tempted to just fix it like she had with Forks and just blow it up. But it was her home, even if she wasn't there much.

"Laura's working on a cure for the chakra blocking poison. Wait until she's done before you try?" Itachi didn't want her to go on her own, but without chakra they would have only Sasuke to go up against Shisui's Sharingan, and Sasuke didn't have the benefit of Mangekyo.

"I make no promises." It was easier that way.

"Please Max?" He got no response. "It didn't go so well last time you ended up without chakra…" That was a bit too far. Max silently got up and departed from the rooftop. Itachi let her go, he knew his words had hurt, but he hoped she'd still listen. At least she hadn't lashed out, that was a good sign. He just hoped Gaara didn't pick up on Max's mood. The Kazekage was still very protective of her and Itachi didn't want to wake up encased in a sand coffin.

It was only after hearing Max's yelling that Itachi found out Gaara's sand was stopping Max from leaving the village anyway. It was the same yelling that alerted Max's friends to her presence.

Max felt cornered as she slowly grew aware of many eyes watching her. She backed up against a wall feeling very nervous. She didn't stay like that for long, a few seconds and one blur later she'd been tackled to the ground. Naruto sat on top of her, almost daring her to try to move him. She couldn't apperate like that and he knew it.

"Were you planning on letting us know you were here?" Laura demanded standing over her.

"You already know the answer."

Laura gave a short laugh, "Of course I do. I'm more concern as to why you seem to be avoiding your friends."

"I knew you'd corner me and ask questions like that," Max muttered into the sand.

"Let her up Naruto." Max didn't have a choice as she was yanked up, she would have been content to childishly lie there. "At least you're in one piece." From the surrounding people there was a snort of laughter. Laura had obviously seen who it was as she rounded on Max with narrowed eyes. Of course Sakura had ruined what could have been just a light lecture.

Laura took a few deep breaths and smiled. For some reason it didn't reassure Max.

"It looks like we have lots to talk about, and I can assume you plan on at some point going on a suicide mission to take back Konoha." Max rolled her eyes and really hoped this talk would be at a bar.

The next day a messenger arrived in Suna for Gaara. As luck would have it Max ended up escorting the seemingly terrified guy to the Kazekage's office. Once delivered Max hovered over her friends shoulder, skimming the content. The second both had finished it Max felt sand encase her.

"You are not going."

"I'm not letting Anko die because of me. Nor will I allow you to go to war against Konoha, not if this can be resolved peacefully." There was tension between the two friends as they silently argued. Gaara eventually relented, as long as she allowed for at least a squad of his choosing to follow half a day behind her. The sand dumped her ungracefully on the floor, the Kazekage's irritation evident. The squad had to be Konoha ninjas or it would be seen as an act of war anyway. That meant he couldn't go either.

Max left without hesitation, everything she needed was hidden in some scroll or another. A side effect of her recently nomadic lifestyle. She almost felt bad about leaving without telling her friends, again, but she always did that for a reason. The only person she would have taken was still not able to access chakra, and they both would agree he would be more of a liability. Two other people might have been helpful due to their Sharingan, asking Sasuke would be the fastest way of Laura catching her, and she hadn't actually seen Kakashi in Suna. She'd had purposefully not thought about why he wasn't there, deciding she would rather not know yet so she could still hope.

Unlike most of her friends would likely believe, she did have a plan. She did after all have a death note in her possession, highly underused. In all honesty Max didn't want him to die, not now, he could suffer a bit first. Which is why the death note was perfect. As long as it specified him dying within 23 days, she could map out his death as long as it was plausible.

She chewed a pen as she walked the well warn path to Konoha. She'd gotten through the desert as fast as possible, it was too easy to get distracted then lost there. The plan started forming on the paper, Max was careful not to mention any names, if they were written then would die, and by not writing Shisui's name yet she wasn't limited to the 6 minutes and 40 seconds as stated in the rules of the death note.

Heading through the desert as her back up was a small squad, Gaara had chosen well considering what he knew of the circumstances. Teams nine and ten were on their way having been briefed and sworn to the usual secrecy. Team nine had chakra lacking or chakra blocking techniques, if Shisui had managed to weaponise the chakra blocking medicine then they would be needed. Team ten were good for infiltration and extraction. None of them would be emotionally compromised by the situation and go running in head first.

Laura was working on an antidote to the chakra blocking potion, the original creation had only had this effect by accident and she had never looked into what caused it. This was making it much harder to work on, though she did have a semi-willing test subject who wanted to be cured. There were no doubts in Laura's mind that, if she hadn't already, Max was already gone. As much as she would berate her friend for doing this, there was little she could actually do to stop her. Besides, Max always had a trick up her sleeve.

Breaking Tsunade out of jail was far too easy for Max, she'd forgotten that by activating 12 grey most inbuilt security features were easy to disable. It wasn't a tearful reunion, there was work to be done. Max explained her plan, in code just in case. All Tsunade had to do was break anyone else out of jail then rendezvous with the backup team and pass on the information and from then they would coordinate. For now Max was going to mess with Shisui.

Having sent a small squad of clones to scope out the village Max knew exactly when Shisui wasn't in the Hokage's office. While she waited for him to return she lounged in the chair reading through mission reports. It would be a while before he returned, her clones were purposefully getting glimpsed by the mercenaries who would report it back to him via the radios, one of which was sitting on the desk.

Also in the office was the village wide announcement system, very rarely used but still functional for emergencies. Max fished out her mp3 player and hooked it up, scrolling through her songs to find the perfect one. She activated the privacy wards before pressing play, they would have fun trying to get in to stop the music.

It started out quietly, before building up as Flight of the Valkyries washed over the citizens of Konoha. More and more of her clones seemed to be getting spotted causing mayhem as the villagers panicked while Shisui's forces tried to track the real her down. It was possible they didn't think she would stay by the PA system once setting of the music, and in any other circumstances she would have left, but she was waiting.

The music changed as the 1812 overture took over, Max's clones all heading towards the Hokage's tower and assembling below the window, apprehending the machineries trying to stop them of get through. The music lulled just in time for Shisui to arrive on the scene. Max went over to the window and stood on it, leaning on the side to appear casual.

"Ah, just in time. You knew I wouldn't allow you to keep this place. So, here I am, taking it back."

"You underestimate me Max, you always have." Shisui declared from his perch, where Max's blood still stained the rooftop from her escape in her last visit. Max tilted her head, questioning. "Your ego will be your downfall." Just then the office exploded. Max had seconds to take down the privacy wards before she got propelled out of the office. Shisui hurled kunai at her as she fell, some were intercepted by clones and others she twisted around.

Darts showered over her crowd of clones, dispelling most of them. Nine of them stood their ground, having caught the darts. Max landed between the group and Shisui in a three-point stance making a trio of small craters. One of the clones had started running and used her back as a springboard, throwing themself at Shisui while two others ran at him, coming from the flanks. Max herself launched from the floor as the remaining clones took down the approaching merchs.

The tell-tale red bleed into Shisui's eyes as Sharingan was activated. Max smirked at his look of confusion, the clones weren't actually clones, teams nine and ten, Tsunade, Anko and Kakashi had henged into her. A quick sign flickered through the squad, making sure they all were alert to the Sharingan activation.

"No Itachi? I thought he was the only person you ever willingly worked with?" Shisui taunted as he evaded the Shinobi, only to be trapped by a shadow. "A Nara? You'll need more than that my dear Max." He flared his chakra on a visible light scale, disrupting the shadow. It was a bit too late as Tsunade's fist collided with his face, sending them both over the side of the building closely followed by the rest of the squad.

What they found, from the few seconds the pair had been out of sight, was Tsunade on her knees clutching her head, tears starting to leak from her eyes. Max held up a fist, a universal sign for the rest of the squad to hold position, another sign told them to avoid his eyes. Neji and Rock Lee would be her back up here both with the right kind of experience, Tenten would assist long range.

Max had to resist the temptation to glare at the Uchiha, instead taking out a bandana she'd taken out earlier, being prepared. She tied it in place and stretch her arms out. This was going to get interesting.

Especially when the Death Note started to take effect.

There is still far more to come I can promise you that (Especially as I keep watching new stuff. Like Iron Man 3)