A/N: So I don't know who all has finished the manga yet. I haven't, but I have a general idea of what happens, but I just want to say: Around this point, my story will diverge from what happens in the manga. Obviously I didn't know a huge ass ninja war was gonna happen when I started this story a couple years back (like, four, I think?). There may or may not be a war, it depends on how my story plays out. So, I'm really gonna work to make this my own story, or as my own as it can be when writing a fanfiction. So you'll begin to see some changes in this chapter, as well as next chapter, and you guys will be in for a surprise, I think, in chapter eighteen.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san, my characters belong to me, and all other OCs belong to their respective creators.

Chapter Sixteen

Kusagakure

Darcy's POV

"Alright, Kusagakure is here," I said, pointing to the village's location on the map, then I indicated a place a couple miles from the village and said, "We are here. Before we do anything we need a plan."

Akito and I sat in silence, thinking. "I think our best bet is to disguise ourselves and mask our chakra and just walk into the village. I can smell for Orochimaru without drawing attention to ourselves."

I nodded. "Sounds good, let's go." We stood, made a couple hands signs, and said, "Transform!" Our new appearances were average. I had short, brown-grey hair, and grey eyes, and a simple outfit consisting of grey pants, and a brown shirt. Akito had short black hair, and black eyes, and a similar outfit to mine.

We walked side-by-side until we reached the village, our chakra already masked.

It wasn't until we walked through the entrance that I realized we should have come up with some sort of code, to discretely communicate with each other. I guess we would figure it out as we went, and I'd have to trust Akito, which definitely would not be hard.

"Something smells really good," Akito commented. "Follow me!"

I wasn't sure if she was serious, or if that was her way of saying she smelled Orochimaru, but I followed her regardless, secretly hoping it was food. I was pretty hungry.

When we walked past all the restaurants and out of the village, though, I knew it had to be Orochimaru.

We kept our disguises on, but after a quick scan for other chakra presences, I figured it would be safe to whisper. "Some of those restaurants did look good. If all goes well, we should stop at one."

She gave a small smile, and said, "Totally agree with you." Her face went serious just then, and she added, "We're close. What's our plan?"

"I've been thinking on that," I said. "Will you be able to know if there are people in the base? Assuming there is a base."

"Yes, but I won't be able to give an exact number," she said.

I nodded. "I think our best bet would be to just… walk in," I said.

Akito thought about it a minute, then shook her head. "I know we don't have a lot of options here, but that can't be our only one. We don't know enough information about… well, anything. It would be suicidal at best to go in not knowing anything."

I sighed, knowing she was right. Maybe I wasn't meant to be a team leader, everyone seemed to be questioning me lately, and I wasn't coming up with good ideas. "What do you suggest, then?"

"I'm thinking on that one," she said.

"How close are we? I bet we could figure something out when we know what the building looks like," I said. "Or if it even is a building Orochimaru is hiding in."

Akito nodded. "Let's hurry."

"Not so fast!" A voice said above us. We looked up at the trees just as a group of sound ninja jumped down, surrounding us.

"You guys are pretty far away from home," I said, as Akito and I repositioned ourselves back to back. I whispered to her, "I count twenty on my side."

"Same," she whispered back.

"This'll be tough, but I think we can handle them," I said.

"Duh," she replied, and I knew she had a grin on her face.

"We need at least one of them so we can get information on Orochimaru." With that said, we jumped into battle.

They were basic grunts, so it wasn't hard, but it was exhausting. I had never fought this many opponents at once, so when wave two came, my shoulders sank. That didn't mean I was giving up, though. I kept up the beating I was handing out until I had forty unconscious men in front of me. I turned to see Akito knocking out her fortieth man, as well.

"We must be close," I commented.

She nodded, but immediately tensed, sniffing the air. Her head snapped up to the trees just as two men jumped from the trees.

Kabuto and Sasuke.

This was not good. My chakra levels were fine, but I was worried about my stamina levels.

"Impressive. You even managed to keep your transformation jutsu up," Kabuto said. Akito and I glanced at each other, it was obvious he knew who we were, so we released the transformation jutsu. "This ends here." Just like that, Sasuke was gone. He reappeared in front of Akito and their began their fight.

But I didn't have time to worry about that. Kabuto was running towards me, chakra around his hands in his signature move, the chakra scalpel.

I gulped. I'd have to be quicker than his hands, and be able to counter him before he could get to me. Those hands of his would seriously hurt if they so much as grazed me.

I concentrated on breathing, waiting until he was right in front of me before I ducked under his hand. I felt time slow down as Kabuto's hand moved through the spot my face had been only moments before. As I moved passed him, and his hand drifted mere inches above my head, I pivoted, focusing my chakra into my feet to move quicker. Just as quickly, I concentrated my chakra into my hand, increasing the speed and strength of punch. I plowed my fist into his back, sending him flying forward. I was feeling proud of myself until Kabuto skidded to a halt, and turned to face me again.

"I hope that's not the best you've got," he said with a grin. It was hard to tell if he was just pretending that my punch had done nothing, or if it really didn't hurt him at all. He didn't give me time to ponder that, though. He was running at me again, this time giving me no opportunity to get behind him. I was ducking and sidestepping, trying to find an opening in his defenses.

Akito's POV

Sasuke's sudden appearance in front of me did startle me a bit, I won't lie, but I was ready for his lighting fast kick that he aimed for my side. I jumped up, his kick soaring just under my feet. I knew an aerial position would be detrimental for me, so I didn't give him a chance to send another kick at me. I snapped my left foot forward, trying to connect with his face. I knew it wouldn't, though. I knew Sasuke would jump backwards to avoid it, giving me a chance to land and reposition myself for his next move. He was in front of me again, with unbelievable speed, but by focusing my chakra into my eyes and ears, I could use my wolf senses to see better, and hear when and where he was coming, which was the only thing that was allowing me to block his punches.

I needed to find an opening, so I could draw my sword and use that to my advantage, but Sasuke never let his guard down. He was just too fast, and I wasn't fast enough to go on the offensive. I knew if this pattern kept up, I would wear down, slip up somewhere, and he would get past my defense.

I couldn't let that happen, so I devised a plan. As I was blocking, I focused chakra into my hand, and at just the right moment, a grabbed his fist, halting his punch. This gave me a chance to send a kick into his side, but his other hand grabbed my leg. I sent chakra into my other leg, and using Sasuke as a support, jumped up, and snapped my foot into his stomach, letting go of him just as he let go of me, and skidded backwards.

But I knew this fight was far from over. This time I was the one charging him; I couldn't give him an opportunity to attack me again. As much as I wanted to use my sword, I didn't have enough chakra to keep my speed at his level and conduct lighting through my sword. I would have to rely on taijutsu. Which would have worked perfectly if Sasuke would have stuck with taijutsu, as well.

We were locked, both holding each other's hands blocking each other punches, when he activated his sharingan. I tried to close my eyes, but it was too late. Sasuke had caught me.

He didn't need to say anything to put me into a genjutsu. My vision went black, and I lost consciousness.

Darcy's POV

I risked a glance over at Akito, to see she had fallen to the ground. Sasuke was staring at her with his sharingan activated for a moment before he leaned down to pick her up.

"Your fight is over here!" I heard Kabuto yell. I turned my attention towards him, but a second too late. His hand was flying towards my forehead, fingers ready to slice through my skull. But his hand stopped, mere centimeters from impact, and he flipped his hand palm forward, pressing it to my forehead. I felt a surge of foreign chakra enter my brain, wrapping around my forehead protector. I tried to resist, and maybe I could have if my chakra hadn't been so low. As it stood, though, it was nearly depleted, and I finally succumbed to the chakra, eyes fluttering shut as my vision went black

When I finally came to, I made sure to keep my eyes closed. I wasn't sure where I was, but I had to make sure there was no one in the room. Who knew what would happen if someone found out I was conscious again.

I let my sense wonder. I didn't hear anyone in the room, but a quick scan for chakra signatures showed me two in this room. One was Akito, and the other was Kabuto, I was pretty sure.

His voice confirmed my assumption. "You can open your eyes, I know you're awake. I can hear the change in your breathing pattern."

I slowly opened my eyes, not sure what I would find. I found I was cuffed to a wall, my feet just barely resting on the ground. I saw Akito was in a cage off to my left, in wolf form, trying to break out with no luck.

I tugged at the cuffs, knowing it would do nothing.

"It's pointless to struggle, those are chakra inhibitors," Kabuto said. "Try to use your chakra and it'll just be drained. Her cage works a little differently. Those bars are made with chakra, it'll be impossible to break them with pure force."

"What are you and Orochimaru up to? Why do you want us?" I demanded.

"Well, he wants your friend for her kekkei genkai," Kabuto said. "As for you… well, I told him we should just kill you, but he insisted. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was for your medical skills. But I'm far better than you'll ever be."

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and a sound ninja came in, and whispered something to Kabuto.

"Well, it seems I'm needed elsewhere," he announced. "Don't go anywhere." I didn't need to see his face to know he was smirking at me.

As soon as the door closed, I looked up at the cuffs around my hands, trying to see if I could find a weak point.

Maybe I had enough brute strength to break the cuffs without chakra. I began to pull against them as hard as I could. All I got in return were sore wrists.

"Dammit," I muttered to myself.

I heard a whimper from Akito, and looked over to see her sitting down dejectedly. She transformed back into a human, and said, "We're screwed."

"Don't say that," I said. "I'm sure we can find a way out if we just think." But even I didn't believe that, I was just trying to be positive. Akito just sighed.

"Looks like you two are in a bit of a pickle," a new voice, full of amusement, said.

My head snapped over to the door, I hadn't even heard it open. There stood Kisame Hoshigaki, tall, blue and grinning like a madman, and Itachi Uchiha, stoic as ever. "What are you two doing here?" This couldn't be happening. Akito and I were in no position to fight two Akatsuki members.

"We're here to help you," Itachi said. "It's a long story, which I'll tell you now if I must, but I'd rather wait until we can talk to Gaara. Will you trust us?"

"Not until you give us good reason to," I said.

"Very well. Long story short, we don't trust Tobi. I've discovered he's really Madara Uchiha in disguise. We, along with Konan, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Hidan, are leaving the Akatsuki, to help fight against his master plan."

Wait, what? "How do we know you're not lying?"

"I have more proof, but right now, you'll have to trust the fact that we're saving you," Itachi said. "We don't have time to sit and talk about this over a cup of tea."

"A cup of evil tea?" I asked.

"What?" He asked.

"Um, never mind," I said. I glanced over at Akito, who shrugged. I glanced back at the two Akatsuki – former Akatsuki? – members. What choice did we have? "Fine."

"Very good," Itachi said, walking over to me, and unlocking the cuffs. I rubbed my wrists, and shook my arms, which were sore from being held above my head. After that, I glanced at Akito's cage.

"How do we get her out of there?"

"Leave it to me," Kisame said, brandishing his giant sword, samehada. "Back up, kid." Akito managed to scramble backwards right when Kisame's sword connected with the prison, eating away the chakra bars.

The second they were gone, I rand to my friend's side. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, I have a bit of a headache from Sasuke's sharingan, but he didn't use anything that would kill me," she said.

I nodded. "Then let's get our asses out of here."

"Right behind you," she said.

I glanced at Itachi and Kisame. "You two should probably lead, Akito and I were both out when we were dragged in here."

Itachi nodded, and we were on our way.

I sighed. I wish Kye was here. Then we'd be able to communicate with each other without Itachi and Kisame hearing us.

Akito's POV

We had just exited Orochimaru's hideout when I sensed an ominous chakra signature. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. By the way everyone else had stopped, I knew they sensed him, too.

I didn't waste any time, I transformed into my wolf form, turning to face Orochimaru. I saw Kabuto next to him. Absently, I wondered where Sasuke was, but I was too focused on Orochimaru to care about his absence.

"Unfortunately, I can't let you leave," Orochimaru said with a grin.

"Let's see you try and make us stay," Darcy countered.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Kabuto run towards Darcy, but I knew my fight was with Orochimaru. We squared off as I growled and snapped my fangs at him, trying to be as intimidating as possible. Judging from the snake-like grin spread across his face, it wasn't working, but what could actually intimidate Orochimaru?

I didn't wait for him to make a move. I jumped at him, trying to tackle him, but he easily dodged. I swiped at bit at him, but anything I did he dodged.

Out of nowhere, I saw a kick flying at me in my peripheral, and jumped just in time. I snapped at his retreating leg, and my fangs sunk into his flesh. Though he didn't verbally or visually react to the attack, I saw blood dripping down his leg. I felt a sense of pride well up. Who could say they bit Orochimaru's leg and made him bleed?

I lunged at him again, and he dodged, and would try to kick me, but I could tell from the look on his face he was going easy on me. He was probably trying to gauge my skills, to see if I was really worth his time.

Eventually, he landed a lighting fast kick on my neck, sending me flying back, and cutting off my breath temporarily.

I stood up, easily shaking off his attack, and saw him running at me. I saw a snake and tiger hand signs, and then he shouted, "Striking Shadow Snake!"

I jumped up, but he was close enough that his snakes grabbed at my ankles, wrapping around them and up my legs. Orochimaru pulled his arms, and flung me towards a tree. I quickly recovered, and ran at him again, jumping around his shadow snakes. As I approached again, he did a series of hand signs, and shouted, "Sound Wave Jutsu!"

Just like that, I slammed back into the tree. This pattern continued multiple times. It wasn't that I couldn't think of a better strategy, it was just that the wolf form was meant for attack, and I didn't think I could switch to my human form, debilitate him momentarily (with a jutsu I didn't have, might I add), switch back to my wolf form, and attack him before he could get back into the fray, which would be the easiest way to win this fight. Since I couldn't switch quick enough, I would just have to stick with my strongest form, and try to get an edge on his defenses. I would have to do it soon, too. I could feel the toll of his attacks sinking in. I needed to figure out what to do, and I needed to do it soon.

It seemed, though, that Orochimaru wouldn't be giving me a chance to figure out how to win. As I was getting up from my last encounter with a tree, I saw him opening his mouth. As I watched, a snake came out and opened its mouth, a sword hilt protruding. Orochimaru grabbed the sword, and the snake retreated.

"Let's make this quick," Orochimaru purred.

I kept my distance this time, trying to figure out a way past that sword. A hit from that would be a lot more detrimental than his shadow snakes or that sound wave technique.

"Not so quick to charge this time, are you?" He chuckled a little, and took a ready stance. With lightning fast speed, he was in front of me. He raised his sword, and slashed. I wasn't quickly enough, and a small whine escaped my muzzle.

Next thing I knew, Orochimaru had jumped back. Using a special technique to control its movements, he threw the sword, and sent it straight into my stomach. At least, that's where it would have hit had I been in human form, and if I hadn't managed to move to the side slightly. His sword still cut through my side, though. A wave of white pain shot through my side, and it was too much, I couldn't hold onto my wolf form.

I was on my hands and knees, panting, my side bleeding, but I knew if I had a moment, I would be ready to fight again. Not for long, but for a little. Unfortunately, I knew Orochimaru wouldn't give me that moment

Darcy's POV

I felt a wave of déjà vu as Kabuto rushed at me, brandishing his chakra scalpel. This time, I was ready, and I wouldn't let myself get distracted. My chakra had recharged after being unconscious, and I was ready for this fight. A hell of a lot more ready than I had been last time. I ducked his first strike, and, still crouched, sidestepped his next swipe. In the seconds that it took him to bring his hands back in front of him, I spun, my leg outstretched, knocking him down. I straightened just as he was getting up, and we faced off. I wanted to charge him, but I knew I shouldn't. There was a better chance of him landing a hit on me if I didn't stay defensive.

He charged me again, this time sending a kick at my head, which I grabbed, stopping it right before impact. Unfortunately, that left me open for his chakra scalpel. I pushed at his leg, hoping to knock him off balance, and simultaneously redirect his chakra scalpel.

That was exactly what happened, too. He jumped back quickly, flinging senbon at me that I just barely dodged. I glanced down to see they were coated in poison. I looked up at him to see him grinning.

"I was hoping to catch you off guard," he said. "But I suppose that won't be so easily done, you being one of Sakura's students and all."

I grinned at him, and as he charged me again, I tried to find what openings I could in his defense, landing a kick here and a punch there.

There was a momentary break in our fight, when I was able to look over to Akito, to see her panting on the ground. I glanced over to Orochimaru, to see his hands formed in a strange hand seal.

"Is that…?" I trailed off, glancing back at Itachi, who had a worried look on his face.

"The Curse Seal," he confirmed.

"Akito!" I cried out. I had to get to her. I ran towards Kabuto, who was caught unaware, and punched him in the stomach with all I had, using a small amount of chakra to enhance my strength. He flew back into a tree, and I ran to my friend just as Orochimaru's head began to extend towards her.

I reached her just in time, grabbing her and rolling both of us out of the way just as Orochimaru's head connected with the ground.

I stood and faced him, enraged. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me!" This was stupid, suicidal, I couldn't even use any of my jutsu; I didn't have any water.

Before I knew what was happening, Kisame was at my side. "Take care of your friend. I'll handle him. We need to get going soon."

I glanced at Akito, and though the wound was serious, and would eventually need attention, I knew she could last a little bit longer. She nodded towards Orochimaru, and that was my cue to help Kisame. "She'll be fine. Besides, it'll take less time if we fought him together," I said. "I just need water, and I can use my jutsu on him."

"Heh, easily done," he said. He made a series of quick hand seals, and shouted, "Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!" He held his head back, and spewed out a large wave of water. Orochimaru was quick to jump up, but I was quick to make my move before the water could even settle.

I did a series of quick hand signs, shouting, "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

I knew Orochimaru would dodge, but I was hoping Kisame would be quick on a follow up attack. "Water Style: Shark Bomb Jutsu!"

As he performed his hand seals, I performed another series of my own, and as Orochimaru dodged Kisame's jutsu, I sent my Water Dragon Jutsu at him.

He was not quick enough to dodge that. A moment after my jutsu hit, Kisame was charging towards Orochimaru, samehada raised ready to strike.

I had a feeling my part of this battle was over, and I was right. Sort of. My vortex disappeared, and Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen.

"Very impressive," Orochimaru's slippery voice said from behind us. He was holding Kabuto's unconscious body over his shoulder. "But I'm afraid this is the end of our little encounter." With that said, he disappeared into the ground with his subordinate.

I hadn't realized how exhausted I was until he disappeared, and I felt my breath coming quickly and heavily.

"You should have helped you friend instead of me," Kisame said. "Now you don't have the chakra to help her."

"Yes I do," I said. I turned and hurried to Akito's side, worried I had waited too long. She was now laying on the ground, and looked too pale. "Akito." I knelt by her side, and held my hands over her side. I could tell from how the sword had hit and her wound that no vitals had been hit, but she had lost a lot of blood. My hand glowed with green healing chakra, and I moved my hands over the wound. I had enough chakra to heal her, but just barely. Once her wound was healed, I felt her pulse on her wrist, as well as checked her heartbeat. I didn't hear or feel anything, which worried me greatly. "You're not dying on me, Akito. Not now." I closed my eyes, digging deep, remembering my necklace that I hadn't used since the Chunin exams. Focusing the last of my chakra, as well as what was stored in my necklace, I placed my hands over her heart trying to imitate electro shock therapy, except with chakra. I pressed down on her heart, focusing my chakra into her heart, trying to kick start it. I did this five or six times before I leaned down and checked her heart, not noticing much of a difference. I kept at it, pushing on her heart, willing it to work. Once again, I leaned down, still no difference. I dropped her wrist, and fought the tears coming to my eyes. "No, no, no!" I was about to try again when I heard a cough. I froze where I was.

"Darcy… you're heavy…" she managed to whisper.

"Akito!" I cried, quickly sitting up. "I'm glad you're okay. You were nearly dead there, for a moment."

"I knew I was in good hands." She smiled, closing her eyes. Normally, I'd freak out about someone as injured as her closing their eyes, but I knew I had saved her from the worst of her injuries. Now she just needed rest.

"You did well, kid," I said with a smile, picking her up, and carrying her on my back. I looked at Itachi and Kisame. "Let's go."

"Hey, maybe I should carry her," Kisame said. "You don't look so hot."

"I'll be fine," I said. Although, if I looked as bad as I felt, he definitely had a point.

"If you get tired, I can carry her," Kisame said, jumping next to me in the trees.

I smiled. "I'm fine," I repeated.

A/N: Holy wow. Sorry this is so long, I guess. 4,681 words (counting the author's notes). But I suppose it needed to be long. I considered cutting it, and restarting it in another chapter, but I have plans for chapters seventeen and eighteen, and I didn't want to go back here, you know? I just wanted to get it done with and move on to the next plot devise. But, I'm sorry to say the next chapter will probably be short. Hope you enjoyed!

Also, Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate it! As well as happy holidays and a happy New Year to all!