Sorry this took so long! Been busy applying to Vet School and studying for the GRE! Not much else to say, except enjoy this next chapter!

Danzou had to smile at what he just watched. "Perfect. This is absolutely perfect." He couldn't stop saying it; after all, how could a man like him call it anything but? The Hokage's apprentice in league with a criminal organization; the political opportunities it possessed! Of course, he knew otherwise. "This must be the scheme Kizu was talking about." On the surface, it looked as though Kizu was going to beat Naruto to a bloody pulp, counting on him to not lay a finger on his teammate. However, both Kizu and Naruto surprised him time and time again; him obtaining this video was probably the real plan. There was no doubt that everyone close to her would defend her to the last breath. But to everyone else, this video would be all the proof they would need.

He began to think of what would happen then. With it, he would deal a severe blow not only to Tsunade, but to that foul jinchuriki as well! Danzou remembered Kizu telling him that he had to enrage Naruto to the point that all nine-tails would be released; he doubted that this alone would do it…but it was the perfect stepping stone to getting started. There was the risk that he would unleash the Kyuubi's wrath once more…but it would likely be a necessary sacrifice. More often than not, the masses had to be stricken with panic before they could recognize a true leader.

Feeling he had seen enough and now was a good time to go into hiding, he put the tape into his safe. He rotated the locks daily, so if someone managed to break in one day, that same combination wouldn't work again. "I will have to thank Kizu for the extra copy."

Team Lee had finally made it back into Fire Country, and would be approaching Konoha shortly. Sadly, they couldn't take the refugees with them; but they made every effort to find safe havens for them, even if it was only temporarily. Lee assured the Ainu that he would not let it go and would tell the Hokage immediately. Feeling they needed an ambassador of some sort, the Ainu asked them to take Hyouike. At first Lee refused, but Hyouike herself was determined to go, and he couldn't deny her interactions with a Konoha nin justified her talking with the Hokage; she was proving to be rather mature for her age.

"How are you all holding up back there!?" Lee called back to his students.

"I'm okay!!" Chan shouted, although he was panting profusely as well, due to carrying the ambassador in question on his back, something he was not used to doing for long periods of time. Originally, Lee ordered Jaa to carry Hyouike on his back. But Chan kept insisting he would do it, and Jaa eventually relinquished.

Lee understood why; he didn't mean to make Jaa look like the only one on the team he cared about. But he would have to make it up to Chan and Li later, as there were more important things going on at the time. "We're getting close!! Let's move it!!"

On Chan's back, Hyouike looked over her escort. Quite frankly, he seemed to be exhausted. "Am I too heavy? I could just get off and…"

"It's okay!!" Chan yelled. Calming down a bit, he reiterated his statement. "I mean, thanks for the offer. But you needn't concern yourself. I'm a ninja; this is what I trained for!!"

Hyouike just rolled her eyes. "Men." She grumbled. They always had to act all cool and push themselves to do stupid things even when others told them they didn't have to. Well, not ALL men were like that. "Yuji…" She wanted to beg these ninjas to look for him. But her people came first. She had to make sure Lee and the others got them to safety, and would do everything in their power to ensure the Ainu's safety for at least another generation. Also, due to her contact with a Konoha nin, the adults made her their ambassador to Fire Country, and hopefully others in the future; even at her age, she could not downplay her importance. She felt terribly embarrassed by the idea as well, but she understood that she had to grow up.

Hyouike was suddenly brought back to reality when Chan came to a screeching halt. Lee held his arm out, signaling for his team to halt. Pointing to the shrubs nearby, the team followed his lead as they ducked into the bushes. Hyouike was about to ask what was going on when Jaa clamped his hand over her mouth. When she heard footsteps, she shut up completely.

Soon, two Iwa nin came into view. Scouts, by the look of it. "All clear. The operation will go as planned." one of them spoke into his radio. "Let's fall back." his companion said.

"We're supposed to be well within Fire Country, right?" Hyouike thought. "Then that means…"

Before she could finish, Lee leapt out of the bushes with a high-pitched cry and knocked one of the scouts unconscious with a spinning kick. He then grabbed the other by the throat and smacked him against a tree, bringing every leaf down. Before anything else was done, he pulled the radio off the enemy's jacket. "What's going on!? Tell me!!!" Lee shouted as he shook the hell out of the Iwa nin.

Though bruised and disoriented, the nin managed to reply "We're invading. What else would it look like to the likes of you?" That earned him a good punch across the face, but not nearly good enough to knock him out. That was, of course, on purpose.

"I don't have time for this!!" Lee nearly yelled. "I am not one for torture, but I'm in a hurry." Lee placed his hand under the enemy's shirt and on his chest, whispering "Kyuushu Choujou no Jutsu." With that, he twisted hard.

"Dammit." was the only thing Yuji could think of. Granted, he was already tied down, but his current predicament wasn't doing anything to make him feel better. Still, despite his frustrations, he paid close attention to what he could, hoping any information he had could be used later.

He knew he was now with a group of people, judging by the multiple sounds of breathing. Wherever he was, it was warm. He could tell by the breeze he was no longer indoors. However, Earth Country was known for being only temperate even in the summer. Which meant… "Fire Country. I have to be there." He only heard vague details from Koungasenki and the chunin he spoke with about what Iwa was planning. Some kind of siege, if he recalled correctly. Not very shinobi like, and that alone made no sense for Koungasenki to take him. He could try escaping, but he heard about his restraints back in the academy. The bandages around his head, wrists and ankles were littered with seals. If broken, or if they became too loose, they would explode. It was best to wait and make out whatever information he could before acting. He knew he would be used for something, and just maybe, he could turn that against him.

Kizu took a look at his hostages, making sure it would be enough to get the job done. "Not bad. A little more would have helped, but not bad." He knew Konoha would follow their instructions. Or at least, they would pretend to; the latter was far more likely. Either way, he knew he would be seeing Naruto shortly, and he was prepared for any rescue attempt. Granted, it would be troublesome if Tsunade used all of her shinobi to fight back. But his goal was to claim the jinchuriki, not fight. Simply retreating would be enough.

Kizu turned to Deidara. "How much time?"

Deidara checked his watch and replied "About fifteen minutes."

Kizu sighed. "Time really does move slowly when you're anticipating something."

"Mommy, I'm scared!" Some high-pitched voice screamed, catching Kizu's attention. It was a child, obviously.

"Hush darling!!" Its mother, Kizu thought

Thinking of nothing better to do, Kizu decided to walk down the hill to inspect the captors, just to pass time. He came up behind the mother and child that caught his attention, and just as he was about to walk in front of them, Kizu felt something tap his shoulder. Reflexively, Kizu used his host's powerful arms to flip the unknown person over. But when he got a good look at the person, he sighed. "Tobi…"

Tobi, trying his best to hide the pain from being thrown on top his broken arm, hurried up, and bowed. "Kizu-sama, is there anything I can do to help?"

Kizu stared at him dangerously. Why did he seem so…eager, all of the sudden? "I don't know. If I recall correctly, I believe you nearly betrayed me…"

Tobi nearly shouted "I was confused!! I will never stray from your teachings again, and I want to prove it to you!!"

For the longest time, Kizu simply stared at him. Then, almost hurriedly, he took Tobi's arm and healed it. "We may need one more fighter. But I warn you: I won't be so forgiving the next time…" The growl that came after was definitely his, and not the young woman's whose body he was using.

Tobi, seemingly fascinated, flexed his arm. He felt no pain, and it moved perfectly! "Thank you so much, Kizu-sama!!" he nearly shouted as he kneeled.

"Go." Kizu said. "You will join up with Deidara again. This time, DO YOUR JOB."

"Yes, yes!!" Tobi nearly sang happily as he ran over to the blonde criminal.

Kizu just rolled his hosts' eyes. "Back to work." he muttered to himself; as useful as this body was, he preferred to be able to use his own freely.

Sasuke awoke suddenly with a sharp pain in the back of his neck. "Ohhh…" Slowly, his vision returned as did feeling in his body. After what seemed to be a long time of not thinking, Sasuke's mind finally kicked in.

Remembering what went on before he was knocked out, Sasuke stood abruptly, anticipating someone to attack him or to find Midoriiro being attacked. To his surprise and relief, nothing. "Midoriiro?" Sasuke looked around to see she wasn't here. Then it hit him. "Wait!! It was her!! She knocked me out!!" Sasuke's face scrunched up in anger. "That…!" Sasuke nearly bit his tongue, and did something that was foreign to him for years; he took a deep breath, and calmed down. Taking a minute to let his anger go, Sasuke asked himself "Why? Why did she go? Midoriiro, didn't you trust me?" It was then Sasuke noticed a piece of paper on the desk.

Taking it in his hand, he began to read it…

Sasuke,

If you're reading this, chances are that you've noticed I've gone missing. I wish I could tell you why, but the truth is…well, I can't XD. I've been thinking though, maybe it really is for the best we separate. We're both wanted criminals from our nations, and while I can tell you've been thinking of a way to go back one day, I have no intention to return to my homeland. Being associated with a mist-swordsman like me is something you don't need. In the meantime, I guess I'll just be wandering like I always do. I never did like staying in one place for very long. Even so, you should know…I'm really glad to have met you. It was always a joy teasing you, and it was…nice. Nice to have company. Most importantly, I have to thank you for listening to me, and for not judging me when you heard my story. After telling you about my past, I felt like a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. And when you learned I was a killer, yet stood by me…I can't describe to you how I felt.

I wish I could tell you so much more about me, and I wish I could learn so much more about you. But it seems fate has other plans for us. I wish you the best of luck on your journey!!

Love, with hugs, kisses, and other things I bet you wish I did to you,

Midoriiro

P.S. Did anyone tell you that YOU ARE FREAKN' HOT!!!???

Sasuke simply sat down, dropping the letter. He didn't know what came over him, it was just…he just felt helpless. Even if he wasn't, what could he do? She made the decision to leave, and Sasuke didn't know where to begin to look for her. He had a feeling she didn't even want to be found. The more he thought about it, though, the more he began to long for her. The times he spent with her…sure, they were crazy, but he realized it was nice just to have someone to be near, to talk to, as well as just do something with…and then whispered to himself "I need to find her."

He thought about asking the whole town. "That wouldn't do any good. She probably would avoid the townsfolk at all cost." Sasuke's mind began moving forward from there. "She would also dive into the river to wash away her scent. Which means, I have no way of tracking her, period." Sasuke should have given up right there, but for some reason, he didn't.

"I'll just have to guess where she is! Now, let's see…I know she got a letter. That had to do something with her leaving! Something she didn't want me to know about. But what? After all she told me? It doesn't make sense; she would have told me everything!! Unless…it involved something concerning me!"

It couldn't have been threatening her with his life…surely, the mist nin would have done their research! Perhaps they were threatening something precious to him? But what? Ever since he left to train with Orochimaru, he had nothing he held dear. Except…"Except Konoha…" He hadn't held Konoha precious for years, and still didn't believe he did. But after finding out how much he truly regretted attacking the village, he realized he couldn't allow someone else to do the same. And knowing Midoriiro, it wasn't likely that she would allow such a thing either. That was the only thing that made sense.

It was a long shot, but it was the only chance he had. It could also be the dumbest thing Sasuke would ever do. He would be more likely to be killed by his former comrades than the mist nin, he reminded himself. Undeterred, he headed off…

Midoriiro drank some water while running at the same time. It was not the way she preferred to, but she would have to bear it if she wanted to make it to the meeting place indicated on the letter. After all, she was given a time limit. "I can't let it happen. Not to Sasuke-chan's people!!!" Going to the meeting place would probably mean the death of her, something she had been trying to avoid for years. But, if living meant letting other innocent people die…she would have used her sword on herself a long time ago. However, that right was reserved for someone else, and rightfully so, she told herself. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-chan. I just hope…I hope my life will make your dream of returning home come true!" She continued on, for the first time in her life, not afraid to die.

The Tsuchikage tapped his foot incessantly. Even if thanks to the human summons made getting to fire country take only an instant, it still felt like he was wasting his time. "Where are they!? Do they want their own villagers to die that badly!?"

"Not at all."

The Tsuchikage looked up from his make-shift desk, and looked at none other than the Hokage and the Kazekage. "Ahh, Hokage-sama. Kazekage-sama. I am so glad you could make it."

The two kages simply remained silent, and walked straight to him. "Have a seat." the Tsuchikage ordered.

The two did so, and Tsunade chose that moment to speak. "They are unharmed, as promised?"

"Well, so long as none of them did something stupid; after all, if the guards simply restrained them, it would be much more likely that they would rebel. Killing one of them should they develop a backbone is quite necessary in such situations. I'm sure, two great warriors such as yourselves, would understand, no?"

Predictably, Tsunade didn't respond to that. Gaara, as usual, remained silent the whole time. The Tsuchikage sighed and cracked his knuckles. "No fun at all. Pity. Very well, shall we proceed?"

Naruto tree-hopped towards the meeting place. He had the utmost trust in his comrades, and believed they would pull through. Still, the fear of failure was still there. What if they killed the villagers anyway? What if Hinata couldn't save Sakura? Perhaps the doubt that plagued him the most was…

"Halt!" Naruto stopped on the next branch, as he glanced upon an Iwa jonin. "You are Uzumaki Naruto?" The jinchuriki simply nodded in response. "Follow me."

They both came down to the ground, and walked past the crowd of hostages. Naruto, looking upon their fearful faces, realized that much more than Sakura was at stake. Even so, he couldn't help but feel selfish; she meant the world to him. Finally, the jonin moved away, and Naruto came face to face with his mysterious nemesis, figuratively speaking. Seeing Sakura look at him like that was even more unsettling than watching her on the TV.

Kizu…in Sakura's body of course…rose from a meditative stance. Deidara, Tobi and Hidan were right behind her/him. "Uzumaki Naruto…we meet at last."

Naruto only glared at him. "I wouldn't say that. I'm looking at the face of someone dear; that and you couldn't come out to show me who you really are."

Kizu smirked. "Fair enough; your reasoning is quite sound. But let me warn you, I am not afraid to face you myself. I am simply a believer in efficiency, and this method was best. If I fought you, I would risk getting ambushed by your friends…individuals I have learned the hard way not to underestimate. Also, it's more troublesome if a leader places himself in a situation where he risks getting attacked and killed…don't you agree? This is just my way of making sure our plans go smoothly without risking the organization."

Naruto simply replied "Coward."

Kizu just sighed, and motioned towards his henchman. Deidara and Tobi came to both sides of Naruto, and held his arms. Kizu walked close to him, and preformed a plethora of seals. Finally, he thrust his fingers into Naruto's solar plexus, causing him to scream as he felt his body go haywire. When the sensation stopped, Naruto realized something was wrong. Kizu than lifted Naruto's jacket, just enough to reveal his bellybutton. Surrounding it were more symbols than he remembered seeing.

"Orochimaru used this move on me as a kid." Naruto said aloud.

Kizu then replied "Correction: Orochimaru learned a simpler version from me. His simply imbalanced your chakra with the Kyuubi's. Mine seals both altogether; you're helpless at this point. The only way you can possibly hope to hurt me is with taijutsu, but without your ability to concentrate chakra even instinctively, you'll be more likely to break your hand."

Naruto's head sunk. "So, it's off to have my biju sucked out, huh?"

"Not quite. If that were the case, I would gladly do it without delay. But a complication has arisen. You see, the Yodaime Hokage has made the seal more intricate than what we've encountered in other jinchuriki. I won't go into the details, but the seal is really strong. In fact, it's designed to absorb Kyuubi's chakra, not simply contain it. So, for now, we are going to lock you up. Don't worry; we'll take good care of you." Kizu grinned evilly. "And by that, I mean crush your spirit of course."

As Deidara and Tobi were began to drag him away, Naruto punched Deidara across the face, and broke free from Tobi's grip. Kizu cocked back a fist, expecting an attack. But instead, Naruto cupped Sakura's chin and nearly yelled "I love you!! I always have!!"

Time seemed to stop, but before he knew it, Deidara came back and knocked him to the ground. "Bitch! Do that again and I'll make you a true work of art!!"

Calmly, Kizu said "As pleasurable as that may be, Deidara, may I remind you we need him alive?"

Deidara grunted, and grabbed Naruto off the ground. "Come on, brat; let's take you back to base so we CAN kill you…at some point, anyway."

Naruto went along with it, but despite his predicament, his hope soared. It was only for a second…but he saw Sakura's eyes swell and turn back to their natural color. "She's still inside there…hang on, Sakura-chan! Help is on the way! Be brave!!"

Lee's Iwa captive collapsed on the ground, panting as if he were doing a centathalon. Hyouike and Lee's students cringed constantly upon witnessing Lee's rather…unusual forms of torture.

"A tough one, aren't you?" Lee chided. "Well, I suppose it's time for the Kurumiwari no Jutsu!!!"

Everyone besides Lee seemed to scream at that instant; not even upon the devil would any of them wish such a thing! The enemy shinobi held his hand towards Lee's face and screamed "Wait, wait!! I'll tell you!!! No more!!!"

Lee simply put his foot on his captive's chest, and applied pressure. "Go on." He hissed in an unusually un-Lee like tone.

"We've taken a number of your villagers hostage!! The Tsuchikage planned to use them to make your village an extension of our own!!!"

Lee's face became shocked, but then hardened quickly. Slamming the nin against the tree, Lee nearly yelled "There's more to it, isn't there!?"

The Iwa nin grunted "One more thing. The guys who helped us…they wanted someone in return. A blond guy. That's all I remember about him."

Lee seemed confused, but quickly caught his drift. "Naruto-kun…" Lee knocked the man out with a back fist, and turned to his team. "Listen, we've got a hostage situation!! I'm sure everyone is doing what they can, but we need to get there and help!! Remember, we will observe first!! Do not attack unless something happens!! We could become targets of friendly fire or worse, make them kill the captives!!" The team nodded affirmatively. "Team Lee: Moving out!!"

"Mommy, I wanna go home!!" A child, Yuji thought. Couldn't be older than four.

"Hush darling, we're not allowed to talk!!" The mother, he presumed.

"But mommy!! I wanna go!!!"

The child kept wailing, and Yuji heard someone approaching them. "Keep the brat quiet!! Do you two want to die that badly!?"

"Please forgive her!! She's only a child!!"

"MOMMIEEE!!!"

Then, Yuji heard the sound of something getting smacked. With a club, to be precise. Yuji stopped breathing and thinking upon hearing the sickening sound. "You better be thankful I'm in a good mood, bitch!!! Next time, I'll cut her hands and feed her to the dogs!!"

Upon hearing what went on, it seemed a new spirit was forced into Yuji. He then realized that even if he was a captive, he was still a shinobi. He now understood the true meaning of unacceptable defeat. "Think, Yuji, think!!! Nothing is impossible to escape! There must be a way out of here!!" But the more Yuji thought about it, the more he realized it was most likely futile. Koungasenki surely stripped him of all his weapons and tools…

"Wait!! Come to think of it…he kind of just rushed through with the whole search thing…" Remembering when Koungasenki first captured him, he seemed to be so obsessed with torturing him that he took much shorter than he should have to do the search properly. It was only a small chance…but it was better than nothing. Yuji shook his hips, and felt a slight noise. Like candy banging together. "Yes! My food pills!" They weren't a cure all, but they would at least help give his chakra a boost. Enough to make a difference.

While trying to avoid drawing attention to himself, Yuji shook his hips and hurled the container out of his pocket. Sure enough, he heard the sound the container hitting a rock, just loud enough so he could hear. Though blindfolded, he got on the ground and used his tongue to scan the dirt. "Look at this poor mutt! Sniffing around for a meal!!" Yuji wanted to pound the guy, but for now it was best to let them think that. The process was unpleasant, but finally, his mouth reached one of the pills. Carefully, Yuji swallowed it, and felt a massive rush of chakra flow within him. "Awesome!! Now…what to do about my binds? If I break them…" It hit him: not break them. Melt them.

Quietly, Yuji made the hand signs; he did them long enough to know them by heart and didn't need to see his hands to do it right. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." He whispered. A multitude of tiny spiders appeared; they wouldn't be able to fight the other shinobi. But that's not what he had in mind. Feeling around, he bumped into someone who, judging by his trembling, was a fellow hostage. "Psst." Yuji called to him. "Get in front of me. Quickly. I'm a Konoha chunin. And I'm going to get us out of here." The villager, though perplexed and scared, did as he was asked, and the spiders leapt onto the young boys bandages. The spiders would secrete as much toxins as possible, and hopefully melt away the ink. "It is risky, but it's a chance I'll have to take!"

"…so, we have an agreement?" the Tsuchikage asked. "Once you two sign the treaty, your villages will become mere colonies of mine." The Tsuchikage started to stare more intently at Tsunade. "And you…Lady Tsunade…will belong to me as well." Upon finishing that sentence, he licked his lips, as if to emphasize his point.

Tsunade visibly gulped. Forget all the moral implications about being married to a man such as him…hell itself was probably a better place than in the bedroom with him. Nonetheless, both she and Gaara rose to sign their names. With the feathered pen, Tsunade slowly stroked her signature, as did Gaara after her.

The Tsuchikage's grin grew even wider, if that were possible. "Excellent!!" He practically snatched the treaty out of their hands and danced like a child who won a petty trophy. "At long last!! I have accomplished what my predecessors before me could never do!! I'll be acknowledged as the greatest Tsuchikage of all time!!"

"I suggest you read the fine print. Other side" Tsunade smirked .

Mutsuguro clearly became enraged at her response and prepared to slap her, but something caught his attention. Perplexed, the Tsuchikage flipped the parchment…and saw the smoldering explosive tags. A second later, a loud bang sent the kage flying backwards a good distance away from his two counterparts. The tags weren't nearly powerful enough to kill him or inflict significant damage. But it was enough to cover his face in soot. "FOOLS!! You think this is a game!? Let me show you just how serious I am!!!" Reaching into his coat, he drew a kunai with a red explosive tag. He prepared to throw it straight up…but a hand of sand encased his and held him down.

"Now!!" Gaara yelled. "Hit it!!" Quickly, Tsunade revealed a pager in her belt and pressed a button. Gaara pulled the other signal flare away from Mutsuguro.

"You…you will sacrifice them all just for this!! A petty, last stand!?" the Tsuchikage yelled incredulously.

Tsunade, seemingly unafraid, replied "We only delayed you long enough to get our own men in place!! At this point, all we can do is place our faith in them!!"

"In the meantime, we'll take care of you." Gaara added coldly. The two kages got ready for battle, while the Tsuchikage simply trembled.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade teased. "I know the odds against you are hardly fair, but surely a kage such as you should know better than to show fear, no? If not, you're…"

"DON'T!!! Don't you dare call me that!!" The Tsuchikage screamed. Instead of being provoked into fighting, he ran in the opposite direction and grabbed onto the boulder next to him. Except, as the other two saw a second later, it wasn't a boulder.

"Quite an intricate curtain." Gaara commented.

Underneath was a large cage, although the way it was angled, Tsunade and Gaara could not tell what was inside. "Have you ever wondered the real reason I've kept the amount of jonin and special jonin limited?" The Tsuchikage asked them rhetorically. "True, I feared their power. But what I feared even more was their free will. No matter how conditioned, trained and loyal a human being is, they will always have the potential to betray you. But, at the same time, no one can deny that I need that power. So, how did we solve this dilemma, you may ask? The answer is simple: Machines!!" As if on cue, a large, humanoid form popped out of the cage. The legs were like a dinosaur, the body stocky. The arms began skinny, but soon changed into thick gauntlet-like claws. The head resembled a gorilla with a bear trap for teeth. "I kidnapped and tortured a dozen puppet masters to create this for me!! You should be honored, for this is the first time I've ever used it!!"

"Oh no you don't!!" Gaara flung his sand at the Tsuchikage as he climbed in, but the overweight nin pressed a button and electricity shot out from the body, disintegrating the sand. Without further delay, the Tsuchikage leaped behind its head and climbed in. The cockpit was oval-shaped, and as he found out, was barely able to fit someone of his girth. Quickly he placed his fingers into the hallow tubes that would allow him to control it, and just as he was told, it began to move. "Yes, yes!!"

The two kages outside took a step back as the gargantuan puppet took a step towards them. Tsunade looked at her partner and asked sarcastically "Pardon me, Kazekage-sama, but why isn't your brother here with us again?"

"Believe me, had I known this would come up I would have gladly brought him with me." Gaara replied.

"Do we really have to wait?" an Iwa nin asked.

"Might as well kill them; I doubt they're the type to surrender." Another commented.

"Why don't we take a couple hands? Tsuchikage-sama could use them to show the Hokage and Kazekage just how serious we are." The Iwa nins in the area then turned to face their hostages, who were trembling in fear. "Don't worry; this will be over quick!!" Each of them raised their kunai, and all of a sudden… they froze. "What's going on!?" Suddenly, tendrils appeared out of their shadows and impaled them. Not all of them were killed, but each one was incapacitated.

Most of the villagers were confused; however, some recognized what happened. "Over there!!" one of them called.

Shikamaru appeared behind the forests, and upon seeing the Konoha jonin, the villagers were filled with relief. "This way!! Hurry!!"

Quickly, the citizens began to follow the jonin, but then something leapt in front of them and hit the ground hard, creating a huge shockwave that knocked them down. A huge cloud of dust rose, which given the current debacle, Shikamaru was thankful for. "Shit!! I can't let them see Sakura like this! Kage Mane!!" Quickly, his shadow caught Sakura's body.

"What-" Before Kizu could finish, Shikamaru ran into the forest with him.

"Get away from here!! Others are on their way to help!!!"

Finally, the two stopped deep into the forest. "You should know simply capturing me will do you no good." Kizu said calmly, but made his killer instincts known.

"Don't worry; I've a friend to help me with that!!" the shadow user replied.

As if on cue, Hinata leapt out of the bushes, her Byakugan activated. "Sakura-san!!!"

Before she could land a strike on her, a steel ball hit Hinata in the ribs, sending her flying.

"Hinata!!...No…" Shikamaru's shadow contracted back to him, freeing the possessed Sakura.

"Brat!!" Kizu ran forward and punched Shikamaru's chest, causing him to cough up blood and fall.

As Kizu flexed his fists, loving the feeling of shattering one's ribs with his bare hands, Hidan came out of hiding and yelled "HEY!!! I've got a bone to pick with this asshole!! Mind if I-?"

"Be my guest." Kizu replied apathetically.

Hidan bent down and cut Shikamaru's cheek. The blood on the ground was probably too contaminated to use. Licking the blood, his skin transformed and the trigram surrounded him. "Say goodbye, punk!! I just wish you were awake to see yourself die the same way your master did!!" As he got ready to stab himself, Hinata leapt between him and Shikamaru. "ARRGGHHH!!! Out of my way, little girl!!!" Hidan swung his scythe down, which Hinata side-stepped. She continued to turn rapidly, throwing Hidan clear into the forest.

Hinata then turned to face Kizu, squared off in her gentle fist stance. "A Hyuuga." Kizu whispered upon seeing her transparent eyes.

"I'm here to take back Sakura-san!!" Hinata called, sounding more confident then she was feeling.

Kizu only laughed in reply. "With all do respect, I don't know much about you. But I could see the nervous wreck you were back in Konoha. What makes you think you can take me!?"

"That would be telling. Why don't you come and find out?" Hinata whispered, her hand inviting him to attack.

Kizu slowly frowned menacingly. "Very well. I could use a warm up for what's likely to come." Kizu leaped into the air, and Hinata did the same as the two faced off.

Yuji could tell from the sounds something was happening. They weren't loud. But he knew someone was sneaking up on them. And he had a feeling that might actually be a good thing. "Come on, come on!!" He had to attack soon; it would help the rescuers.

"Sir, did you hear that…"

Suddenly, the sound of bodies dropping filled Yuji's ears. A command to attack.

"NOW!!!!" Yuji screamed. He broke free of his bonds, and ripping off his blindfold, tackled the commanding ninja to the ground. Before the captain could react, Yuji focused his chakra and broke the guard's face with one punch. Quickly digging into his victim's pouch, Yuji took his shuriken and flung them at every Iwa nin in sight. He didn't land a fatal blow on any of them, but he gave all the civilians the time they needed to escape, as well as provided some needed distractions for some of the ANBU who were assisting them. One of them leapt in front of Yuji. "There are others at the village borders that will escort them: go help them!"

"Yes sir!!" Yuji ran where the hostages were going, while the ANBU battled the Iwa nins. "Now I've got to-" Yuji nearly yelped in pain as he put weight on his foot. "I should have known…" How could he help effectively? He was badly wounded, and he had no arms to work with. He could hold off all the foot soldiers coming after him, but he would exert too much chakra in doing so. "I'll just have to wing it like sensei does." Yuji thought. He realized right there to never give up wasn't a matter of pride; it was a matter of protecting everything one held dear.

Kizu threw a straight punch at Hinata, but the heiress swung her arms in a circle, carrying her body away from the incoming fist. She thrust a palm forward, but Kizu flipped away out of reach. "Not bad. You're faster than I thought." The Akatsuki leader noted. Kizu ran straight for her, preparing to smash her face in. Hinata began to rotate, but at the last second, he crouched down and kicked the ground, sending Hinata flying into the air. Kizu grabbed a kunai and jumped after her. Hinata acted quickly though, and brought out her own kunai, blocking the other blade. However, Sakura's strength easily cut through it and sent the Hyuuga flying into a tree.

Kizu ran forward for another stab, but Hinata dodged, and thrust a palm forward towards his chin. Kizu jumped back, recognizing the taijutsu style and what his opponent was trying to do. "Is that the famous gentle fist? It seems you missed; the chin does not have any chakra coils."

"I did not miss." Hinata stated, uncharacteristically confident. As soon as she said that, a jewel on Sakura's left side of the nose burst. Kizu's eyes widened in shock as he realized what she was really trying to do. "At first, I didn't know what it was, but now I get it: You're sending some kind of signal to Sakura's body. Or should I say, right into those jewels you placed all over Sakura's face, replacing any cerebral input her brain would send to her body with your own. And I'm going to remove them!"

Before Hinata got a chance to resume the fight, something sharp swiped across Hinata's face. The heiress felt the blood trickle down her cheek, and turned around to see Hidan's skin turn black.

"Now, let's resume where we left off!!" Hidan thrust the sharp end of his weapon towards himself, and tore apart flesh. But not his own.

"Kakashi-sensei!!" Hinata cried.

Kakashi thrust his hand towards the large weapon, preventing Hidan from completing his ritual. "You son of a bitch!! It won't work when it's contaminated with someone else's blood!!"

Hidan retracted his weapon and swung it, but fortunately Kakashi leaped out of range. "Hinata! You concentrate on Sakura!! I'll deal with this guy!!"

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!!" Hinata yelled back.

Kizu tried a sneak attack on Hinata, but she parried his punch and threw the possessed kunoichi to the ground. Hinata thrust her fingers into another jewel, and blew it up. "NO!!!" Kizu did a reverse tornado kick to drive Hinata away and recover.

Hinata backed away, but noticed she was still grazed with a nasty bruise. A frightening reminder of what just one strike could do if she wasn't careful "Afraid?" Hinata asked, hoping to break some of his confidence.

Kizu only looked at her in contempt. "Just surprised. You think you can take your friend back? I dare you to try it!!"

The two ran towards each other, and their motives could not be more different. One was trying to kill his opponent. The other was trying to save the vessel; her true opponent was pulling the strings from elsewhere. She was also, somewhere deep inside, fighting an emotional battle as well. "Sakura-san…surely, you must know how I feel about Naruto-kun. It hurts that I can never have his heart…but I know you're the only one who can give him the happiness he's longed for and deserved. For me, that will be enough…"

"What the hell is going on!?" Genkakushoujou yelled to her teammates. Everywhere, they saw immobilized Iwa nin and civilians retreating. Normally, they would have killed them on sight, but they knew the civilians were not alone; they could be walking into a trap.

"All I heard was that the civilians are escaping." San replied, too calm to be believable. The trio of Iwa nin leapt into the trees and went after the escapees.

"I bet this is all your fault, Koungasenki!!" Genkakushoujou yelled, pointing an accusing finger at her teammate. "You mixed a ninja in with those nobodies!!"

"His foot was badly infected!! There's no way he can fight!!" the psycho nin replied.

"You always blame everything except yourself!!" the drug kunoichi yelled back.

"And you blame nothing but me!!!"

"Let us avoid fighting amongst ourselves." San added, still impossibly calm. "Our enemies will…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" his two teammates screamed in response. San simply rolled his eyes. "You're going to get me all killed someday."

Suddenly, a radio signal came in. "Koungasenki, Genkakushoujou, San… do you read?" Deidara!

"We read you." San replied.

"Listen, don't worry about the civilians, they're not important right now. My comrades have the jinchuriki, and it is imperative that you eliminate anyone who will try to rescue him. Find any Konoha ninja you can and kill them quickly!!" Deidara ordered.

"What about you?" Koungasenki asked.

"Kizu-sama said our work with this one will take time, but we will at least cage him properly. I should be back soon enough. Now hurry!!" The radio cut off, and Deidara's team lay in wait.

"It will be more fun to fight them than kill those civilians." San noted.

"You said it; I was getting bored out of my skull." Koungasenki added.

"I hope we encounter the Hokage soon; I've got some hallucinogens I'm just DYING to try on her…" the kunoichi cackled evilly. "…perhaps an intense sexual fantasy? Imagine what we could get her to do if we got that on video!"

On the outskirts of Konoha, Hanabi's team and Iori waited to receive the incoming civilians. All the Hokage told them to do was to make sure any Iwa nin trying to reclaim them would be held off by any means possible. Iori, in the meantime, was tapping her foot nervously. Not because of the job she was entrusted with; she was waiting for someone. Someone who should have been at his post, lest the Hokage turned him into a hamburger patty! Finally, Shiguri came running up the hill, panting.

Iori just stared at him, clearly furious. "Where the hell have you been!? We were ordered to stay here, and once they leave, what do you do!? You run back into the village!! If Hanabi didn't tell me to just follow my orders and let the Hokage deal with you, I'd have made you my next knuckle-rock!!! Whatever reason you had for going back down there…it better be good." She growled threateningly.

Shiguri simply held up his hand in defense. "Sorry…I had…" he continued to pant. The fact that Shiguri used up enough energy to tire himself out right before a potentially big battle irritated her to the point of nearly stabbing him. "… I had…to pick up something!!"

"What!?" Iori yelled in response. "We're getting ready to potentially save our people!! What could be so important that you had to go back!?" she demanded.

Shiguri then reached behind his back, and held up coiled wires. Iori immediately recognized them as Yuji's weapons! "I know he's not likely to show up." Shiguri said sadly. "But still…if for any reason we meet again during the battle, he's probably going to need these."

Iori looked at him sadly, understanding him. She doubted Yuji would return, but…"Here they come." She whispered as she felt the faint vibrations in the ground. The two looked into the forest, seeing the incoming crowd of non-ninja heading their way. "Hanabi and her team are backing us up. We should be…"

"Incoming!!" one of the others shouted

Shiguri and Iori ran towards the call for help. "Even this close to the village!?" Shiguri yelled. "They're way too persistent to my liking!!"

As expected, Iwa nin were pursuing the stampede of civilians. But this was exactly what Hanabi and the others were supposed to do, as they shielded their people from their attackers and fought back. Hanabi danced around her opponents with her gentle fist, while Uryuu and Kenshin used their trademark weapons to hold off the attackers. "Don't let ANY of them touch our people!!" Hanabi cried as she thrust an open palm into the chest of an attacker.

"Don't worry!" Kenshin called back as he pummeled a number of attackers with his furious fists.

"We'd rather die before we let our families!!" Uryuu called back as his bow and sword fell many opponents.

"Your wish is our command."

Without warning, stalactites rose in a circle around Uryuu and impaled him. Before he noticed, Kenshin's hands were encased in crystal and pinned to the ground. "Kenshin!! Uryuu!!" Hanabi sensed a small projectile coming her way, and used her kaiten to parry it.

"Awww, no fair!!" a voice called. "I wanted to revert your mind to that of an infant!!" Soon, Team Deidara appeared before them. While Hanabi was new to them, the Iwa teens and Team 12 eyed each other in surprise and anger. "You!!" Genkakushoujou exclaimed, pointing to Iori. "You were supposed to be a mindless killer the moment I commanded you to!!"

Iori growled back "Sorry, but that disgusting thing turned out to be bad for my health. I had to get it removed." Iori tightened her grip on her kamas, ready to spill blood. "And I'm sorry, but didn't I cut off your foot?" The two teams began sizing each other up.

" Well, it seems we're evenly matched." San noted. "But your actual teammate is missing; you know nothing about Koungasenki's abilities, and your friend here knows nothing about us. It might as well be 3 against 2."

"Plus, we know about that girl's clan and her techniques." Koungasenki added, as if he was trying to best San in tactical knowledge. Whatever rivalry they had though, was irrelevant to them.

"Maybe." Shiguri responded. "But we already have a good grasp of your moves; we'll take you out and help Hanabi with your friend over there when we're finished."

Out of nowhere, someone yelled "Nenten Daijabi!!" A twisting body fell from the sky and landed, creating a crater where Team Deidara used to stand.

The newcomer stood, and Shiguri immediately recognized him. "Hey, I know you!! "You're…" Shiguri kept snapping his fingers, desperately trying to remember the name that was right on the tip of his tongue.

"Tiger Jaa." Jaa answered for him.

"Right." Shiguri replied, fairly embarrassed.

"My team just arrived, and we know the situation." Jaa elaborated. "I was ordered to come here and help."

"We need all the help we can get. Welcome aboard." Iori said as she twirled her weapons into an attacking position.

The four immediately charged the outnumbered team. Tiger Jaa used a flying knee to send Koungasenki rolling, but the chunin retaliated with crystallized shuriken. Using his elbows to block, Jaa managed to protect all of his vital areas. Before Koungasenki could do anymore, something wrapped around his ankle. It pulled, and he was flat on his back. The next thing he saw was Iori with her kamas flying towards him. "Perfect." He grinned. Iori's blades hit flesh as expected, and then she cocked her arms back for another slash. However, her kamas simply stopped upon impact. Iori saw that the teenager beneath her was smiling wickedly, and some glass-like substance was covering his arms.

"Doton!! DoGrenado no Jutsu!!" The ground all around Iori suddenly exploded, hurling rock shrapnel into her body, paralyzing her in pain. Koungasenki kicked her off and was back on his feet. San quickly pointed his arms at the downed kunoichi."Now…" San hissed. "DIE!!!"

Without warning, a dragon-tongue was hurled towards him, landing a cut on his forehead. Hanabi rushed towards him, and intending to finish him off quickly, performed her Hakke Rokujuuyonshou. It seemed like she made a direct hit, but then clay started crumbling to the ground. "A clay clone!?" From underground, a hand sprang up and sprayed acid on Hanabi's back. Hanabi recoiled in pain, and San rose from the ground about to land a killing blow.

"Asshole!!" Shiguri screamed as he got ready to hurl some kunai. San however, created a barrier and prepared a counter attack from behind. Little did he know, so did Shiguri. "Now!"

A fist smashed through the mud wall, pummeling San right in the face. Jaa ran through the hole he created, preparing another powerful kick, but something grazed his neck. "OW!!" Jaa tried to ignore it, but stumbled as he continued to move forward. His eyes were acting up; they were like two separate cameras constantly zooming in and out independent of one another.

Genkakushoujou slowly walked towards him."This isn't the worst I've got; I don't have many drug weapons on me at the moment, and I'm not wasting the best on you!!" Genkakushoujou rushed him, but a twisting Hanabi threw her off balance with a leg sweep and onto the floor.

Shiguri ran over to Jaa. "Are you okay?"

"No. But I recognize some of the symptoms. I can use bio feedback to gain some control." Shiguri was pretty worried; he heard of some ninjas applying the method in combat, but using it while moving took a lot longer than remaining still, a skill he doubted a chunin would have. Plus, it would take a calm, focused mind to cleanse the poison out with willpower; something he severely doubted his comrade would get.

"I guess we have no choice." He noted as he got into a defensive position.

Iori walked over to them, as did Hanabi. "We've got quite a battle ahead of us." she commented.

"The advantage is still ours though; they're outnumbered." Shiguri reminded her.

"Are you so sure?" San asked, still impossibly unemotional as before.

Iori's eyes twitched in response. "What? In case you haven't noticed, we're now a team of four. You still got only three."

"It may seem like an advantage, but it's not." San replied.

"Come again?" Iori gripped her kamas tighter, both in annoyance and fear.

"Why don't you come here and find out?" San challenged.

"We were planning on it!" Iori shouted back. The two groups rushed towards each other once more.

Kakashi hurled his shuriken at Hidan. He knew it wouldn't kill him, but at the moment he was simply testing the waters. There was something different about Hidan, and Kakashi couldn't risk loosing his life to find out. Without warning, tendrils sprouted from Hidan's back and blocked the weapons. Just as quickly, 2 masks appeared to the sides of Kakashi. "This is…!"

Wind and fire combined, the masks fired, frying the jonin to a crisp. Or so it seemed. "Come out!! I know you're just hiding!!" Hidan's arm extended, and dove into the earth. A moment later, Kakashi leapt out unscathed.

"I know those moves." the jonin said to himself.

"Oh yeah, that's right, isn't it? You fought Kakuzu!"

"Kakuzu is dead! I killed him!" Kakashi shouted. "Care to elaborate to me what's going on?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!!" the immortal screamed as he once again swung his kusarigama at Kakashi. However, the blade hit nothing but a log, and before he knew it, Hidan was riddled with kunai wrapped in explosive tags. Quickly, a mask popped out of his back and doused him with water, preventing his explosion to smithereens. "You're too quick for me just to cut; it looks like I'll have to blow a leg off first!!"

In the trees, Kakashi hid desperately trying to analyze the situation. "It's definitely Hidan, but he seems to posses the abilities of both himself and his partner. Could it be…?" He tried to think up other theories, and quickly dismissed them all. As absurd as it sounded out loud, fusion between Hidan's and Kakuzu's bodies was the only one that made sense. "I probably don't have to worry about him taking my heart or possessing others; his natural immortality would make such a jutsu pointless. He's been trying to take blood, which means he still does his ritual. He's got the tendrils and the masks…this isn't good." Quickly, Kakashi prepared a kage bushin. "I could barely stand up to Kakuzu back then, and I had Ino and Chouji helping me. I have no idea how I would have fared against Hidan. But Naruto's and Sakura's lives depend on this!!"

The bushin ran out and attacked Hidan. It threw kunai, but Hidan made no attempt to block or fight back, despite the minor annoyance it caused him. When the clone got close enough to come in for a stab, Hidan simply let it. Frustrated, the immortal shouted "Come on!! I know this isn't you!! I ain't wasting any energy on this!!" Quickly, the clone grabbed him in a bear hug, and immediately a giant fireball flew straight towards them. Once again, Hidan simply did nothing. His skin burned badly, but he paid it no heed. "Coward!!! Face me!!"

"As you command!" The real Kakashi came running out of the trees with all of his weapons drawn.

"That's right, come closer so I can make you suffer the wrath of Jashin!!" Hidan threw his kusarigama, but it missed Kakashi. Oddly enough the blade was stuck. Probably stuck in a crack…

"If I take you're head off, you'll be helpless!!" Kakashi yelled as he drew a rather large knife from his back.

"True! Which is why I'll kill you before you get the chance!!" Hidan launched the chain portion of his weapon, only to miss again. And when the chain stuck to the ground, Hidan realized something was dreadfully wrong. "What's going on!? If blunt weapons are sticking to the ground, so should he!! How-" Hidan didn't get a chance to finish his line of thought as Kakashi rushed appeared right in front of him. Out of instinct, Hidan shot out his tendrils. Kakashi backed away and dodged each and every one of them. Like the rest, they were all stuck to the ground. "Try these!!" The masks came out, firing their respective elements. However, Kakashi was prepared. He used a minor ration attack to disable the doton mask, encased the suiton mask in an earth prison, doused the katon with water, and blew the ration mask into the tar. Kakashi was almost upon him…but Hidan only smiled, and that's when he realized something was up.

From underground, a sudden gust of wind erupted from the earth, sending the copy ninja flying. The futon mask rose, and concentrated its burst, creating a tornado that caused Kakashi to twist around like a ragdoll. Finally, Kakashi fell to the ground and wound up stuck just like Hidan's other weapons.

"That was a clever trick you pulled; using a kage bushin to hold me in place, use a fire attack to turn the ground to tar, and tricking me into getting my best weapons stuck to the ground. To keep yourself from getting stuck, you attached shuriken into your feet; the small, sharp points prevented any sticking. But you forgot one crucial fact about the masks: they were Kakuzu's hearts. Back then, if you destroyed one of the masks, you destroyed a heart. But I am truly immortal. Therefore…" Kakashi saw some of the masks he believed to have destroyed come back to life, and went about freeing the others. "…as long as I live, they do. So…"

Hidan used his strength to pull his weapon and tendrils free, and took aim at Kakashi "…I can't think of a better opportunity." He hissed.

Quickly, Kakashi whistled. An explosion went off, and a greenish cloud of gas enveloped the area. The fumes were toxic to both combatants, but Kakashi's mask gave him enough protection. The tar began to break down, and Kakashi made his escape.

Hidan stepped out and hacked up a storm, but neither combatant was surprised to see him recover. "Wow. That was clever of you, to anticipate you could become a victim of your own trap." Hidan smiled manically as he twirled his weapon. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

Kakashi panted, and commented "Yeah, a couple of them."

Kizu launched a roundhouse kick, but Hinata flipped over him, and used the momentum to lunge into Kizu, knocking him down. Hinata began to close in for another gentle fist attack, but gasped and fell to her knee when a sharp pain struck her. Hinata looked down and found bruise around her ankle beginning to swell. "I could've sworn I dodged it!"

Kizu relaxed slightly and said "You're quick, but just one touch from me in this body could break you. A graze from me is probably like a well-executed attack from someone else."

Hinata paid him no heed and crouched; this was no time to drag on the fight. " The longer this lasts, Naruto gets further away, and there's no guarantee the rescue was a success! I have to end this right now!!" Hinata's technique was never as good as Neji's…but even if she missed most of the points, she would hit something vulnerable and cripple him. "Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!" Hinata began to wildly thrust her hands, paying attention to the tenkatsu points all over Sakura's body. It wouldn't kill her, but it would neutralize her chakra, allowing Hinata to destroy the remaining jewels with ease. Hinata thrust one last palm, and hit…cherry blossoms? "Genjutsu!" Hinata tried to bring her hands to form the kai sign, but immediately felt tree roots wrap around her arms and pulled them apart. She knew she wasn't really being held down…but no matter what she knew, as long as her body perceived it, the genjutsu would hold her in place. As long as Kizu wanted, which Hinata wagered was only a second. Quickly, using a trick she learned from Kurenai-sensei, she bit her lip, and immediately felt her bonds dissolve. Before she could get a good look at her surroundings, she caught movement in the corner of her eye. Quickly, she reeled back, but felt something sharp cut across her eye. A shockwave soon followed, sending her flying.

"Damn. I was hoping to take one of your eyes, but it seems you dispelled the illusion in the nick of time." Kizu hissed coldly.

Hinata took her hand off her eye, and squared off again. "I have to remember that Hokage-sama's strength isn't the only thing she's known for."

"It's been fun, but I have business to attend to. Goodbye." Kizu threw pellets towards her, which burst into purple clouds. Hinata could tell by the color they were poisonous. Quickly, Hinata used her rotation technique and blew the smoke back towards him. "What the-"Kizu fell back, covering his face.

"A little trick I learned from Naruto-kun!!"

Kizu turned around to see Hinata right in front of him. "NO!!!" Kizu grabbed her wrist before it made contact with his host's face. "Annoying little technique. I'll have to do something about that." Kizu proceeded to crush her wrist, but Hinata acted quickly and thrust a palm into Sakura's chest. "Oomph!" Stunned, he let go, and Hinata used that freedom to touch another jewel. As with the rest, it exploded. Kizu stepped back, shocked.

"Three down, four to go. You are correct in assuming I won't kill Sakura-san." Hinata hissed. "But if it means helping her, I'm not above hitting or hurting her. Even if Naruto-kun hates me for it."

Kizu growled…and lunged.

"NOW!"

The Tsuchikage used his puppetry techniques and slammed the giant machine's arm down. Both kages easily dodged to the sides, but Gaara knew that wouldn't be the end of it. "Hokage-sama, look out!!" Quickly, Gaara raised his sand shield, protecting himself from the spikes that suddenly shot out from the metal arm. Tsunade had no such means of defense, but her agility allowed her to dodge the deadly projectiles.

The Tsuchikage wasn't exactly pleased that he wasn't able to take them both out in less than three moves. "Not bad. But get a load of this!!" he shouted as he bent his pinky.

On cue, electrical wires shot out from the discarded spikes and ensnared Tsunade. The kunoichi resisted the electric shocks much better than other shinobi, but the pain still forced her down to her knees.

"Hold on!! Suna Rashin" Quickly, Gaara shot bits of sand towards the mechanized monstrosity. Most made only tiny dents, but apparently, one of them hit the transmitter. The electricity was cut off, and Tsunade inhaled sharply as she found she was able to move again.

The Tsuchikage's mood grew even more irritable as he saw Tsunade recover. Quickly, he turned his attention to Gaara. "You want to play with sand!? How about FIRE!?" The puppet's mouth opened, and a blue flame, much like from a giant welding torch, shot straight towards Gaara. The former jinchuriki covered himself up with his shield, but it quickly became glass and the flame began to break through. "Fool!! This is not the kind of fire ninja use!! This flame comes from burning several alkaline and alkaline earth metals!! Far more intense than what you were trained for!!" Soon, a flame broke through and grazed Gaara's shoulder. The Kazekage tried to ignore the pain, but he was right; it was much more intense than usual. Gaara obtained more sand from the ground to block it, but if something wasn't done, he would run out of chakra fast. "Sayanora! I'll let Deidara know you say hi from hell!!!" Gaara's concentration broke at the mention of the infamous nin's name, and the intense flame knocked him onto his back.

Mutsuguro saw his opportunity. "Burning you would be fun, but it will take too much time! I'll just have to squash you like a bug!!" The puppet stepped forward…and slipped into a crack. "What!?" Realization stung him as he discovered where that crack came from. "Oh sh-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a boulder hit the mechanical monster's shoulder with frightening accuracy. Tsunade lifted another boulder with her foot and kicked it straight at him, effectively knocking the over-sized puppet on its back. "Taking your eyes off the enemy is a sign that you're not meant to be a kage. I'm inclined to believe that maybe you're not even fit to be a ninja."

The monstrosity struggled up and stood erect once more. "Funny. With such sympathetic ideals, I could say the same about you two. Still, you have a point. So…" A scorpion tail sprouted from behind and split in two. Both lunged forward, and the kages took a defensive stance back-to-back. The two tails independently aimed for the two kages, who stood their ground.

Suddenly, one of the tails scrapped against the ground, creating a dust cloud. Gaara knew that wasn't good. "What control!"

Tsunade, sensing his plan, grabbed Gaara and spun around, dodging the incoming tail by a hair. "We're not out of the woods yet!"Taking Gaara with her, she jumped up as another tail traveled after them. Quickly, Tsunade tossed Gaara to the far side as she flipped away from the metal appendage. Gaara used his sand to cushion his landing, and immediately ran to join Tsunade in battle again.

Both dodged furiously, but the tails were very nimble; as it was, they had too many close calls to their liking. Finally, Tsunade grabbed the tail after her and held it back. She was just strong enough to keep it in place despite its thrashing. Gaara used his Subaku Kyuu to capture his. However, he was clearly struggling; without Shukaku, he had nothing but his own chakra to use. Taking notice of this, the Tsuchikage put more strength into the tail attacking Gaara. The tail inched closer and closer, the Kazekage losing his ground. Tsunade saw this, and looked at the tail she held. "Hang on!!" Tsunade relaxed her feet, and the tail went flying, taking her with it.

To the Tsuchikage, it looked as though it was a perfect opportunity. However, he was soon proven wrong as Tsunade used the tail's strength against it and flung it towards its sibling, severing the one attacking Gaara. Gaara didn't have time to thank her; he stared at the machine, and put his hand to the ground. "Sabaku Taisou!!"

"What!? NonononNO!!!" The Tsuchikage fumbled his fingers frantically in a desperate attempt to save his pet.

Sadly for him, the giant puppet continued to sink into the sand. Gaara stood and whispered "It's over. With all that sand in its gears, and the mass of that thing, there's no chance of escape."

"Is that so?" Mutsuguro asked. The Tsuchikage twitched his middle finger, causing the upper half of his puppet to eject.

"Oh, for the love of-!"

The freed half landed, sprouting spider-like legs. "I think it's time for Round 2!"

The two kages got in battle ready stances again, in reality eager to get away. "We're in for a long day." Tsunade thought wearily.

"Stop moving!!" Hidan screamed. The immortal swung his chain, finally ensnaring the copy ninja. Or so it seemed. The bushin burst into lightning, sending electricity down the chain and finally to its wielder, causing Hidan to fly back. "I'm tiring of this!" Hidan's masks flew out, searching for their prey. Each blasted their respective elements, tearing the forest apart. "Where are you!?" As if to answer his question, a hand shot out of the ground, grasping his ankle.

"Doton! Shinjuu Zanshuu no Jutsu!!" Hidan's body was pulled completely underground, leaving only his head exposed to breath. Kakashi appeared in front of him, seemingly smiling. "How does it feel to get a new body only to wind up as you did three years ago?"

"I'll answer that when it's actually true!!" The tendrils shot out from underground, impaling Kakashi. "And show the real you to me!!" The kage bushin dissipated, while Hidan dragged himself out. "Two bushins? I heard a lot about you…Kakuzu's memories show me you're quite clever and formidable. But you have nowhere near the chakra as the Kyuubi brat to keep this up! You'll have to show yourself to me eventually!"

Hidan began to move forward, but upon seeing wires, stopped. "I doubt what you have in mind was the exact same thing that pineapple-haired punk did…but either way I'm not taking any chances!!" Hidan threw his bladed weapon and sliced them, triggering the explosions from a distance.

Somewhere, the real Kakashi was in hiding, concentrating. "Come on, come on!!!" The traps wouldn't hold him forever, and even if Hidan wasn't particularly intelligent, he could still learn from past mistakes and now had Kakuzu's memories to help him.

Hidan yelped has he stepped on something. "Makibishi! I'm getting close!!"

Hidan hurried his pace, as did Kakashi. There was only a few seconds to get this right… "Yes!" Kakashi's sharingan transformed into its Magenkyo form. And at that moment, the jonin noticed a mask to his side. "Shit!" The mask breathed fire, and Kakashi rolled out of the way.

The other masks were on top of him quickly, but thus far Kakashi dodged any fatal blows. "So, the best Konoha has to offer next to their jinchuriki and extinct Uchiha is a coward!"

The masks surrounded him, but when they attacked, Kakashi leaped up, causing them to harm only themselves while their master was wide open. "Suiton! Suiryudan!!" A water dragon rose out of nowhere, sweeping the immortal away.

However, Hidan's new tendrils grabbed hold of the copy nin and after grabbing onto a nearby tree, held both combatants in place. As soon as Hidan found his footing, his free tendrils impaled Kakashi's body, who could only scream helplessly. "Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you. At least, not this second." The tendrils pierced further into Kakashi, who could only groan. Hidan brought the tendrils back to him, licking the blood. Hidan's skin blackened and the Akatsuki nin raised his scythe. And that's when Kakashi found his chance.

"Let's see how immortal you really are!!" Kakashi's Magenkyo spun rapidly, and immediately a certain effect began to take place.

"Wha-?" Feeling the air being pulled away from him, Hidan looked right behind him. A black hole. A tiny, almost unnoticeable black hole. But just like the science books said, the size was irrelevant when compared to the power it generated. "NO…!!" Hidan tried to get away, but still he was pulled into it. "Stop it!! We'll both die!!"

Kakashi didn't even flinch. "A fair enough trade-off; besides, you'd kill me anyway if I didn't. And I will not let my students die nor live as slaves!!!"

Hidan tried to pull his arm away, but it kept coming towards the hole. "NNNN-!" Kakashi felt his body give in to chakra exhaustion, but kept pushing. Soon, after what seemed to be an eternity for both, Hidan's weapon arm was almost in contact with the hole. Realizing there was no other way out, Hidan did something that for even him was extreme. His futon mask flew towards him, and sliced his arm off.

"No!" Kakashi's one chance to kill Hidan was ruined; once one piece of mass was swept into the hole, it was nearly impossible to open again.

The arm and weapon flew into the black hole, giving Hidan enough of a lag to step out of range. As soon as he was in the clear, Hidan threw Kakashi into a tree trunk. "I don't care about Jashin's will anymore! You Konoha nins have spat in my face for the VERY. LAST. TIME." Hidan's tendrils sprang fourth, and headed straight for Kakashi.

Hinata continued her assault, but so far Kizu had managed to dodge all her blows. However, the heiress noticed that Kizu was gradually slowing down. For a time, Kizu was using impressive acrobatics, but now seemed winded and simply side-stepped, the timing dangerously close in each case. Thus far, Hinata hadn't landed a blow that would slow Sakura's body significantly. What was it…It was then that Hinata noticed dark circles underneath Sakura's eyes. "He didn't sleep? It's possible, but…"

Hinata moved back as Kizu leaped into the air and slammed his host's fist into the ground, but Hinata dodged this one more easily than some of his others. Seeing that he missed, Kizu rushed at Hinata with a barrage of punches and kicks. None of them connected. "You look like you need a nap." Hinata said out of nowhere.

Kizu seemed to daze upon hearing that. "Rest…sounds good…" Kizu quickly came to his senses before Hinata would see an opening. "I don't understand!! I can go on for days without sleep! So why…"

Hinata cut his train of thought. "It's true; you're exhausted. In your real body, YOU may be able to push yourself this far…but that's still Sakura-san's body you're using. She was probably already sleep-deprived when you captured her, and it's getting worse." Kizu looked at Hinata with fear in his hosts' eyes. "Hit the mark, didn't I?"

Without warning, Kizu turned and fled. Shocked only for a second, Hinata followed and took to the trees. "Run if you want! But you're probably too tired to get very far!!"

Kizu, feeling dizzy from jumping, hid behind a tree, hoping to take refuge for at least a few seconds. "Even if the brat is now powerless, without this body they will be able to do everything they can to rescue him, and I will have no way of stopping or threatening them. I wouldn't be surprised if everything else in my plans has gone up in smoke! " Both Kizu's real and possessed lips grinned. "But then again…I was kind of counting on that!"

"Below you!"

Kizu reacted to a voice inside of his head and looked below him, which was nothing but bark. Realization then dawned on him. The Akatsuki leader rolled over the branch he was resting on as Hinata dove down to attack again. "Useless! My Byakugan can see everything!!"

As Kizu fell, he realized what had just happened: Sakura had returned in his mind. It was she who caused him the night before sleep-deprived. And now she was using her thoughts to make him react incorrectly! He finally touched the bottom, and stumbled the landing. "Shit!"

Quickly, Kizu pulled out a spare kunai and slashed at Hinata, who leapt back to avoid it. Kizu scooted away, and Hinata quickly advanced. Ignoring the incessant screams of Sakura with his own thoughts, Kizu pulled a blinder cracker and ignited it.

"Ahh-!" Hinata shut her eyes closed, but it was too late. Like the Sharingan, the Byakugan was especially sensitive to intense light when activated, and for her this was like staring straight into the sun. The light subsided, but her vision was now seriously impaired. Hearing leaves snap, Hinata turned in the sound's direction and got into a defensive stance once more. But nothing came.

"Afraid?" Hinata spun again, desperately trying to pinpoint Kizu. Hinata reacted when a kunai grazed her, and spun rapidly. But when she completed her rotation technique, it proved to be a mistake. Hinata screamed as something sharp cut right through her shoulders. Kizu withdrew his host's hands and observed the chakra scalpels. "These really are underrated." he commented to himself. "I need to learn how to use these in my real body." Hinata's vision finally focused, and the Hyuuga tried to attack. But her arms remained limply at her side.

Now seemingly unafraid, Kizu stepped towards her. "I severed the muscles in your arms. Which means…" Without warning, Kizu punched her in the gut. Hard. Hinata spat blood as she was sent flying into the forest. "I ought to kill you, but quite frankly I've wasted enough of my time." Kizu turned to leave, confident that he had nothing to fear. Feeling his host's face, he breathed with relief. "I still have three of them. Just in case another…"

Kizu yelled in pain as something bit his substitute body across the shoulder. Hinata, despite her apparent state, got up and gripped onto Sakura with the only thing she could: her teeth! "Get off me, you Hyuuga whore!!" Kizu elbowed Hinata across the head, forcing her to release her hold. Hinata would've counted her lucky stars that the elbow didn't have much chakra concentrated into it, had she been coherent enough to do so. But she did hear Kizu say "I've changed my mind." Kizu picked up a boulder, having ran out of kunai and shuriken to use, and lifted it over the downed kunoichi. Just as the possessed kunoichi was about to smash it down on her, Hinata's lower body twisted and using the torque, Hinata managed to get herself back up on her feet. "NO!!" Kizu threw the boulder down, but Hinata already twisted out of the way. Most would have thought at this point Kizu would have nothing to worry about anyway, but that assumption was about to be proven wrong. Kizu kicked to the side…but Hinata was already in the air. Kizu had no time to block, and Hinata launched a kick at Kizu's face. But unlike a normal kick, where the ball of the foot would make contact, Hinata touched using only her toes, aimed at a specific area. Another jewel exploded, and Kizu realized how much he had really underestimated her.

"Only two left."

Hinata leapt into the air again, but Kizu was prepared and blocked the incoming kick. "If you want to die so badly, I'll gladly oblige!!" Kizu threw a round-house kick, aiming for the Hyuuga's legs. Sakura's shin snapped something, but nothing on the lower part of the kunoichi's body. Hinata blocked the strike with one of her disabled arms, using her mouth to hold the upper portion in place. Though she was clearly in pain from the way her arm bent nearly 90 degrees, she did not budge. "You're mad!!"

"Whatever it takes!!" Hinata yelled as she took advantage of Kizu's momentary shcok and lunged forward.

Shiguri tried pulling Koungasenki underground. He already learned the hard way that cutting him only made him harder to hurt. But his plan was foiled when a pillar rose, taking him with it. At the same time, Jaa was running towards them, but couldn't see the change in time and smashed the pillar instead. Shiguri lost balance and tumbled to the ground as the ruble covered him.

In the tree tops, Deidara's kunoichi student prepared another dart. "Easy prey!!" Genkakushoujou was about to shoot the vulnerable genin, but was forced to side-step when Hanabi tried a sneak attack.

"Bad move!!" Iori ran in front of Hanabi and frantically tried to hit her opponent with her weapons. But it turned out that was exactly what Genkakushoujou wanted. The narcotics-nin threw smoke pellets on the ground, and as soon as Iori breathed the fumes, she grabbed her throat. It was like the worst case of strep throat she ever had!

Shiguri came behind the narc-nin and managed to wrap a dragon tongue around her, but his wrist was then encased in crystal. Koungasenki rushed towards him and immediately dealt him a roundhouse with a quartz-covered shin.

At that same moment, Jaa ran up to San and unleashed a barrage of knee strikes, while San blocked with his doton jutsus. Though Jaa could not see for very long, he blinked just to see where his enemy was and wasted no time getting there. For a minute, it looked like Jaa had the edge despite his handicap. That went down the drain when Genkakushoujou took the opportunity to throw seemingly harmless leaves at him. Jaa's skin started to swell and ooze pus, leaving the taijutsu master feeling as if something heavy was weighing him down, among other things.

Hanabi ran up to Koungasenki and actually managed to land a hit on him, but immediately afterwards the crystal-nin caught onto her moves and blocked her strikes. Iori, ignoring her almost unbearable condition, caught him by surprise and tackled him to the ground. Hanabi realized what she was trying to do, and moved forward to take him down permanently. However, the Iwa nin wouldn't let her have her way for long. "Hariton! Hekishoku Merikensaku no Jutsu!" Like brass knuckles, green crystals formed around his knuckles, which he suddenly impaled Iori with. Quickly, Koungasenki rolled, using Iori as a shield from Hanabi. Before she could react to the sudden change, Hanabi thrust a palm forward, and hit Iori's tenkatsu instead. "I'm sorry!"

Iori didn't hear her, but was pretty pissed that she had to go through that again, even if it was accidental. Keeping her composure, she whispered "Hanabi…I think we should trade." Talking even that softly caused her to hack violently.

"Don't talk!" Hanabi shouted. "Stay quiet before you damage your throat anymore!"

Shiguri ran towards them, running away from the acid San kept with him. "I don't think switching will make a difference, but that's still the best idea I've heard so far!!" Shiguri yelled.

Hanabi got ready to attack Genkakushoujou. The narc prepared to run, but felt the ground soften beneath her, and her legs sank into mud.

"Hanabi! Now's your-"Shiguri was then pricked with a dart from behind. Genkakushoujou was behind him the whole time, and the one he trapped was some kind of bushin! "Oh no." Shiguri then squinted his eyes as his pupils dilated and constricted at an accelerated rate, independent of one another. His sunglasses didn't help at all. "Hanabi! That's not-!"

Too late. The real narc-nin leaped in front of her replacement and threw her drug pellets at the Hyuuga. As the pellets exploded, she asked "Your friend should be familiar with this: ever had an itch that just drove you MAD!?" Genkakushoujou began laughing manically, but stopped when she heard something. Hanabi used her kaiten to blow the powder away from her and towards her opponent, covering her in the chemicals. "Pathetic! You think I would be stupid enough to remain susceptible to one of my own drugs!?" Hanabi, however, had a different use for the dust. Quickly, she rushed towards the Iwa kunoichi, using it as cover. In less than one second, she was practically on top of her!

Before the gentle fist strike connected, an earth wall rose out of the ground, protecting Genkakushoujou. San rushed up and kicked, but Hanabi saw it coming and moved out of the way quickly. "Doton! Doryu Kachuu!!" The ground underneath Hanabi began to soften and churn. Soon, she was being sucked in and spun rapidly. The feeling was too disorienting for her to counter-attack. San looked at her, confident that there was no escape. The Iwa nin backed away when he caught something in the corner of his peripherals. Iori swung her kamas at him, forcing him to retreat. San didn't quite dodge in the nick of time: Iori managed to cut him across the eye!

The jinchuriki child then ran over to Hanbi, and held out the stick portion of her weapon. Hanabi quickly grabbed it. For a second, it seemed Iori would be pulled in with her. But Iori got into a perfect horse stance and held her ground. Hanabi finally stopped twisting, and Iori began pulling her out.

Out of nowhere, however, Koungasenki came and kicked her in her open stomach. Iori ignored the pain and stood her ground, but in her current position she was defenseless. "Hariton! Kessho Takkeizou no Jutsu!!" A circle of crystals began to grow around Iori. As it was, Iori could not move without risking loosing Hanabi. But the crystals began to pierce her skin, and if she didn't do anything quickly, she was in for a very slow and very painful death.

"Sokudoihan Kyuuyo!!" Jaa quickly rolled in between Koungasenki and Iori, sending the former flying. Jaa got up, stumbling, and walked towards Iori with his eyes closed, feeling for the crystals growing around her. Getting a grasp of where they were, he backed up and smashed them away with a powerful roundhouse. Freed from her predicament, Iori pulled and released her friend.

Jaa quickly blinked to locate Koungasenki's current position. Jaa rushed forward, and struck. Granted, most of his strikes missed initially. But he kept in close proximity to the crystal-nin; it was much like a child hitting a piñata. But finally, his elbow connected with the enemy. "Yes!!" Jaa continued with a barrage of elbow strikes, feeling Koungasenki's head reel from each blow. Grasping his shoulder, Jaa climbed on top of his opponent as if he was a ladder. "Buben Surooingu Fuetsu!!" Jaa slammed a power-packed elbow onto Koungasenki's head, thinking he won; almost no one gets up after that many elbow strikes to the head.

"Nice. But you do remember that every time I bleed, it hardens and becomes armor. Right?"

Jaa quickly blinked, and swore he saw the crystal nin covered in what seemed to be samurai armor. "Oh no…" Koungasenki attacked with a barrage of punches, his knuckles covered in sharp crystals again.

"Hang in there!" Shiguri jumped between the two and used a leg sweep, effectively knocking Koungasenki off his feet. Before he had a chance to recover, Shiguri took his dragon-tongues and used them to tie the Iwa nin's wrists.

"Doton! Nadare Kenju no Jutsu!!" San launched good-sized rocks at Shiguri, forcing him to back up. Following through, he rushed up and punched him for good measure.

The other 3 Konoha-nin regrouped, helping Shiguri up. "NOW YOU SEE!?" San screamed, seemingly loosing it completely. "YOU MAY OUTNUMBER US BY ONE PERSON!! BUT YOU'RE USED TO ATTACKING IN PAIRS AT LEAST!!! THAT LEAVES AT LEAST ONE OF US FREE TO ATTACK ANY OF YOU!!! AND YOU CAN'T RISK FIGHTING US ONE ON ONE!! AND IF YOU FOCUS ALL YOUR ATTENTION ON JUST ONE OF US, THE OTHER TWO WILL TAKE YOU OUT!!! THEREFORE, YOU LOOSE!!!"

The four had to cover their ears the way he was screaming. "Jeez, what the fuck is his problem!?" Shiguri asked.

"He's batshit crazy: I think that's all you need to know." Hanabi said.

"Point taken." Shiguri commented. "But still, he has a point; we can't form a coherent team. And everything he said about the possible tactics is true."

The Konoha four were clueless what to do next, while the Iwa three calmly awaited their prey, knowing they had the upper hand. Well, except for San. "COME ON YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!! I'LL CUT YOUR LIMBS, USE YOUR HEADS AS BOWLING BALLS, MAKE YOU EAT YOUR INTESTINES…"

Koungasenki and Genkakushoujou covered their ears as their teammate threw what was at best the worst tantrum they've ever seen. The Konoha nins simply stared in utter amazement; never before had they experienced any human being losing it the way San was. "What happened?" Jaa asked.

"I…I think it had something to do with me cutting him!" Iori rasped, still being careful not to talk whenever she could help it.

Hanabi nodded her head in agreement. "You cut him across the eye, if I recall correctly. Wounds like that tend to become scars."

"Don't tell me he's some kind of drama queen with shuriken!" Shiguri shouted in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Koungasenki called back. "I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head!" San continued with his tirade without even stopping to breathe, and Koungasenki adjusted his voice to sound like Deidara. "San…I am so disappointed in you…behaving like a child, over this. I can't even begin to call you a shinobi anymore."

San blinked, and finally calmed down. He was still hyperventilating though. "Thanks…sorry, I get a bit…carried away at times."

The others simply gawked. "YOU THINK!?" Shiguri yelled.

Remembering they were there to fight, and not argue, they got into their fighting stances, preparing for a collision course. "We really could use Yuji's help right now." Iori whispered.

"No kidding." Shiguri confirmed. "Yuji…where are you, old buddy?"

"Ow!" Yuji was tree-hopping the best he could. However, that was proving to be very difficult with his mangled foot. "Got to…get back…find…help…" As badly as Yuji wanted to help in the fighting, he had to wonder just how he could be of use to anyone right now. He was badly wounded, and he had no weapons. He was also beginning to believe that the battle had already ended…and if it didn't end in Konoha's favor, then it wasn't good. "Don't think about it Yuji; just…" Something caught Yuji's ear. Screaming, it sounded like. Instinctively, he backed further into the branches. After a second or two, he determined he wasn't in any immediate danger. But the sound seemed to just go on forever, which was strange since the person screaming obviously had no intention to hide his position, and from the few syllables he could make out, was very emotional. "What is that? I better check it out."

Yuji carefully hopped from branch to branch, often grabbing onto others so he wouldn't fall. Finally, he reached what he believed to be the location of the sound. Yuji didn't see anything at the tree level with him. And the yelling had ceased. "Maybe…down below?" Yuji lay on his stomach and rolled his body around the branch, trying to look beneath him. However, he didn't hold on tight enough, and fell.

"Let's finish this…" Koungasenki growled. The three Iwa nin were prepared to attack, and the four Konoha-nin prepared to do the opposite. But before any fighting could break out, another sound grabbed all of their attention, and something landed on top of Koungasenki.

It was a person, and a familiar one to the four Konoha nin at that. "Yuji!?" Shiguri yelled.

Iori simply stared and felt her heart skip a beat. "He's here." She thought. "He's really here." Both she and her teammate were feeling the tears well up in their eyes.

Before either they or Yuji could respond, Koungasenki came out of his stupor and kicked Yuji off. "Get off me!!"

Yuji stumbled into his comrades, and just stared at them in shock. "Shiguri? Iori!? You're alive!?" The two of them nearly laughed. "We should be asking you the same thing-"Shiguri said.

"Look out!" Hanabi performed a kaiten in front of them, deflecting several needles.

"Goddamit!! I wasted all my hyperaggresion needles!!" Genkakushoujou pouted.

"Be more careful." San told her, back to normal. "From now on, only use one at a time, and ONLY if you have a clear shot."

Genkakushoujou just rolled her eyes in response to being lectured. "Looks like we've got a wrench in our plans." she added, gesturing to the new arrival.

The other two Iwa nin looked at Yuji. "Him?" San asked incredulously. "Look at him! With a foot like that, he's nothing!!" San said. Yuji grimaced at the comment; what hurt more was that it was most likely true.

Koungasenki added "Plus, I've already took away his weapons. Still, be careful; he's stronger than he looks, and pretty clever to boot."

Yuji focused his attention on the three, but was something caught his eye. Shiguri was holding his wires right in front of him…his wires!

"I figured you would need these, just in case something happened with your gauntlets." Shiguri said, as if to answer an unspoken question.

Yuji snatched them, saying "Thanks."

Hanabi stepped forward and briefed him on the situation. "We tried using teamwork against them before, but they managed to make our superior numbers work against us."

Yuji nodded, and analyzed the situation at hand. He surprised everyone when he spoke almost immediately "Shiguri."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can take on one of them by yourself? Keep him or her away from the rest of us, at least until we can help you?"

Everyone was about to argue that point, but Shiguri raised his hand and silenced them. Shiguri then stared intently at San. "Yeah…Now that you mention it, I think I've got something on that guy over there. Do whatever you need to; this will be over quick."

Yuji nodded, and then turned to Jaa. "How badly drugged are you?"

"How did you know I was drugged?" Jaa asked, certain that Yuji wasn't there to see the whole thing.

Without uttering a word, Yuji quickly pulled a needle from the back of his neck, elicting a hiss from the taijutsu specialist. "This."

Understanding, the taijutsu chunin replied "Okay. My vision was completely whacked, but it's starting to wear off."

"Good. I'm going to need your help with the crystal guy; I think I know him quite well, and I need muscle." Turning to the two kunoichi, Yuji said "I'll leave the kunoichi to you two. I presume Iori fought her once before, and I'd imagine Hanabi would make a good partner." The two nodded and got ready. "It's two against one for the weaker ones, and I trust Shiguri fully to take out your champion."

"That's quite some faith you have in your comrades." Koungasenki hissed.

"And completely unfounded." Genkakushoujou added.

Yuji only smirked in response. "We'll see soon enough."

With everything said that needed to be said, the eight ninjas got ready for battle.

Kizu stepped back and covered the space where a jewel once was after Hinata landed another blow. Now, there was only one left that kept Kizu in control of Sakura's body, the one on her chin. "Give up!!" Hinata yelled. The Hyuuga continued with a barrage of kicks, but none of them hit.

The alarm of being one step away from losing it seemed to have given Kizu's mind a boost and accelerated the reaction time of his host. Kizu swung a right cross, barely missing Hinata but taking a good chunk of her hair. "No, it is you who have lost! You landed a few lucky strikes with your feet, but I'm onto you now! Unless you can get your arms working again, you don't have a chance in hell landing another blow against me!" Despite his bravado, Kizu was too scared to get too close now.

Hinata stopped, taking in a deep breath; she had to plan the final attack carefully. Nothing conventional would work anymore. Finally, she thought of one…but it was a huge risk. She had only one try, and no one had ever attempted this before. But, at this point, she figured she had nothing to lose. "This has dragged on for too long, hasn't it?" To his surprise, Kizu nodded in agreement. "Then, one more round."

Both got ready to attack. Kizu though, was cautious. "It's not going to be just an all or nothing kick, she has something up her sleeve. I know it. She doesn't have use of her arms, so I doubt it's the 64 palms or any variant like that." Kizu tried to think exactly just what she was planning, but couldn't come up with anything. "No matter. She's right; it's time to finish this, and I will on my terms!" Kizu lunged forward, activating chakra scalpels in both of Sakura's hands.

However, Hinata moved from her cat stance even faster and called out an attack neither Kizu nor any Hyuuga heard of before. " Hakke Rokujuuyonashige!!"

Kizu retreated backwards, just catching the gist of it. But too late; a foot connected, and Kizu felt his host's tenkatsu shut down. "I see…she's trying to seal my chakra, incapacitating her so she can free her. Well…" Kizu began to block as many kicks as he could, using both taijutsu and punching the ground, using the ruble to protect himself. But with the sheer number coming towards him, he couldn't stop them all . Quickly, Kizu felt half of Sakura's chakra sealed away…

"ENOUGH OF THIS!!" In a panic, Kizu grabbed a pointed stick, lunged forward with what little strength Sakura had and stabbed Hinata, who momentarily left herself vulnerable while attacking.

The Hyuuga fell back, overwhelmed by the shock of being stabbed. "No…I can't fail…I promised…Naruto-kun…"

Hinata collapsed, while Kizu got on his knees and hyperventilated. Frantically scanning his host's face for the jewel, he finally found it to be intact. "Too close." Eyeing the weapon he held, he walked towards Hinata. Hinata struggled to lift her foot up in a vain attempt to free Sakura, but Kizu brought down Sakura's leg and pinned it. Kizu didn't say a word; he simply cocked Sakura's arms back, preparing to kill her.

Hinata waited for the death blow to come and closed her eyes…but it never did. Hinata opened her eyes, which widened in response at what she was seeing. Kizu was struggling to move Sakura's body. Nothing physical was impeding him…which meant whatever it was, it was internal. Sakura's left hand gripped the wrist of the right, as if trying to stop herself. Sakura's face was also clenched, like she was facing an uphill battle. "Sakura's fighting him! From within!" Hinata saw her chance, and began to move her free leg up.

Kizu truly panicked now; he never expected this. "No! I read the inscriptions! Resistance should be impossible!!"

"I've had enough of this!!" Inner Sakura screamed. "Get out of my body!!! NOW!!"

"No!! So long as the last jewel is in place, you'll never have your freedom!! You're too valuable of a tool to lose!!"

"We'll see about that!!" Kizu managed to take control of Sakura's eyes, and through her peripherals looked down below, focusing on Hinata. Instead of the Hyuuga, he saw the sole of her foot.

"Hold him right there, Sakura-san…Just…hold it…a…bit…longer…"

Finally, it seemed Kizu had managed to regain some control of Sakura's body. With great effort, he stepped backward, just out of Hinata's reach. But Sakura wouldn't have any of that; she was too close!! "I DON'T THINK SO, YOU BASTARD!! SHANNARO!!" Quickly, Sakura's body stepped back towards Hinata. And in contact with her toe. Using what little chakra she could feel within herself, Hinata pumped it into the jewel. One final explosion followed, and Sakura's body flew across the ground.

"Oohhhh…" Kakashi, after what seemed to him to be an eternity, fell to the ground. The beating Hidan had given him was probably his worst yet; his legs were completely charred, various cuts were all over his body, and his nerves tingled with electricity. Hidan could have simply used his masks at full-power and obliterated him in the blink of an eye, but instead the immortal kept his chakra use in check and dealt enough to keep him alive.

Reaching down, Hidan grabbed a kunai from Kakashi's vest. Holding up the copy-nin's head, Hidan spoke right into his ear "It's been fun. But I've got a job to do, and without my weapon, quite frankly there's not much point in dragging this out any further." Hidan raised it…and then felt his head fall to the ground.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!? WHO DID THAT!? COME OUT, OR I SWEAR TO JASHIN-SAMA…" Hidan stopped his tirade immediately when something caught his eye. It looked like a…kusarigama? "Wait, that's MY kusarigama!" But it was sucked up into that black hole…wasn't it? It frightened him more when he was a severed arm attached to it. Then, a familiar foot came into his view. His head rose and was brought face to face with Kakashi, looking for the most part unscarred. "What the..?" Hidan scoured the corners of his eyes, hoping it was a trick, but couldn't find anything that would prove otherwise.

Kakashi seemed to read his mind, and answered "Just because I activated my Magenkyo doesn't mean I'd use Kamui. It's a rather unreliable all-or-nothing technique, more useful for getting rid of deadly incoming forces than one powerful opponent."

Hidan's eyes widened as he realized the implicit meaning behind his answer. "Genjutsu!! You made me drop my weapon and think I was torturing you!!"

"That's right. Kakuzu may have nearly killed me three years ago, but that doesn't mean I can't learn from my mistakes. Plus, Naruto and Sakura need me; I'm not going to waste my two trump cards yet. As for you…" Kakashi pulled out a scroll, unraveled it, and placed Hidan's head in the center, careful to avoid his snapping jaws. "Pathetic." The jonin muttered, annoyed with Hidan's pointless defiance to the end. Kakashi proceeded to seal him within it. Using such a technique on a normal person was unknown, but due to his immortality, Kakashi figured he would be fine. "Hinata, I hope you've done your job." Kakashi rolled the scroll up, and ran towards where he last saw the two kunoichi.

Hinata and Sakura simply lay across the grass motionless. Without warning, it began to rain. Sakura then gasped as the raindrops hit her face. Her hand rose up, and upon that realization, Sakura bolted up, her eyes reverted back to their normal bright green. Frantically, she patted her self all over and moved all parts of her body as if she just lost her mind. "My body! I can move!! I'm in control again!!" Sakura nearly laughed and cried with joy…but then remembered everything that happened. "Hinata!!"

Sakura ran towards the fallen Hyuuga, who was completely unconscious. Instinctively, Sakura knelt down and placed her hands over her comrade. She began to pump chakra through her hands, but felt a sharp pain instead. She remembered that Hinata had sealed most of her tenkatsu; in addition, she probably used up most of her chakra when she was possessed. Concentrating, she gathered up what chakra she had left and used it to heal Hinata's stab wound. It was exhausting for her, but she continued on. Finally, she could see the flesh sew together. Hinata gasped for breath, signaling she was going to be okay. Sakura didn't feel as she usually did when she healed a patient, though. Instead, she began to cry. She was, after all, the one who nearly killed her. And the one who endangered everyone. "H-Hinata…" Sakura could barely form words between her choked sobs. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…" One could say that Sakura had no control over her body...but that fact made Sakura blame herself even more. No matter what anyone said, she was still the one who hurt her.

Sakura then heard footsteps. Frightened, she turned around defensively. It was Kakashi-sensei, with Pakkun next to him. The fact that it was someone familiar, however, didn't calm her down; just the opposite in fact. Kakashi, having sensed this, said "It's okay. I know you weren't in control. Everyone knows you're innocent." Sakura didn't respond. Kakashi simply held out his hand. "Trust me. I'm going to help. We're all going to help." Sakura simply stared at him, probably too long considering everything going on around them. Suddenly, she ran up to him and hugged him, latching on. Surprised for a second, Kakashi returned the hug. "Good to have you back, Sakura."

"Good to be back, sensei." Sakura's hug tightened on Kakashi.

"Okay, I've got her." Pakkun immediately hefted Hinata onto his back. "I'm on my way. Balto has already taken Shikamaru to the hospital."

"Good. Sakura, go with them. Naruto and I will meet you there."

"I'm going." Sakura said, clenching her fists.

Kakashi narrowed his eye dangerously in response. "No, you're going with them."

"Naruto needs me." The kunoichi replied almost defiantly.

Kakashi roughly grabbed Sakura by the collar, bringing her face to his. "I know Hinata neutralized almost all of your chakra! You'll only get in the way!!!" Kakashi seemed to curse under his breath. "I'm sorry. It's just the truth."

"Maybe so." Sakura muttered, unable to deny the truth, but still looked him in the eye. "But I still have to see him."

Kakashi couldn't describe the feeling he was getting from Sakura…but he just couldn't say no. "If she founds out, Hokage-sama will kill me." Kakashi turned around and put his hands behind his back. "Hop on."

Sakura climbed on his back, and they took off. Sakura didn't pay much attention to where they were going; she just trusted Kakashi-sensei.

"I love you."

Hearing those words from Naruto's mouth…even in her possessed state, she felt like she could die the happiest woman alive right then and there. "Naruto….hang in there. We'll be together again soon."

Sorry to leave you hanging like this, but it's time to say goodbye, kids!

Kyuushu Choujou-Suction Peak

Kurumiwari-Nutcracker

Nenten Daijabi-Twisting Serpent's Tail

Dogrenado-Earth Grenado (prototype to the grenade)

Doryu Kachuu-Mud Whirlpool

Hekishoku Merikensaku-Emerald Knuckles

Kessho Takkeizou-Crystallization Crucifix

Sokudoihan Kyuuyo-Speeding Armadillo

Buben Surooingu Fuetsu-Soldier Throwing the Axe

Nadare Kenju-Avalanche Revolver

Hake Rokujuuyonashige-64 kicks