omg, I hate it when this site goes down. *shakes fist at ff net*

Anyway dears, here is the latest installment to SoA; special spanks to Uchiha.S, my muse, my genius, my beta. If you enjoy Harry Potter fics, you will enjoy her latest fics:) Believe me, they are epic; I love them and I don't even like Harry Potter (blasphemy, I know).

Thanks again for being awesome reviewers.

If you feel like checking out one of my newest projects, "Zombie Plague," do let me know how you like it; it is a romantic comedy starring Temari and Shikamaru:) It's up at:

www. fanfiction. net/s/7820420/1/

(Minus the evil spaces of doom)

Published to "Ffunny Ffriends" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Chapter 22: Foreboding and Fire

"The sun always rises in the east,

In the west lays her weary head;

When you return to your village

All that you love will also be dead."

~Verse IX, The First Book of Akash

Sasuke sighed wearily. He and Naruto had been walking for some time now in silence. Twilight was descending in murky shades of monastral blue, but Naruto did not seem like he was aware of the impending darkness.

"Naruto? We should probably set up camp for the night."

Naruto jumped. "What?"

Sasuke sighed before reiterating, "We should probably set up camp?"

"Nah, let's keep walking. I don't feel like stopping yet..."

Sasuke shook his head and placed a gentle hand on his companion's shoulder. "Naruto, if you're in a hurry, we should use the hiraishin. If you want travel on foot, ostensibly so we can mull over strategies, then we should set up camp and talk about our plan."

Naruto did not meet his eyes as Sasuke spoke, and remained silent; finally, when Sasuke began to despair of every receiving a reply, Naruto acquiesced with a silent nod.

They found a clearing not too far off. Sasuke gathered wood for a fire while Naruto sloughed off his pack and sat on a log, staring lifelessly at his hands. I really don't think he's been doing much planning for this mission—not that I can blame him. Gods, providing moral support is not my forte; I wish Sakura were here…

No matter; Sasuke's brain had been turning over various ideas all day, and he was sure he could pick up the slack—at least in terms of the actual mission. Initially, Sasuke had insisted on coming with Naruto on this trip less for the mission's sake and more to offer emotional support. Now, Sasuke saw how foolish that idea had been: he hadn't been able to lend any comfort at all that day. He sighed over his bundle of firewood, feeling terribly inept. He had obligations to Naruto—not just because he had Ryuu's eyes in his head, but because of everything, everything—but damn it, Sasuke was falling short, as per usual.

Sasuke had set up their camp and cooked dinner before Naruto had moved from his spot on the log.

"Oh. Thanks. I would have helped—I didn't realize..." Naruto took a bowl of gruel from Sasuke and blinked at him owlishly.

"Don't worry about it. Sakura usually makes me cook, so..." Sasuke trailed off, not really knowing how to end his sentence, and shrugged. They ate their rations in silence, punctuated only by the sound of their methodical chewing and the chirps of the emerging cicadas.

Finally, Sasuke ventured, "Naruto? Have you thought at all about how you'd like to accomplish this mission?"

Naruto swallowed his food slowly before relying, "A little... Some... Hmmm...not really."

Sasuke exhaled slowly. "We're equally distant now from the Ame border and the Akash foothills. I think it would be more fruitful to start in the town of Akash, where I initially picked up intel. From there, I'd like to investigate the Hill People."

Naruto perked up at this. "Hill People?"

"There was a fellow at the bar who had been talking to the Hill People. I overheard him saying that Yuki was being targeted, and that the Hill People were going after her…that day…"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. At the time when Sasuke had summoned him to Akash, Sasuke had only managed to get out that Yuki was in trouble. Afterwards...well, Naruto hadn't really read the mission report, or if he had, the finer points had escaped him in his grief-stricken stupor.

"Huh. That's weird. Why should some random people who live in the boonies know anything about Yuki and—" Naruto paused abruptly, his brows furrowed in thought. "Hey, do you reckon that lady who was trying to take off with Yuki was one of those Hill Folk?"

"Probably. And from Ino's report, the one who was trying to abduct Yuki..." Sasuke paused here to clear his throat. "From Yuki's memories, it seemed like the enemy ninja had the sharingan—though it was deactivated by the time we...arrived at the scene..." he concluded awkwardly.

"It's got to be Madara," Naruto spat, his voice hoarse. "I just know that bastard is behind this."

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows how the kunoichi obtained those eyes. It could have been by birth, or it could have been given to her..." Sasuke winced at this, closing his own stolen eyes; he was thankful the motion was hidden behind his sunglasses.

"Sasuke! Who else had a veritable bank of sharingan eyes, other than Uchiha Madara?" It was more of a statement than a question. Naruto balled his hands into tight fists. "We never did find his corpse, and I always wondered... I will so kill that fucking asshole—for good this time," Naruto growled.

Sasuke reached out and put a tentative hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We can't afford to jump to conclusions; after all, we're not sure exactly who or what we're dealing with." Of course, Sasuke felt that it probably was Madara; the way his own progeny had been targeted, the sightings of Madara's teleportation jutsu on the border, and under it all, an uneasy feeling in his guts that the man behind it all was all-too-familiar.

Still, they didn't have any solid proof yet, and Sasuke's words of temperance were as much for Naruto as they were for Sasuke; just because they both had similar gut feelings did not mean that they should make hasty decisions.

Naruto chewed his lower lip for a moment. "Do you remember Gomakashi, their client—the one who stabbed Konohamaru in the back? His body was sent in for testing after he expired. We sent him to your old Take teammate, actually..."

"Karin?" Sasuke hadn't heard her name mentioned for quite some time. After the last war, she had remained in Konoha and had become one of the head researchers in the Technology and Development Department. She had never sought Sasuke out during the last ten years, and Sasuke had returned the favor. He figured he was the last person Karin would want to see, after all he had put her through.

Last he had heard, she had been upgraded from 'Prisoner who works for Konoha' to 'Ibiki's girlfriend who sometimes is let out of custody.' Apparently, she was extremely gifted, especially when it came to developing and countering forms of biological warfare. That came as no surprise to Sasuke, who had seen her work firsthand. The girl was annoying but gifted, Sasuke would give her that much.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Apparently, the corpse became animated a short time after rigor mortis—"

"What?" Sasuke couldn't keep his shock from coloring his voice. "What do you mean, animated? Like edo tensei, or...?"

The blond shook his head. "I would have told you before, but I wanted to keep it hush-hush. Karin is still looking into it, but from the tests she's run so far, the jutsu doesn't seem like it is at all similar to edo tensei—aside the fact that it turns the deceased into some kind of zombie. What I mean is that the jutsu is entirely different in nature..."

Naruto held his head in his hands and sighed at his inept phrasing. "It seems that, while edo tensei binds a soul back into a body, this jutsu merely reanimates the corpse, without any particular soul in mind. Poor Karin—she was almost decapitated by the corpse when it came back to life. Thankfully, Ibiki heard her screaming and came to the rescue..."

Naruto chuckled weakly at that before continuing. "The weird thing, though, is this: Karin cross-examined Gomakashi's corpse with that arrow-wielding asshole, Yajirushi. They both had the same chakra virus. So it stands to reason that Yajirushi was also an animated corpse. But something doesn't add up: according to the reports, the assassin…"

Naruto trailed off, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "According to the reports, the arrow assassin was an extremely intelligent and formidable foe; however, when Gomakashi's virus activated—a virus exactly alike in every way to the virus in the arrow master's corpse—he just turned into a mindless zombie thing." Naruto held out his palms, face up. "I just don't get it. If they were both zombie thingies, why didn't they turn out the same?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I thought that Sakura killed Kabuto with her own two hands in the war..."

"Yes, but we all know how difficult it is to eradicate Orochimaru and his ilk from the world," Naruto remarked darkly.

"Are you saying that potentially, we're after another Orochimaru wannabe, or...?"

Naruto rose and began to pace in front of the fire. "All signs point to an Orochimaru type—but I'll be honest with you, Sasuke." Naruto paused and looked directly at his compatriot. "My gut tells me that Madara is behind this."

Sasuke exhaled through his clenched teeth. "Yeah. Mine too." Sasuke closed his eyes and an image of Itachi's dark form, surrounded by a flock of crows, appeared. He took a deep breath and forced himself to be rational. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Naruto. We should reach Akash in another day and a half. Until then..."

"Yeah. You're right." Naruto sat down by the fire again, staring blankly into the crackling flames. "I guess we shouldn't jump to conclusions; there's still way too much we don't know."

Sasuke gazed into the fire as well. Even through his sunglasses, he could still admire the flickering light as it cast everything around it into high relief. Kami, what if it's an Orochimaru type who is fighting with Madara reincarnated? What if they are in league with each other? What if it's really some new form of the Akatsuki– Sasuke shook his head. Before we start wildly speculating, we need more information. Stop overreacting; you're no better than the dobe.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm."

"Why don't you take your shades off? It's dark out."

Sasuke paled. "I'd prefer not. I'm a bit sensitive to light..."

A ghost of a grin danced over Naruto's mouth. "Come on, take them off. It's weird."

"Idiot. I'd rather not."

Sasuke continued to peer into the fire, but he could feel Naruto's eyes on him. "Bastard. Let me see your eyes."

"Are you hitting on me or something?" Sasuke replied wryly, using humor as a type of weak shield.

His witticism was met with a snort from Naruto, who commenced to rest his chin in his open palm. "Seriously, Sasuke...please?"

He said it with such sorrow and sincerity; the juxtaposition between Sasuke's dry humor and Naruto's soft, serious voice made Sasuke feel weary and worn. Sasuke lacked the strength to argue. Silently, he removed the shades and put them in his pocket and with the slow, hesitant movement of his bowed head, his eyes met Naruto's.

In the low light, their features flickered in sombre chiaroscuro; two sets of cerulean eyes observed each other as their irises echoed with copper and carmine from the fire.

"Huh." Naruto stared at Sasuke's face and skewed his lips to one side.

"What?" Sasuke snapped.

"Nothing..."

Sasuke pressed his lips together, full of self-conscious emotions he did not wish to investigate. "It's weird, no?" he whispered into the silence, wishing the ground would open and swallow him whole.

Naruto shook his head, surprising Sasuke with a grin. "Nah. Actually, it's nice."

"Hn." Sasuke chewed the inside of his cheek before he could catch himself, but Naruto noticed the motion and laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny, moron?"

Naruto flopped down on his stomach and propped his head up in his hands to watch the fire. "You are. So fucking serious. It cracks me up."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hn."

Naruto chortled again. "No, really. It's nice to see a small piece of Ryuu looking back at me, still living—and it's nice to see you seeing. So yeah. It's nice."

Sasuke's mouth ghosted upwards in a crooked grin, but otherwise, he remind silent. He didn't know how to respond.

An amiable silence fell between them, accentuated by the crackling of the fire and the songs of the night creatures.

"I actually feel a lot better now," Naruto uttered, after the long pause.

Sasuke was weirded out by the whole morbid business—why on earth was Naruto so pleased to see his dead son's eyes in Sasuke's skull? He simply couldn't wrap his mind around it. But, he supposed if Naruto was happy, then that was all that mattered. "I'm…glad," was Sasuke's gruff reply.

Naruto rolled over, reached for his pack, and unhooked his sleeping mat. "Well, we should probably hit the hay. Do you mind if you take first watch? I know it's early, but I'm feeling like I could really sleep right about now."

Sasuke nodded. "I'm not tired yet. In fact, I think I'd like to watch the fire for a while..."

Naruto grinned at that, a smile that seemed to bring life back into his eyes. "Good. All right, smack me awake in a few hours, then and I'll take the next watch."

"Sure."

In a manner of minutes, Naruto was out cold and Sasuke was admiring the jewel tones of the flames. I wonder how it is that the blue light can survive at the root of all that red—how does the blue manage to remain so bright at the base? Sasuke, in all his years of blindness, had forgotten that fires burned cobalt at the center where it was the hottest.

But to his eyes, it was almost as if the color blue was a watery entity in and of itself, burning and yet not subsumed. It was surrounded on all sides by smoldering vermillion, coals glowing the color of blood; the fluttering plumage of tangerine flames, dancing like feathers and disappearing in curling smoke. He loved the way small embers would rise with the hot air and fly, as if the fire had a mind of its own and could birth orange creatures into the air.

Hours passed and Sasuke was still gazing in the fire, sometimes taking breaks to regard the stars coldly gleaming in lime and lemon light. He checked his watch and then looked over to where Naruto was snoring loudly. Reluctant to wake him, Sasuke instead summoned a hawk to watch over them. Allowing the fire to die down to crimson cracking coals, he lay down on his mat and finally closed his eyes, feeling oddly peaceful for the first time in over a week.

Yuki was holed up in her room. When she had strode in through the front door of her home, she had needed quiet; instead, she found the entire Uzumaki family, minus Naruto, were having a massive sleep-over at her house.

Sora and Takeo were shouting loudly and chucking building blocks all over the living room; her mother and Hinata were watching a boring romance movie in the den; while her sister and Hoshiko were hanging out in Saki's room across the hall. Yuki wished she could have blocked out the annoying noises of her visitors. Sighing in exasperation, she rose to open the window, there to leap up onto the roof to find some peace and quiet.

Just as she was about to undo the latch, a dark figure rose up on the other side of the window. Yuki switched on her sharingan and braced herself to attack–

"Yuki, it's just me," came the muffled reply from the other side of the glass.

"Oh." Befuddled, Yuki opened the window while deactivating her eyes. "Cho? What are you doing here?"

"Yuki-san... You know I'm not usually one for revenge, right?"

Yuki nodded mutely, not quite sure where this was going. Cho continued, "I want to plot. We need to teach our new teammate a lesson."

Yuki grinned viciously and moved away from the window, creating space for her unannounced visitor to enter her room. "I see I've become a bad influence on you, Cho-san."

Cho rolled her eyes. "If this is wrong, I don't want to be right. No one—no one—has the right to talk shit about Ryuu-kun. Tadashi thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread, just because he has a doujutsu and Ryuu-kun didn't. But Ryuu-kun had more personality, kindness, and warmth than that ass will ever have!"

Yuki blinked. Was this really her soft-spoken teammate Cho who was speaking so vehemently? Yuki smiled, her foul mood quickly dissipating. "Have I ever told you how glad I am you're on my team?"

"This would be the first time," Cho said in a monotone as she sat down on the bed.

"Oh." With a pang of guilt, Yuki realized that she had regularly neglected her soft-spoken teammate, taking her for granted like an easy-chair: soft, comfortable, supportive, but always in the background and rarely appreciated.

Yuki cleared her throat and began, "Well...I guess I should say it more often..."

Cho grimaced. "You don't need to patronize me. I know I'll never be an exemplar ninja. It's okay..." Her unvoiced sarcasm silently wavered in the air: I'll never be an exemplar ninja—like you...

"Cho..." But Cho just shook her head. Yuki sighed and continued, "Listen. You are a hundred times the ninja Tadashi will ever be. You're loyal and dedicated, and you have a great sense of humor. I had a fucking great time doing that mission with you today. Don't undervalue yourself."

Cho sniffled and looked down at the rug. "Thanks..."

"Besides," Yuki persisted, "I have a feeling our mission for revenge is going to be the most fun we've had in a while. And I never would have thought to do something like this without you. I was kind of planning on sulking in silence, and then kicking his sorry ass during practice—but a ninja should always be prepared. Hatching a plan is a good idea. And so I thank you."

Cho offered a shy grin. "Cool."

"Now, step one: reconnaissance. And I know just the place to get it." Yuki marched forward and opened the door to her room. "Time to enlist Saki and Hoshiko's help."

Yuki strode across the hall and knocked on Saki's door. And knocked again. When she continued to receive no answer, Yuki rolled her eyes and opened it. A moment later, she wished she hadn't.

Before her, the two younger girls sat on the floor; Hoshiko's head rested on Saki's shoulder, and both of their eyes were swollen and puffy, as if they had been crying for a long time. Yuki stood in the door, her eyes wide, trapped by their gazes and unable to flee.

Cho came up from behind her and padded into the room.

"Saki-chan? Hoshiko-chan?" she called softly. The two girls just sniffled in response. Cho sat down between them on the floor, and with a sigh, put her arms around both Saki and Hoshiko. The air felt thick and heavy, and Yuki could scarcely breathe—open displays of emotion freaked her out, especially in a small, enclosed space like this. She forced herself to stir, and with jerky movements made her way to perch on Saki's bed.

Cho cleared her throat and began, "Sorry to disturb you two."

Saki sniffled and replied shakily, "It's okay, Cho-san...we were just thinking about...yeah." Hoshiko sighed at this and began to cry.

Cho nodded wisely. "I've been thinking a lot about him, too." She placed her hand over Hoshiko's bowed head and began to smooth her hair with calm, repetitious movements. "You know," Cho continued in a drawl, "Ryuu was always such a prankster. That's one of the things I enjoyed about him the most."

Hoshiko looked up at the older girl and smiled faintly. Yuki, sitting above them all and twiddling her thumbs nervously, began admiring her teammate in a new light.

Cho smiled down at the dark haired girl and began where she left off. "Perhaps it would cheer you girls up to help us pull a little prank?"

Saki looked up at Cho as she wiped away her tears. "A prank? What kind of prank?"

"Oh, I don't know. You see, we have a new teammate, and we were hoping you could give us a little information on him. Any embarrassing secrets, weird phobias—"

"You mean—about Tadashi?" Saki replied with a start.

At this point, Yuki broke in. "I know you've been stalking him, Saki—"

Saki's eyes narrowed in consternation. "Who said I was stalking anyone!" she roared.

"And Hoshiko, you're his cousin," Yuki continued blithely, "so–"

Saki broke in with a huff, "Yuki-chan, I stopped being obsessed with that idiot a long time ago."

Hoshiko laughed and replied, "When you realized he had no personality, you mean..."

"That kid has the emotional intelligence of a pencil. Talking to him is like trying to strike a conversation with rock," Saki droned lazily. "However, he is extremely good-looking. That's about all he has going for him," she concluded.

Hoshiko smiled. "My cousin is basically a decent guy, he just has a giant pole stuck up his rear-end. Even though he's a genius, he has a severe lack of common sense...as well as little to no personally."

Yuki snorted. "Sounds about right, Hoshiko-chan."

Cho broke in, "So, tell us. Is there anything weird, or even slightly embarrassing about him that could be even remotely prank worthy?"

Saki sighed and tapped her forehead in thought. "Well, he isn't very nice to Tabby—that's his pet cat. And once, the cats in his neighborhood said he stepped on their friend's tail by accident and didn't bother apologizing... Other than that, that's all the dirt I've got. He's a pretty bland character. Like oatmeal." Saki stuck out her tongue.

"Hoshiko-chan? You know him better than anyone," Cho queried.

"Um..." Hoshiko scrunched up her eyes before replying, "Well...he does have an extreme dislike of feces."

"What?" Yuki asked, incredulous.

"We were sparring once and a bird passed by overhead and...a dropping fell on his head. He just totally freaked out..." Hoshiko bit her lower lip and smiled. "It was really funny. He just flailed his arms around and shouted like a crazy person...and I ended up winning the match. Don't tell him I told you so though, okay? He'd be pretty mad at me..."

Cho grinned from ear to ear. "That sounds about perfect. And don't worry honey..." she replied, shooting Yuki a conspiring look.

"We won't tell a soul," Yuki finished.

Saki pursed her lips. "Can we watch tomorrow? When you fling shit at your newest teammate?"

They all tittered at that.

Sakura made her way up the stairs. The two youngest trolls, Sora and Takeo, were already fast asleep, and Hinata had already retreated to the guest room. Sakura sighed; Hinata had looked so exhausted that Sakura had given her a heavy sleeping draught and insisted on taking charge of the children. Hinata needed the sleep more than Sakura did, that was for sure.

The only thing left to do was to tell the girls upstairs to go to bed. As she moved down the hall, she heard riotous laughter coming from inside Saki's room.

Knocking on the door and opening it without waiting for an answer, Sakura intoned, "Girls. People are trying to sleep in this house, and it's time for you to start making your way towards bed." When her eyes alighted on Cho, she put her hands on her hips and continued sternly, "And Cho! I'm surprised to see you here. I'm sure Ino and Choji are waiting for you at home?"

Cho stood and bowed politely. "Yes ma'am, sorry about that!" Then she turned to Yuki and whispered, "Meet me at the training grounds an hour early tomorrow, okay?"

Yuki nodded and grinned.

After waving goodbye to the assembled kunoichi, Cho all but sprinted down the steps and left the house, this time through the front door. Yuki rose to leave her sister and Hoshiko, but as she was about to close the door to her own room, her mother blocked it with her foot.

"Yuki?"

"Yes, mother?"

"Let me have a look at your shoulder before you go to bed..."

Yuki nodded, mostly because she was feeling a bit sore today after her training and the subsequent cat-fetching mission. She sat down on the foot of the bed while Sakura gathered healing chakra into her hands.

"It looks like it's healing up nicely..."

"Will I be able to spar tomorrow, mom?"

Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on the injury. "As long as you are mindful and take it easy, I don't see why not." Sakura finished her ministrations and kissed her daughter on the head.

"Mom?"

"Mmm?"

Yuki sighed and leaned back into her bed. "Why... Why does dad have Ryuu's eyes?"

Sakura inhaled sharply. "Where did that come from?"

"I was just thinking..." Sakura noticed that Yuki's eyes flashed with anger momentarily, before returning to their habitual, stoic display.

Sakura sat down on the bed, her fingers idly tracing the patterned embroidery on Yuki's quilt. She replied, sotto voce, "It was a gift..."

"Ryuu never said he wanted to give his eyes to anyone! They should have been cremated with his body." Yuki crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

"Yuki-chan...it was Naruto's wish to give Sasuke the eyes. I'm sure that wherever Ryuu-kun is, he would be happy–"
"Don't give me that crap. In the ninja world, eyes are traded like sick souvenirs between victors. It's a desecration of his memory to give his eyes away like some trophy."

They were silent for a minute. Sakura stopped running her finger over the woven designs on the bedspread and tightly clasped her hands in her lap. "Yuki... Sometimes, eyes are also given as gifts to friends, to fellow ninja who will use that bequest to protect the village. Like Kakashi-san..."

Yuki blinked. "Kakashi?"

Sakura smiled. "His sharingan eye was a gift. You should ask him about it tomorrow."

Yuki had always assumed that Kakashi's sharingan had been the spoils of a battle. "Is that...really?"

"Go to the memorial stone first thing in the morning and ask him yourself."

"Won't you just tell me?"

Sakura shook her head. "It's not my story to tell. But suffice to say that restoring your father's sight wasn't the only gift Ryuu-kun has given to us. Your life is Ryuu's legacy as well."

Yuki quieted at that, her eyes withdrawn in introspection. Sakura ran a hand through Yuki's short cropped hair and sighed. "Goodnight, Yuki-chan."

Yuki was a bit stunned; she continued to stare at the wall as her mother left the room, not noticing her mother had used the honorific she always proclaimed to protest.

A gift. My life was a gift, from Ryuu-kun...

"Tsunade-sama, should we summon Naruto?" Shikamaru asked wearily, gazing down over the former Hokage's shoulder to read the scroll in her hands.

Tsunade sighed. The new intel from the border wasn't looking good. They had reports about well over a hundred missing persons from the Fire Country border alone. The curious thing was that only a dozen were connected to a jutsu similar to Madara's teleporting jutsu; the other cases were all blamed on strange abductors.

Not many of the witnesses seemed to be able to identify the perpetrator, and when they could, said perpetrator differed from case to case going by the physical descriptions. "I don't know, Shikamaru. None of this data is conclusive, and furthermore..." Tsunade sighed. "Furthermore, I don't want to bother Naruto right now."

Shikamaru chewed on his lower lip, deep in thought. "What about the new data that Karin's analyzed? About the poison used on Team Five and Gomakashi; the the similarity between the chakra virus and the biological weapons used in the First Ninja War?"

Tsunade rolled the scroll closed and leaned forward on her desk, supporting her head in her hands. "Send intel requests to the other Five Great Nations and alert them to the situation. I can't imagine the disappearing people are solely the Fire Country's problem. As for the second matter..." Tsunade's countenance darkened. "Pull up the files on Senju Hashirama, as well as all the information we have on Zetsu of the Akatsuki. If this is Madara we're up against...then he's got to be connected to the poison sample we have. We may be dealing with a mutation on Hashirama's wood jutsu."

Shikamaru nodded thoughtfully. "Karin mentioned that the poison worked like virus on the physical and chakra systems. If that's true—"

"Then perhaps Madara—or whomever it is—has found a way to parasitically feed on a person's body systems by utilizing a biological weapon derived from the First Hokage's cells," Tsunade concluded.

"That would make a lot of sense," Shikamaru mused. "Madara gained his longevity in the first place by stealing Hashirama's cells; what most people forget is that he used those very same cells to create the White Zetsu. And Zetsu was the epitome of parasitical."

Tusnade rubbed her temples with her hands. "Let's get those requests sent out," she barked. "Then…I need a drink."

"And I need a smoke." Shikamaru shook his head. Peacetime had been so—well, peaceful. He wasn't used to the stressful pace of wartime anymore. And from the look of Tsunade, who was slowly melting into an exhausted puddle on her desk, neither was she.

He strode over to his desk and began drafting the official requests that Tsunade had demanded. Hopefully, between the new intel they would receive from the other hidden villages, and the information Naruto and Sasuke would glean from their mission in Akash, they would finally get to the bottom of this mess. Shikamaru's pen paused as he gazed out of the western window, his brows furrowed with worry. The setting sun was staining the horizon a rich, blood red; for some reason, it made the hairs on Shikamaru's arm stand on end.

If they didn't figure this puzzle out, and figure it out soon… Well, Shikamaru wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he had a dark sense of foreboding about the whole thing. Shaking his head, he turned back to writing the requests. No sense in worrying until they had gathered more information, Shikamaru reminded himself firmly. Still, he couldn't quite seem to put his mind at ease, not even when the light of sunset faded from cadmium to the deep violet of evening.

a/n reviews=my undying love and affection :)