…If you own Naruto, please raise your hand….doesn't raise hand….

Author/Story note: For those of you who don't know…each Akatsuki member has an "irreplaceable" ring they wear that corresponds with their placement in the order. Orochimaru used to be a member of Akatsuki… and when he left, he took his ring with him.

Chapter 7: Jiraiya's Discovery, The First Mission

He raised a bloody hand to his head, wiping the white hair off his brow. It had been a long time since he'd been injured like this. Not since Naruto went four-tails on me…

The Hokage's palace was almost in view. In the dim light of early dawn, he stumbled down the street, his hope placed in a woman who had left him beaten and broken far worse than this in the past. Well, you were trying to look at her in the women's bath house. He smiled. She had tried to teach him a lesson—one he had chosen to ignore.

Almost there, just keep it moving…

Jiraiya stumbled up the steps to the palace, sprawling out once he reached the double doors. Lying on his back in front of them, he reached up with one arm and knocked loudly. The sound echoed out through the empty streets.

"I'm here to see Tsunade," he mumbled to the poor guard who found him.

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"Jiraiya?"

His eyes tried to focus on the voice.

"Well…he's still out… go ahead and take that book you found on him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind it being read before its official release…"

"What!?!" The Toad Sage sat up instantly. "That's a rare piece of art! You can't just take a man's property like that!"

He relaxed when he saw Tsunade's smirk. There was no one else in the room.

"I thought that might do the trick," she said, her arms crossed. "It was that or bring in some of the younger nurses—and I didn't think that would be appropriate."

"Well, you know, I probably would feel better if I had round-the-clock care, I mean with this wound and all…"

"Your wound is just about healed. More blood loss than anything else." Her tone turned serious. "What exactly happened out there?"

"Eh, I let my guard down like the old fool I am."

The Hokage inched her chair closer to the bed. "Orochimaru's old hide-out?"

He nodded.

"I went there hoping to find that ring of his before the Akatsuki learned of his death. Seems I wasn't the first one there though."

He closed his eyes, remembering the underground maze that had served as Orochimaru's final lair.

It hadn't been hard to find. The entrance was not far from the site of the final battle. He had snuck in all the same, aware that some of the injured Sound ninja's may have returned there after waking from Kurenai's genjutsu.

The place was a labyrinth of tunnels and rooms, each one holding its own sick secret. The sight of some of those experiments would never leave his mind. He had no idea of just how much death Orochimaru had required to continue in his quest of forbidden jutsus. Thinking of it made him shiver involuntarily.

"I had been down there for two or three days," He told his old team mate. "And I hadn't found a thing. It was as I was about to rest when I noticed some kind of strange clicking noise in the hallway outside—"

"—I stepped out to see what was going on…sure didn't sound like anything dangerous…and BAM! A damn exploding clay rat."

"Akatsuki," Tsunade drew in a breath.

Jiraiya nodded, looking down. "I didn't see any members, I think that perhaps it had been left as a trap for whoever ventured in after them. That person just happened to be me. I'm guessing they will return to see if indeed anyone else was there."

"Do you think they have the ring?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it. I wouldn't see the need of leaving a trap down there if they had gotten what they came for. There are so many rooms—they probably didn't search them all yet. No doubt some other business took them away."

"Well…at least you're alright." She frowned at his look of triumph. "Don't read into that too much."

"Of course not, Tsunade. Of course not." He smiled wickedly.

She stood. "I'm going to leave before I end up in one of your novels."

"I see you haven't read volume two yet?"

Murder in her eyes, she turned and left the room.

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"So here's the deal," Tsunade leaned back in her office chair. "Take your team to the location Jiraiya disclosed. There you'll wait for the Akatsuki to reappear. Depending on how many and what the situation is, take them out if you think it's possible."

"How long are we supposed to wait?"

"Give them four days, if they don't show, leave part of the team there and report back." She ignored Kakashi's look of disproval. "If you see them, follow them inside."

"You're the boss, Hokage."

"How are things…with the group?"

His eye looked at her lazily. "No problems so far. Sometimes it seems like he never left…"

Tsunade shook her head. "I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I guess only time will tell."

The copy nin nodded.

After he left, the blond woman looked in despair at the paperwork piled around her desk. It was the least of her worries, but the first thing she needed to get done. She wondered if she and Jiraiya had made the right decision by not telling team 7 about the ring.

More than likely Sasuke knew exactly where it was.

But Jiraiya was less inclined than Tsunade to trust the Uchiha yet. Maybe, just maybe, he would lead them to the ring of his own accord. Even back to his old self, he must know how important the piece of jewelry was. And it was possible that he never had a chance to wrestle that information from Orochimaru's consiousness. Tsunade wasn't sure just how "complete" something like a body take-over was. She didn't know if Sasuke had all of Orochimaru's knowledge.

And until she was sure they could trust him, he was going to be kept in the dark.

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"Sakura," Sasuke greeted her as she passed him on the way to the hospital.

"Oh, hey Sasuke-kun. On your way to train?"

"No." He changed direction to walk with her.

She could think of no other way to initiate conversation and instead just kept on walking, eyes staring forward.

"You've become a lot like Tsunade," he said. "I should have guessed you'd become a medical-specialist."

"Well, I needed to be stronger for my team. It was time I did something about it. It's not right to always hide behind Naruto and just expect him to save me."

He cast her a side-ways glance, careful not to turn his head. He noticed she was relaxed, walking with her head up, full of confidence he was unused to seeing. At least she was at ease with him. He did not get that impression from all of his new teammates.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke!"

The Uchiha looked up to see Naruto and Sai waiting a ways further up the street. "I didn't know you were meeting them here."

Sakura smiled, "I didn't know either. They're probably just on their way to the academy to meet Kakashi-sensei."

"You know you don't have to call him that anymore." Sasuke seemed annoyed.

"Well…I know…it's just habit, I guess." She looked at him with uncertainty, wondering what had shifted his mood so suddenly. "I've been calling him 'sensei' for years."

"Sasuke!" Naruto closed the gap between them. "I didn't know you were coming this way too."

"Hn." Sasuke replied.

"Are you heading to the academy to train too?"

"Sasuke doesn't have anyone worthy of training with," Sai said casually. "He's probably just out for a walk." The former ROOT member was still annoyed at Sasuke's lack of action during the bell test a few days ago. He knew the Uchiha genius had deliberately avoided using any of his techniques.

Sasuke ignored the comment—and ignored Sai completely.

Of all his teammates, he knew Sai regarded him as a traitor and an enemy. And the artistic ninja was extremely protective of his new friends.

Naruto seemed oblivious to the tension in the air. "Oh well, that's true. Sasuke has always been the best ninja from Leaf." He seemed to be genuinely thinking about the dilemma. "But I bet Sakura has him beat in strength."

The pink-haired medic shot him a menacing look. "I know I could pound you well enough!"

"Sorry Sakura-chan! On our next date I'll treat for the ramen to make up for it!"

Sasuke went deathly still.

Had he just heard Naruto correctly?

Sai did not miss Sasuke's reaction. As a highly trained specialist, he was able to read body movement—and the lack of it as well. Though he felt no kinship towards the traitor, he felt inclined to clear the air. "Naruto thinks any alone time with Sakura is a date." He made eye contact with Sasuke.

The Uchiha's face was blank.

Sakura and Naruto, though, thought nothing of it, and went on in normal conversation until they were interrupted by the form of Yamato approaching.

"Good, I'm glad you're all here together." He was legitimately surprised. "We've got our mission orders, we leave in one hour."

He handed them all a copy of Tsunade's instructions. "We'll meet Kakashi at the gates. Don't be late, I'm gonna head to the academy to get some last things together."

"Oh hey!" Naruto jumped to his side." Sai and I were just on our way over there. We'll tag along--"

"—See you guys later!" He waved to Sakura and Sasuke.

"See you guys later!" Sakura returned the wave.

She and Sasuke continued walking toward the hospital. Along the way, Sasuke noticed the looks and whispers spreading through the town's folk as he passed. If they distrusted Naruto for holding the kyuubi, he couldn't even imagine how they felt towards him.

"Thanks for walking with me, Sasuke-kun." They had stopped in front of the hospital. "I'll see you in a bit."

He nodded, wanting to return her smile… but it had been so long since he had done it, he didn't think his mouth remembered how. Instead, he inclined his head, and walked away.

He knew, instinctively, when she had gone inside and found himself grinding his teeth in doubt.

Had he done the right thing?

He was glad she hadn't noticed. With her would be the safest place for it. There was no doubt about that. She was the medic and as such, not a huge part of the fighting force of the team. If anything, she was the one everyone protected the most. And he knew that Kakashi would be the most careful with her. Besides, if all else failed, Sakura was able to hold her own.

He relaxed slightly. He had done what he had to.

And it was unlikely that Sakura would notice the strange ring that was now being carried around in her kunai pouch.

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"Alright, you all know the plan. Teams of two. Sakura, you're with Yamato. Naruto—Sai. Sasuke…you're with me."

Kakashi looked at each team member.

"It'll take us a few days to get there, so stick together. I've got faith in all of you but we have to keep our defenses up always."

Everyone nodded.

The group moved swiftly through the trees, everyone thinking separate thoughts about what was to come.

They hadn't gotten far before it started to rain.

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Coming ASAP (though I might need a day for a break soon guys) Chapter 8: Akatsuki vs. Team 7