A pale ray of moonlight passed through the windows of the Hokage's office.

The three ninja stood around the table, staring at the map. Shikamaru let a curse pass between his teeth. "Shitty old man," he declared. "This is all about vengeance?"

"Yes." Tsunade paused. "I don't know that there's more to it than that, but there certainly is some element of vengeance involved in this pursuit."

"Why'd you let him go on this mission?" Shikamaru demanded.

Tsunade exhaled. "I understand his feelings."

"What do you mean, you understand his feelings?!" Shikamaru spat. He slammed his hand against the table. "I mean—he could be injured or worse pursuing this! What does he think he's doing?"

"In a sense I envy him." Tsunade set down the papers. "The man I loved best in the world was killed by a nameless soldier, not so much as an official jōnin. At least he has a target for his feelings." She closed her eyes briefly, seemingly recalling some distant event.

Shikamaru fell silent. He stared into space without words.

"But Tsunade, we need more details. Who was it?" Ino leaned in at the table, studying the map. "The person who he's avenging, I mean."

"Asuma is a part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja." Tsunade exhaled. "To be thoroughly honest, I don't know that this is my story to tell." She glanced down at the paper. "And it's not something you should know about either, given your attitudes."

"You owe us this much for sending him off. He's never going to tell us if he has an option." Shikamaru stared at the paper. "What the hell happened?"

Chōji stared at the map wordlessly.

Ino glanced toward Shikamaru. Her expression, from long experience, suggested caution in the situation.

"No, I'm not shutting up! We have a right to know what's going on." Shikamaru stared at Tsunade intently.

Tsunade inhaled deeply. She tightened her jaw for a long moment. "I'm getting to that, though I'm certainly reluctant. This impatience isn't like you, young man."

Shikamaru looked steadily at Tsunade. "You'd be the same way if it was your mentor in danger." He closed his mouth, letting his hand fall to the map. "Anyone would be."

Tsunade looked down at the map. She went on, her expression immobile, "Asuma was formerly a rival of a man named Chiriko, a fellow student of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Chiriko earned a very unique reputation as a wandering monk, a man who fought many self-aimed and 'just' wars. He earned a poor reputation with most of the other nations. At some point the Mist daimyo of the time placed a bounty on his head, and Akatsuki stepped in. The one who slew Chiriko was named Kakushiro. Details regarding her origin are scant, but at a guess she likely came from Hidden Waterfall."

Shikamaru frowned. "How long ago was this?"

"Thirty years or so," Tsunade responded.

Shikamaru studied the map. "This person should be ancient, then, right?"

"Kakushiro's history is longer than thirty years. There are reports of her actions during the First Shinobi World War." Tsunade brushed her finger along the map.

Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"That's impossible. She'd be at least a hundred, right?" Chōji questioned.

"People can live to a hundred, Chōji." Ino frowned.

"And keep fighting?" Chōji went on skeptically.

"Especially if this Chiriko guy was his rival, I don't see it happening. Chōji's right. It doesn't seem probable." Shikamaru paused. "She'd be fighting much more seriously in that situation, right?"

"I don't know about the veracity of the First Shinobi World War report. I wasn't there." Tsunade paused. "What I do know is this—I've seen her twice in my life. The first time was during the Second Shinobi World War, in a battle against Hidden Rain. The second was in a casino seven years ago." Tsunade paused for effect. "In both cases, she looked the same—at least, her eyes and chakra hadn't changed in the slightest. There were no wrinkles, and at a glance she wasn't using a Transformation Technique like mine."

Shikamaru frowned. "So we're talking about taking down an immortal."

"Not impossible. Easier than killing Unmei at the least." Tsunade paused. "Besides that, I wouldn't have sent him if I didn't have faith in his abilities. I believe that Asuma can kill this immortal."

Shikamaru gritted his teeth. "So that's it? We're just supposed to let him pursue this woman, regardless of the consequences?"

"Not all. You're right; sending him alone would probably have been a mistake. Akatsuki always sends pairs to deal with problems." Tsunade paused. "However, the truth of the matter is different than that. I didn't send him alone, and his job isn't to kill the members of Akatsuki right now. For now he's delaying them until the Raikage can arrive."

Shikamaru studied the map. "That being said, why aren't we involved?" He slammed his hand suddenly against the table. Red swelling indicated his injury, a bruising along the edge of the hand.

Ino nodded. "It's our duty, isn't it?" She leaned forward. "We're his team."

"Asuma—" Tsunade sighed heavily. "It was at his request."

Shikamaru's brow furrowed.

"Though he was in agreement that you'd produce the best results, he said that he didn't want you to be forced to carry out his vengeance. If he died he wanted the chain of vengeance to end with him. One way or the other. I've assigned him to journey with three other jōnin. With any luck they'll handle it successfully themselves."

Shikamaru slammed his fist against the table. "It doesn't make sense. If he knew that we'd save him more trouble, why would he keep us out of it?"

Ino shook her head slowly from side to side. "Shikamaru, be quiet—"

"And another thing. If he does die, does he think we're going to take this lightly?" Shikamaru lowered his hand to his side. "Shit!" His hand slammed against the table again. An ugly bruise formed at the edge of his hand. "Shitty old man!"

"I'm forbidding you to pursue him," Tsunade stated sharply. "Unless you understand his reasons for doing this, you can't join him."

"Why should I work that out?!" Shikamaru shouted. His voice disturbed a nearby resting owl, sending it upward from the branch into flight.

"Because unless you understand that, you can't understand why he's doing any of this!"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth. Shadowy threads twisted around his fingers.

Ino grasped Shikamaru's shoulder hard.

Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed.

Ino shook her head from side to side.

Shikamaru let the threads dissipate. His fingers slowly opened, releasing the death grip of his fists.

"In general I've attempted to avoid abusing my powers as Hokage, but this is a situation I can't ignore." Tsunade turned her gaze back to the table. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. But that's the fact."

Shikamaru's silence filled the room for a long moment, making the other members in the group hesitant to speak.

"Who got sent instead?" Ino finally questioned in a tentative voice.

"For this operation he's been assigned to work with Hagane Kotetsu, Kagazuki Izumo, and Shiranui Genma." Tsunade sighed heavily.

"I'd be a better pick," Shikamaru muttered.

"You don't have as much experience. In this situation, you're also acting irrationally."

Shikamaru fell silent.

"If there's nothing further." Tsunade cleared her throat. She rearranged the papers on her desk. "Have a good evening."

Dismissal, stinging like the night wind of chill against the skin.

Akatsuki

The abandoned house darkened. Snow fell outside the room. A fire, dull and sullen, rose from the fireplace, sending smoke upward across the wingswept night.

Shivering, Izumo wrapped his cloak around his body. "Cursed cold," he muttered.

"Can't be helped. Getting to Hidden Cloud isn't exactly easy at the best of times; looks like we got lucky, though. The Koirikage isn't usually so welcoming to visitors, especially on a mission like this." Genma's lips curled upward. After a long pause, he glanced toward Asuma. "How are you holding up?"

Asuma looked up from the ceramic pot on the fire. He blinked. "Eh?"

"I know a little bit about what happened." Genma paused. His eyes narrowed. "No. To be more specific, I'm sure we all know some of the details of what happened to Chiriko. Up until now I've been quiet about it because I assumed you were going to tell us about it on your own time. How you were doing emotionally. But it seems that you're not willing to speak your mind." He snorted. "I suppose one simple question's answer will do. Is your vengeance likely to compromise the mission?"

A silence filled the house.

"I'm fine." Asuma fell silent. He looked into the flames of the guttering fire. "No, I suppose I'm being selfish in this, but I'm not afraid of dying. Emotionally I'm stable on that front. That doesn't threaten me. Rather than that, I'm afraid of seeing—I still remember it." He exhaled heavily. His hand rested against his pocket, searching for the pack of cigarettes now left at home. He sighed. "I remember the night after Chiriko died. I had to move his possessions. The robe was still stained. Blood on the interior, a piece of skin blacker than night."

"It's regarding your students, then?" Genma questioned.

Asuma nodded. "That's no longer a danger." He looked down.

"I know I'm in no place to lecture, but they know the risks, and—"

"Does that improve it? They're still children." Asuma sighed. "I know they're skilled, but ultimately they're still too young to make it worth sending them out. They have lives ahead of them."

"You have a kid back home, don't you?" Genma asked bluntly.

"Heh." Asuma chuckled. "Not likely. Kurenai's not told me about it if so." He reached out, poking the fire with a stick. "But even if so, she at least understands the importance of what I'm doing to me. We had dinner with Chiriko a couple times before he died. She may hate me for it, when all's said and done, but she'll at least understand why I've done it." His gaze softened. "And why I can't let her go with me."

"That was Tsunade's doing." Kotetsu yawned, studying the food. "I wish we'd been able to stay in the Land of Hot Springs longer, though. That would have been a lot more fun."

Izumo sighed. "This is something of a mission requiring time crunch. If we screw up or take too long, the village may be in danger."

Asuma pulled the pot off the fire. "So how big of a portion does everyone want?"

"I'll be fine with whatever." Kotetsu grinned. "Though I'd like a bigger portion than that lunk over there."

Genma didn't turn his head to look toward Kotetsu. "There's something else that's been bothering me."

Asuma frowned. "What's that?"

"It might be nothing, but I generally have a pretty good sense for when I'm being followed. The hairs on the back of my neck prick up, my body starts sweating." Genma paused. "What I'm saying is, I've had that feeling all the way up the trail."

Asuma glanced toward the doorway warily.

The four people gathered around the table, preparing to eat.

Kotetsu glanced over his shoulder. "If someone is following us, you think they'd need to make more noise than that in a place like this."

Sparks rose from the fire, striking the dull dark stones with embers of fading flame.

"Doesn't hurt to be cautious." Genma paused. "Doesn't seem like the Koirikage's doing, either. We'd either be dead by now, or he'd have told us directly that we weren't permitted through his territory. So I think we're being hunted by someone or something else."

Kotetsu glanced doubtfully toward the doorway.

Snow fell outside the building.

"If they're out unprotected in this weather, they're probably not a problem."

"Right. Let's review the mission parameters again." Izumo rubbed his hands together. He took a chattering bite of the meat.

"Keep Akatsuki busy, get Yugito out." Genma took a bite of the meat.

Asuma exhaled.

"If this goes sour, there'll probably be larger consequences."

"Like what?" Kotetsu questioned, his brow furrowing.

"War with Hidden Cloud. At the least diplomatic relations are going to worsen, since we agreed to protect her and failed. It'll also make Hidden Leaf look worse." Genma paused. "We can't even protect one jinchūriki—there'd be a strong chance that we'd lose Naruto to the actions of another nation."

"To begin with they called us in to deal with a problem they couldn't handle fast enough. That Eight-Tails jinchūriki is occupied and the Raikage can't be sent out in a situation like this or they'll lose face, right?" Izumo went on.

Kotetsu frowned.

"In essence therefore we're trying to prevent the explosion of a tag extending all the way to the roots of the shinobi system."

"Where exactly is Yugito now?"

"She was training to contain the Two-Tails atop one of the mountains. That's the only thing we've got going for us right now." Asuma grinned.

Kotetsu blinked. He paused in his eating of the meat, his fork hovering in front of his mouth.

"Akatsuki always travels in pairs, and if Kakushiro's partner has trouble entering higher areas like a mountain, then that gives us some time to reach Yugito."

Izumo nodded. "Yes, that's right. But then, it'll take us time to ascend that kind of mountain too."

Asuma nodded. "Most of us. If recollection serves, Genma came from a mountain himself." He took another bite of the meat from the pot.

Genma shrugged. "It's true that I did come from the mountain tribes, but that was a long time ago. My body isn't exactly made for traversing such distances so easily." He glanced down at his hand. "Having said that, we probably don't need to go up the whole mountain. Ideally, if we can find them and attack them before that, it should be possible to end this battle fairly quickly." He set down the fork. "That's all for me. Good night."

The sky darkened, snow descending outside the room.

Asuma tucked himself into bed, staring wordlessly at the ceiling.

A/N: Next week's chapter will be released slightly earlier than usual, so look forward to that.