Disclaimer: Due to the invisible fine print on all of the paperwork Kishimoto signed I actually own Naruto. Obviously. I make myself laugh sometimes.

Hm, perhaps the next time I decide to update won't be over a year and a half between them. Though I can admit that I have been dissatisfied with the manga.

I am completely baffled as to why my chosen form of visual page break is suddenly disallowed on FF...it is completely annoying. I actually changed from using the line breaks so when I upload a chapter or in the event that I do ever have to grab a chapter back from FF I wouldn't have to go searching for all the page breaks. But No. FF decides to be completely retarded about it and just removes shit without saying anything. Obviously changes to the document aren't fucking saved since...I'm tired and didn't really want to go back to looking over this chapter again. And I don't like the thought of having to worry about FF pulling a dick move like this all the time, so if somehow someone is reading this rant and can actually DO something to change this garbage, please do. So really what did ampersands do to you FF that makes them offensive as a visual page break?

"Troublesome" Normal speaking
'Troublesome' Thoughts (or when someone is speaking they are those pesky 'air quotes' like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, "Fire the 'lazer'!")
"Troublesome" words with emphasis (or could be looked at as sarcasm or emphasis with a sneer)
"Troublesome" Jutsu

A slender woman stalked up slate gray steps leading to a temple. The stone steps were wide, nearly two meters wide, with aged bronze rails on both sides standing slightly more than a meter higher than the stairs. Despite the apparent age of the rails the stairs them self were clean and sharp, appearing almost new. Fair dark hair reaching just beyond the small of her back, with bangs that fell to her breast, her smooth pale face was marred by a frown. 'Preparations are behind schedule! No doubt another one of those foolish little shinobi will come screaming up the mountain complaining about this or that!' Attempting to exhale her anger and frustration she forced her shoulders back. 'It won't matter right now, but I can already see how disastrous this will become if they interfere later…'

The woman huffed in anger, "I am either going to have to explain what is actually happening, or simply get rid of them. No doubt if we explain our preparations those pathetic shinobi will be clamoring to help and set their own contingencies in motion." Her fist clenched in rage, "I could only wish that we could simply crush their pathetic machinations and watch as their hope shatters!"

She sighed and allowed her shoulders to slump, "But I cannot risk everything…too much has been sacrificed, and shinobi are little more than cunning monsters, thinking nothing beyond their selfish desires and their petty grudges. Their ignorance, no…their willful ignorance of the greater powers at work would mean they would give no thoughts as to what they would interrupt or the implications of trying to manipulate them. Getting rid of them at the moment is far too dangerous to risk retaliation; we'll have to simply move them. Somehow…"

"Well, it has certain been a while hasn't it Vita?"

All of her thoughts came to a screeching halt. Her shock so bad she nearly fell face first on the stairs. "But…ano…It…you're early! No-n-nothing is ready!"

Her shock was met with a toneless chuckle. Slowly the area to her left twisted and darkened, the color and light seeming to bleed away from the surrounding area until it was pitch black. After nearly 5 seconds the darkness quickly took form in a vague humanoid shape. The chuckle gained a deep undertone and slowly the voice filled in. "I am aware of that Vita. Nor do I mind." A figure of darkness stood in front of her, features barely defined, yet familiar enough to her that she could tell it was either smirking or smiling. "Truly, do I fill you with such fear that you can hardly breathe?"

She quickly was reminded to breathe and relax. Taking a moment to get over her shock she firmly said "Quartus-sama…you know the name I now go by is Banju." Not quite to her normal detached demeanor she was still slightly huffing.

Another deep chuckle, "Perhaps, but you insist on calling me Quartus…not to mention 'Quartus-sama.' So I feel it is only fair."

"Fair…I…I'm not quite sure if I feel insulted that you would mention fairness to me."

"Well I did teach you quite a bit…perhaps too much, but it is as it is. I know you've grasped the concept that you don't need to behave like the rest of the world."

Vita sighed and looked away in defeat. "Fine Kurayami-sama…However I took the vows as any other and-"

Kurayami shook his head, "These vows…you all are ever so proud of them, but you allow them to constrain you. That isn't what I would like. In either case I have something that I would like you to do for me."

"Anything you wish Kurayami-sama!"

As you, no doubt, know, the Kyuubi no Kitsune arrived years ago. However, something has changed, and all the signs I see tell me that the Kyuubi has…concluded this little business trip...That having been said I think it's self explanatory why I would like you to guide Kyuubi here."

"Hai, I understand. However, Kyuubi has been sealed within a container. How the Kyuubi managed to destroy Shukaku I don't know, but I highly doubt that the container will be particularly accommodating. To do so, I may need to nullify the container…"

Kurayami smiled and chuckled, "Truly you would do anything for me…but no, that isn't something I would have you do. I would simply have you deliver a message for me, no need to harm the child. Besides Kyuubi's container will surprise you when you meet him; I have no doubt you'll recognize him. Once you do I highly doubt that you'll be particularly interested in harming him, his condition is beneficial to everyone involved."

"If you say so Kurayami-sama. Though I have my reservations, should we make contact with the container no doubt it will be noticed by various people and it will only make things much harder."

"Vita, I must say that I am quite proud of you."

"W-what? What do you mean?"

"Not so long ago…hmm, well back then, you would have had no concern for any of the others. Yet look at you now, considering the ramifications on your organization."

"No…no I'm not!" She snapped quickly, embarrassed.

"T'is the mark of a leader. There should be and is no shame for it. You are still young and growing; it is only natural for you to continue to change."

"I'm not that young…"

"You feel that way because of how you were raised…but you are still very young, I myself am fairly young."

"A mere technicality…"

"However you wish to look at it, although there is no reason to work them all so hard…I was most impressed not by what was done last time, but by how it was done. The joy that everyone felt, in creating and partaking in the festival."

Vita sighed, "If you say so Quar-ehm, Kurayami-sama."

Vita could feel a smirk on his face, "I still question why you stay…I could easily take you with me…"

"Because you should be celebrated and worshipped, and if no one shows these simpletons the way they would doubtlessly be assaulted and reviled despite all that you do. Worse yet those damnable shinobi will doubtlessly seek you out for their own gain!"

"Hmm, perhaps that is the case, or is it more that you don't want to anyone else to share what we do?"

Vita almost fell, "I-I, I don't have such a selfish reason to serve you!"

"Is it selfish? Considering how humans behave…truly I think you feel as though you would only be sparing quite a lot of misery for everyone involved." The darkness began to lose its form, turning misty. Where Vita couldn't see the smirk, she could still feel it, "Hmm, perhaps you fancy yourself their protector…one of those mythical heroes…"

Vita heard his deep rumbling chuckle fade. Echoing against his power as he seemingly phased away. 'I can't let you do all the work…one day the world will see everything you do for them…I swear it!'

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Disguised as an ANBU, Sarutobi quickly exited Konoha proper. His thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, his heart and his conscience. 'I hate to have tested those children, especially in such a way, but I need to know where I stand with my elites. Anko and Kakashi are beyond doubt at this point, but Gui tends cling to moral concerns at the oddest of times.' Sarutobi quickly scanned the area. 'However, from Jiraiya's report as well as my Kokuhyou's Bear report, it seems that even Gui is taking this well.'

Sarutobi stood in a protected stretch of Konoha woodland, known to tourists as Konoha's Green Lake and locals as the 'Viridian Meadows'. The nickname was given shortly after the Shodai allowed civilians to enter the village. This stretch of woods was surrounded by tall grassy hills, higher than the treetops, so when viewed it appeared as a lake filled with swaying green trees.

The viridian meadows, which were popular with native citizens and tourist alike for walks and picnics, were well marked and maintained. It was one of the rarer D ranked missions to manicure certain parts of the meadows. Missions usually reserved for med-nin students, or the occasional poison specialist aspirant. Several of the herbs and grasses that grew in this stretch of forest when prepared or mixed properly would make weak poisons, irritants, or were used in several of the pheromones concoctions that Konoha used. Which made it an excellent learning experience for both how to recognize the ingredients but also handle them. Fortunately, as was designed, none of the herbs and grasses that grow there were poisonous by touch, so extremely few civilians knew of the various poisons that grew in their picnic areas. It just made more sense this way, as Konoha certainly reaped better tourist revenues than letting the information go public.

Despite his enjoyment of the vivifying view, Sarutobi quickly moved into the meadows via tree, passing unnoticed by the many civilians beneath him. He had a certain place to visit, deep within the forests and well beyond the Viridian Meadows. Sobering thoughts fell over him again, 'Having to put Asuma in such a position…and worse yet, that Asuma very well may be an acting spy for our Daimyo…I couldn't give him access to that mission. Not since his return from the 12 Guardians. With our differences, and Tokugawa's charisma, Asuma may very well send him reports.' Sarutobi sighed, 'Asuma what am I going to do with you…removing Danzou and hunting down his Root members has been a quiet affair so far, but if the Daimyo finds out, it would become a disaster. Worse yet is the Uchiha's political connections, if the Daimyo caught wind of this we could very well end up considered traitors. I simply cannot risk Asuma passing any of that information on. Sometimes I wonder if those of us who die young and foolish get the better end of the deal. Not having to be suspicious of our own families.'

Even while lost in thought, Sarutobi's swift movements landed him in front of a non-descript tree with no noise. 'Hmm, so according to Danzo's memories…this is the place…' Searching through his recently acquired memories, Sarutobi flipped through 9 one handed signs with his left hand and placed his right fist against the bark of the tree. With Danzo's altered version of the Shunshin no jutsu, Sarutobi disappeared with barely a whisper of wind.

Blinking at the low light Sarutobi walked down a path well emblazed in his former rival's memories. The walls were plain and unadorned, a dark brown, and the light in the passageway was dim only giving the faintest outline of the few curves and in the passage. The passage was well ingrained in Sarutobi's memory, and more so were the many traps set to go off in the soundproof hall. After nearly a minute of walking Sarutobi removed his ANBU mask and entered the lone doorway without hesitation. Walking boldly in the center of the room Sarutobi was aware of the many Root agents who were concealed within the room watching him. 'From his memories this is the staging area given to the highest ranking Root agents, those who directly work or speak with him.' "For actions against Hokage and Konoha, I Sarutobi Hiruzen have arrested and sentenced Shimura Danzou."

Sarutobi waited a moment, 'No reactions, it seems Danzou seems to have achieved his goals in forming truly unemotional shinobi. Since their training has them awaiting new orders it's time to take over what is left. This still seems too easy…' "For that reason, I am enacting procedure Diciotto-quindici-quindici-venti: Rinnovo. Furthermore, I will be in complete command of Root. Copies of all documents are to be turned over to me within 20 hours, including test approval, test results and inventories. Personnel lists will not be arranged by number, they will be arranged by utility, and sectioned off accordingly. All research is put on hold indefinitely. 344, 421, 190."

'A test within the orders…Danzou was meticulous in memorizing every last member, and ongoing within his organization. At least by comparing memories I should be able to determine how well any order will be followed.' Sarutobi waited for any immediate dissention. 'However, if there is one good thing about Root, this…repossession of assets, should be flawless. Despite their training for loyalty to Konoha, they are programmed for loyalty to him first…so I will undoubtedly need Danzou alive, if only for him to show his loyalty to the cause.' Sarutobi almost immediately concluded an answer, 'Bringing them completely under my control will take a lot of meticulous work…However for now, to cement their loyalty I will make Danzou a cog in his own machine, establishing his loyalty to myself, and through him, them.'

Two members jumped in front of Sarutobi, one wearing a dark cloth mask tightly covering the left side of his face, and the other wearing with a cloth wrapped over his forehead and eyes. Both knelt immediately and simultaneously spoke, "Hai Sarutobi-sama." A third quickly arrived, a lithe form dressed in form fitting dark clothes quickly descended from the shadows.

'421…The Hyuuga…'Sarutobi recognized from Danzou's memories. The branch seal on his head was in the 'dead' position, but the eyes were prevented from being fully sealed. 'Untouchable, and invisible to the Hyuuga seal, as to their seal's trigger he's already a corpse; his eyes quickly fill with blood with prolonged use leaving his eyes with a strong red/pink tint. The 'breaker' seal Danzou pioneered on him is powered by his chakra, if his chakra becomes exhausted the Hyuuga seal will complete and his eyes will seal and he will die.' Sarutobi turned and said, "344, 421, 190: Follow." Sarutobi walked out of the room the same way he entered with the three Root operatives behind him. 'Hm, 344 is an Uchiha whose lineage has never awakened the Sharingan. I will send him, while 421 will go as a scout.' Without preamble Sarutobi began, "344 will observe and protect Uchiha Sasuke as a primary target. Secondary objective is to ascertain who if any among the Uchiha are excluded from treasonous activities. 421 will scout and map the Uchiha district in its entirety, 344 direct 421 to any and all locations suitable for this mission. Go." Immediately both operatives left with no fanfare. Sarutobi reached and passed the entrance point and continued down the opposite hall. '190 the infiltration specialist who uses no genjutsu or ninjutsu for her infiltration. Specially trained against sensors and chakra detecting bloodlines. She is the best one for this.' "190 will attend Uchiha Mikoto and assist her as needed. Shadow me."

Sarutobi confidently made his way into a different hallway. 'This pathway leads to the Uchiha secret catacombs…it is strange that the Uchiha who are a part of this coup d'état don't use these for their meetings. I truly have to wonder if they are so arrogant as to think no one would find out…? More curious is that the Uchiha are unaware of Danzou's passage way here…'

The bland walls gave way to a much narrower passage made entirely of compressed earth…the type created from doton chakra. For Sarutobi molding his chakra into doton-natured chakra was almost second nature, however Danzou's experiments into the nature and use of elemental charka yielded useful results. The research developed of a method of creating and channeling elemental-natured chakra so that any chakra residue disappeared within minutes to hours. Without a doubt this was priceless if only for espionage, since now doton specialists could use this new method to make underground facilities under other villages, and they'd be invisible to detection almost instantly. To attempt something similar before required weeks of planning on what to do with the dirt, and making secure tunnels that wouldn't collapse, since they'd have to do all the tunneling manually. This passage way was virtually invisible to scanning jutsu and sensors after the first several hours. Best yet was that since the earth could be compressed into walls, meant that no tremors were generated and no new sink holes would form getting rid of some of the most common natural tells of earth manipulation. Danzou's memories contained the methods of channeling doton, futon, and katon. While he was a master of the channeling methods, it was reliant on the latent abilities with that elemental chakra. So while Danzou could easily kill someone with futon chakra and leave no indication of what killed them, he wasn't nearly as proficient with doton. 'Just another thing to practice.' Sarutobi thought passively.

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Beep…Beep….Beep…

The only sound Kimimaro could hear was the familiar sound of the heart monitor steadily droning on. 'I…am I breathing? I can't hear myself breathe; I don't feel the tug in my lungs. I must have a ventilator again…what was I doing?'

Kimimaro opened his eyes slowly. 'Everything is so…different. What changed?' Closing his eyes Kimimaro thought on what he remembered. 'The operation…is that why I feel so relaxed, so…free? The pain in my chest…it's gone…I can breathe clearly. This operation worked…' With a slow reverence Kimimaro lifted his arms and looked at them. 'I am so pale…so thin…and I am hungry…I don't remember feeling this hungry in a long time.' Pushing himself upright, Kimimaro looked around the room he was in. 'What a depressing room…I want to be outside.' Noticing the only door to the room opening he prepared himself for Kabuto.

"Wow, I had almost forgotten that your waking heart rate is so close to your sleeping rate."

Kimimaro was surprised for a moment before he recognized the red-head, "Karin…This procedure worked."

"I told you it would…But never mind that!" Karin said in an urgent whisper as she closed the door. "I made sure to keep you in a room with no audio or video monitoring devices…We need to talk while we still have time, lay back down and keep your heart rate down. You are still projected to be unconscious right now, and that is the only reason Kabuto wasn't put on duty for you right now."

Kimimaro nodded in understanding as he looked at Karin, 'She seems different than I remember her…she has long legs…' Mentally shaking his head as he lay back down, "So what now?" Kimimaro was forcefully keeping his eyes away from the red-head's legs.

"Well have you thought on what I told you before?"

"The other operation to 'permanently' cure me of my disease?"

"Ugh…If not for the situation I would think you're doing this on purpose. I mean about the mission that Orochimaru gave you."

'Mission? I wasn't doing anything…and I don't remember getting ready to leave this base yet…why is it so hard to focus? I met with Orochimaru-sama and…something about…her…Karin…she…I,' Kimimaro's thoughts paused once he remembered what his orders were. A strange look crossed his face, "…I…I cannot. The thought…is, foreign; it is hard to even wrap my head around it."

"See, that is what I was talking about. Right before the operation, your only reason for not completing it…was probably just the slightest feeling of discomfort, most likely because you felt unsuited to the mission than any moral concerns, beyond that it was likely just a bit of curiosity. We need to escape."

"What! Leave Orochimaru-sama's service? Never!"

A look of panic crossed Karin's face, "Keep quiet!" She hissed out angrily. After a moment of silence she said, "Kimimaro…think about this for a moment…If not for this assault, I wouldn't have been given the opportunity to perform this procedure on you…he would have let you fester and die. Even as it is this procedure is only a temporary fix…Most likely it was planned for you to go into battle and either die or use enough chakra for you to go into remission, putting you in a worse condition than before."

"I can't believe that. Not even from you Karin. Orochimaru-sama has always been kind and fair to me. When I was lost and alone, he was there. When everyone else feared or abandoned me, Orochimaru-sama was there caring for me!"

"I told you before that there was another procedure that would permanently cure you of your disease, you even remembered it. Do you remember when I was operating on you and having you focus on your chakra flow?" Getting a nod Karin continued, "Those other doctors, Kabuto tried to disguise it, but those were clones of him. Kabuto was watching me to make sure that I did the temporary procedure on you. There would only be one reason Kabuto was there instead of some of the other medics and doctors since and posing as multiple doctors, he and Orochimaru don't want anyone else to know of how to cure you. That's the reason I've been watched so much!" Karin said angrily. "Besides you know like I do…If Orochimaru didn't abandon you then because he could use you, but now he's decided that he can't use you anymore, so he's getting rid of you just like everyone else."

"But…" Kimimaro hesitated to ask, "Why? Why would Orochimaru-sama want me dead? How have I been found lacking?"

"Kimimaro…Squad 45, one of Oto's first generation genin squads has preformed 29 C-ranked missions and 3 B-ranked, without failure or complaint. They died by Orochimaru's personal experiments last week. Not the elemental seals, not on missions, just by having completing their missions successfully, they drew Orochimaru's attention!" Karin said desperately. "You don't need to be found lacking! He'll just decide that you or I are now expendable and suddenly we are on the operating table and getting hacked apart to find how the duodenum is or isn't vital for immortality!"

"…" Kimimaro was quiet for a moment. 'I still can't believe that I…' Looking up at Karin, he quietly asked, "Is it possible that Juugo is allowed to see me?"

"It will be difficult. But provided that Juugo behaves nothing should be really suspicious with having him visit you." Karin turned to the door and said "We don't have much time, you'll probably have only an hour with Juugo, and I may not get a chance to speak with you again. But with how serious this seems to be, even I may be called to the battle as a medic. So if we can't meet again before the battle I'll likely be on the field too." Karin walked out the door quickly and didn't look back.

'Why isn't anything simple anymore? Orochimaru-sama…what are these dreams of yours? What in this world do you see that we are forbidden from seeing? Can I really believe Karin that Orochimaru-sama intends to get rid of me?' Kimimaro closed his eyes and feel into a light state of meditation. Unaware of how time passed, he could hear the sounds of many footsteps. Kimimaro waited; patiently thinking until he was awakened by the sound of his door opening, expecting either Juugo or one of the remaining staff, Kimimaro opened his eyes to a familiar shock of white hair.

"Well it seems as though you are awake." Kabuto goaded. "Karin said it was bound to be a painful procedure, one that would leave most completely helpless if they even survive."

"…" Kimimaro remained quiet and watchful.

Kabuto smirked, "Hmm? What's wrong not feeling so good? Here, let me make sure you're still healthy." Reaching out his hand toward Kimimaro saw a sickly green chakra suffuse it.

Kimimaro's eyes narrowed, frowning he focusing chakra to his collar bone and ribs waiting until Kabuto's hand got close enough to spear him. 'No doubt he intends to kill me while I'm weakened and say Karin killed me during the operation, or shortly after.'

"Kimimaro!"

"Keep calm Juugo!" Karin's voice yelled out.

Kabuto looked up startled and dropped whatever jutsu he was doing, jumping back. A quick glare was the last thing that Kimimaro saw of him before Kabuto vanished in a swirl of shunshin.

"Stop running and calm down right now Juugo!" The sound of clumsy and heavy footsteps was quickly approaching.

'If Kabuto was willing to do so now then he'll likely try after the battle when I'm tired then. This only proves it, the only reason Kabuto didn't kill me before was only because he would be responsible for my death.' Hearing the footsteps near his door Kimimaro dropped the frown from his face. 'But…if Orochimaru-sama really…really has determined for me to die either in this battle or shortly after…then Kabuto would stand little to no repercussions…regardless of when he killed me, he wouldn't need to blame my death on another.'

"Stop Juugo! Or I won't show you what room Kimimaro is in!" Hearing the pounding footsteps slow to a halt Kimimaro readied himself for the decision he was going to be forced to make. Conflicting emotions raged in his head, and a gnawing feeling settled in his stomach.

'Kabuto and Karin abhor each other, so he would of course blame her if he can. And now is one of the only times that that trash could possibly hope to overcome me. Even while I was sick poisons had little effect on my body, and I don't require nearly the same amount of food and water that others do.' Kimimaro felt his entire body tense up. 'Karin said that Orochimaru-sama trusts me because of my seal so Kabuto probably expects that Karin is trying to kill me using Juugo while he's unstable so she can be guiltless. How can things have come to this? Why did Orochimaru–sama find me lacking? You are my savior Orochimaru-sama. Why?' The door open suddenly, and Kimimaro's eyes briefly scanned Karin as she walked in. Much to his distress, Kimimaro was noticing things about Karin that he hadn't before. They were bringing unwanted thoughts to his head'

Kimimaro instead focused on Juugo as he walked in eagerly with a worried smile on his face. "Kimimaro how're you doing? I heard the procedure was a success and you're feeling much better!"

"I…I feel different," Kimimaro said uncertainly. "It is much easier to breathe…to talk."

"That's good." Karin said professionally, "Don't overdo anything; your body is still recovering. Even your ability to use your bloodline will be weakened." Karin turned to Juugo, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Kimimaru. "Listen Juugo, I…JUUGO!" Getting the larger man's attention, she continued, "I need you to protect Kimimaro, he is still strong, and can fight, but since he is recovering it is imperative that he exert himself as little as possible. So keep under control, and don't let Kabuto in here."

Juugo looked at her strangely, "Kabuto is trash?"

Karin struggled not to burst out laughing, and Kimimaro was surprised to find he struggled to keep a smirk off his face, "The trashiest." Looking at Kimimaro she said "I'll be back in a bit to check up on you and monitor your recovery. However I have little doubt that soon I'll be called away and Kabuto will be left to handle your recovery. Since you shouldn't be moving too much I brought you some reading material." With that she reached into a pocket and withdrew a small black tablet. "Don't let that get found. And keep quiet, unless you want someone to notify Kabuto that you're awake." She lightly tossed it into Kimimaro's lap.

"Kabuto was here, he left when he heard you and Juugo coming." Kimimaro said quietly.

A wince passed through her features. "Then don't make much noise, act as though you pretended to be sleeping while I came in." Karin looked nervous and preformed a dispel jutsu. After a moment with nothing happening, Karin relaxed a little. She glanced back at the two men, "Just remember to stay as quiet as you can." With that she walked out of the room briskly.

Nodding his head, slowly Juugo thought about it. 'This is so strange…Kabuto has always been Kimimaro's medic…why was Karin never assigned him since he and Kabuto never got along. Besides they are acting awful strange.' Deciding that the best way to approach the matter was directly, Juugo began, "Hey…Kimimaro…"

"Juugo…Karin has told me this is a room with no listening devices. We should be able to speak freely here."

"You trust her?"

"I hold her life by my words. I gave her a chance once even under the influence of the earth seal." Kimimaro let out a bitter laugh. "Now I understand why Kidomaru and Tayuya called the seals cursed. She put her life into my hands then, so it is more apt to say she has trusted me. What she talks of is leaving Orochimaru's service."

"But you-"

"I know. I truly do. However, that Karin felt she could say what she said here means it is as secure as she can be sure of."

"What will you do?"

"I don't know…what she has told me, and what Orochimaru-sama has ordered me to do. In some ways it all seems too convenient. But at the same time…I see a pattern that I couldn't see before. This is a test…"

"Orochimaru sent Karin here as a test? Then we can't trust her, especially if she is talking about leaving Orochimaru."

"No…Orochimaru's test…was that he wanted me to…" Kimimaro's head lowered, allowing his pale hair to obscure his face, "…to rape Karin. It is similar to when Orochimaru-sama tasked me with destroying one of the bases that had supposedly turned traitor. When I arrived they were happy to see me, they were proud that I had come because they expected Orochimaru-sama to follow shortly. Then they asked me to inspect the base with them to make sure it was up to standards so as to please Orochimaru-sama. They…were earnest. I remember it was hard…to consider that they may not be traitors. Base E9U2."

"Isn't that the base were-"

"Yes." Kimimaro said angrily. "That was the disease research facility. I vaguely remember noticing some documents…I knew what they were…but…I followed Orochimaru-sama's orders. He had me destroy researchers whose only crime was to get found out."

"Found out for what?"

"Cystic Fibrosis."

"What is that?"

"It is the disease that affects my lungs. Their notes…they said that to some degree the entire Kaguya clan had it. But due to the conditions I was kept in, my mortality was accelerated. They were working on a way to save my life, and Orochimaru sent me there to kill them."

Karin stepped back in, "Juugo! Whatever you're doing, stop it! Kimimaro's heart rate just jumped and… Just don't make me have to separate you two!" Just as quickly she stepped out and shut the door.

"I suppose that means that we don't have much time. I can only imagine that she's giving us some warning. The Kaguya clan kept their means of defeating the disease secret. From what Karin said, they had two ways of dealing with it. A permanent one and a temporary one." Kimimaro opened the tablet that Karin threw to him earlier. "This…defines the procedures, the one that Karin preformed and the permanent solution. To the rest of the world…it is incurable. But…with this information I or any Kaguya could have been better a long time ago. Information that is my birthright to have."

"So…what do we do?" Juugo asked quietly.

It took Kimimaro a few seconds to close the book and look up at Juugo. A long drawn sigh made its way past his lips as he closed his eyes and lay back down. When Kimimaro opened his eyes they were steely, focused and determined, but his voice was deceptively soft, "We do as Orochimaru-sama commands. We die."

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"Um…are you serious? There is no pursuit?"

"None."

"No large battle site where hundreds have died?"

"No signs of any engagements."

Jiraiya sighed. "Fuck. How the fuck did he get out?"

"Sir?" Owl asked uncertainly, "Isn't this good news? As in excellent news, as it means that many political problems aren't going to arise?"

Jiraiya slumped his shoulders, and waved his hand dismissively, "Yea that's great and all…but I bet Hebi that running around with all those kids Itachi would get caught or in trouble. So…since they didn't she gets to pre-editor for Icha Icha…now I'm just thinking of how much yelling there's going to be from my publisher."

"Don't worry Owl-kun…we'll be trying stuff out to make sure it's possible."

"Well when you put it like that…this is a complete win-win!" Jiraiya said enthusiastically.

"What the fuck is wrong with you two?" Owl cried out in horror. "You want to let that freak watch us….and do what he writes? You read what he writes? I can't imagine Kurenai could stand…." Owl trailed off for a second.

"I knew you'd come around to my-"

"Kurenai doesn't know you read that stuff! Hah! She'd put you in a genjutsu and burn them all then murder you!"

"Eh…so what?"

"I could let it slip to her…" Owl said quietly.

"What? No!"

"…You'll ruin my research! And deny me and men everywhere inspiration and joy! You monster!" Jiraiya cried dramatically. Suddenly an odd gleam entered Jiraiya's eyes. "But Hebi could just refuse you sex, hah!"

Hebi looked at the white haired sannin oddly. "Yea about that…" she drawled out slowly, "That's more a punishment to me than him. Usually he's the one refusing to put-out."

Jiraiya's eyes seemed to fade, before he deflated, "Damn you're lame man."

"SHUT UP! Focus on the mission!"

Jiraiya eyed the man critically, before slowly saying "Ok. But off the record: you're still the lamest man I've ever met I'd hit that every night I could, I mean...morning noon and night, hehe maybe go for a midnight snack." Seeing the reaction he was expecting, the tensing of shoulders, and the slight fluctuation of chakra indicative of the man getting ready to attack him, "So about how far are we behind them?"

"I'll kill….I- Itachi?" Owl asked confused. Getting a look that clearly said 'no-shit,' Owl regained his composure. "We are a little less than a half day behind them at this point. No doubt their pace was slowed due to having to sneak through Amegakure, so even though we had farther to go outside the boarder, we've nearly caught up with them."

"Then we shouldn't waste any more time." Hebi said simply. "Where are they off to?"

"Well…that's the thing, it seems like they are headed toward the summit. At least that's the closest thing along their current heading."

"Well, well, well…Why wouldn't our walking political nightmare just barrel into the mega shit-storm? Let's take the blonde haired blue eyed gaki who is also a jinchuuriki right in front of a bunch of Iwa Jounin." Jiraiya spat out. "Oh did I mention that Suna will almost certainly think that Itachi is trying to steal their jinchuuriki, and the other Kazekage's kids. And let's walk in with a kid who is well known to have the Sharingan and hailed as a genius right in front of a bunch of bloodline hungry Kumo-nin, and bloodline hating Mizu-nin... Hmmm, why not just take a FRICKEN BRICK AND SMACK ME IN THE FUCKIN' NUTS! YOU TRY TO ROAST MY ASS AND NOW I HAVE TO PULL YOUR RETARTED-GENIUS ASS OUT THE SHITSTORM YOU'RE ABOUT TO STIR UP!"

"We should go…" Hebi stage-whispered to Owl. Receiving a nod in return both quickly jumped off in the direction that Itachi and party went along.

Suddenly both of them felt a massive chakra flare, and looked back. Both were shocked to see the distinctive red vest and pipe of the one and only Gamabunta.

"OI! WHAT'S THE MEANING OF SUMMONING ME?" Gamabunta called out irritably.

"Both of you get up here!" Jiraiya called out ignoring Gamabunta's question. "We have a clusterfuck to stop and I'll be damned if I let some little punk-ass Uchiha drag us into the fourth war! 'Bunta! We need to go! Stealth isn't an issue, I'd rather us fly over them than not catch up to them!"

"You have a lot to explain to me about this!"

"On the way 'Bunta!"

"Fine get on you two." With that both Hebi and Owl quickly made their way to Gamabunta's head.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Jiraiya looked at the small toad that appeared from the smoke. "Deliver this message to Sarutobi-sensei as fast as you can. Go!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&X&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Itachi…oniisan," Gaara called out slowly, unsure if that was acceptable.

'They are all going to call me oniisan…Sasuke is going to be immensely jealous,' Itachi thought to himself with a bit of mirth. Turning to Gaara Itachi nodded and said, "What do you need?"

"We are going to that place we're Tousan is. That meeting?"

"Hai."

"I…" Gaara looked down quietly. "I don't want to go back to the desert. I don't want to go back to the place where….I want to stay with you and Naruto-niisan."

If not for the years of practice that caused Itachi to hone the act of tree jumping to an instinct, he may have missed his landing and broken his neck. Nor did his face show the utter turmoil that broiled right beneath the surface. "That…will be extremely difficult. Extremely. Unbelievably so." Itachi trailed off. "That is far beyond my capabilities to do…I know that Suna will be desperate to find you. Enough so that they may start a war."

"If I kill them all…can I stay with you oniisan?"

"Um…" Itachi stifled a cringe. 'O-kay. Let's not forget that this is the 8 year old that intel says has been killing Suna's jounin...Not creepy how easily he just volunteered to kill his village, they have been trying to assassinate him. Good I've got my center back...Let's focus.' "'It's not just with Suna that the problem would occur," Itachi said thinking fast. Itachi continued with no hesitation or hitch in his voice, "Konoha and Suna are allies. From a military perspective…and that's how other villages will look at this…if you stay with us, it will look like Konoha stole you away and is untrustworthy. That change in reputation could cause our allies to desert us, and our enemies to attack us while we were vulnerable. Lacking allies at least for trade would cause us to fight a losing war. If you…killed the majority of Suna, even in Konoha people would be worried you might do the same thing to them. But other countries would see a power vacuum that would without a doubt, draw Konoha and other counties in, until everyone is at war. This is ignoring that the moment Suna found out about you being in Konoha, they would start a war to get you back."

"I…see." Gaara said disappointment heavy in his voice.

"I didn't say that there was no way to get you to Konoha, or at least to stay with us." Itachi said slowly. "However to do so, would require time. Time and resources I don't have right now. I can't promise anything right now Gaara-kun. But if only for you and Naruto, I'll do my best to look into this."

"Uhm, what about us…?" Temari asked quietly. "I…well…Tousan…isn't really…I mean…could we possibly go with you and Gaara?"

'Sigh, this will be an unaccountable political nightmare…or…will it?' Itachi thought for a moment. "I won't say no. But just like with Gaara, there is quite a lot at stake with having any of you leave Suna. If I left Konoha to go to Suna…ignoring that I'm a registered shinobi, my clan would no doubt do everything they could force a war to get me back. It will take careful planning, and help."

"Wow…you're amazing Itachi-niisan!" Naruto called out happily.

"If the location that…" Itachi paused for a second, "my contact in Ame gave was correct we have about 10 hours until we reach the summit. I know some of the protocols for ANBU so we should at least have a chance to speak with whoever is heading up the ANBU defense, and perhaps even Hokage-sama himself."

"So what do we do Itachi-sensei?" Naruto asked quietly. Gaara looked over at Naruto carefully; in the week and half that they'd been together he'd only heard Naruto's voice turn serious like that a handful of times.

"There are several strategies I can think up right off the top of my head but…I'd need help to pull them off…it'd be best if we spoke to Hokage-sama about it." Itachi looked at Gaara, "I don't know how successful I will be, and it may require that you have to go back to Suna for a while before we could bring you to Konoha."

"…I…I can wait…what do I need to do? How can I help?" Gaara said slowly nodding as he jumped again.

"Right now…I don't know. But I'll do the best I can to speak with Hokage-sama and he will know the best way to do this. Regardless of what is done, don't mention this to anyone, ever. Not even that you want to come to Konoha." Itachi's eyes widened, instinct warned him that something was behind him and closing in fast.

BOOM

The ground shook and trees upturned. Everyone except Itachi went hurtling in various directions, either flung by trees or trying their best not to drop to the ruptured ground. Only habit caused Itachi's sharingan to flick on, and that allowed him to stay on course.

"Itachi!" A gargantuan voice bellowed. After a moment it spoke again, "That's all you said to say Jiraiya! YOU'RE completely useless! Just because you're too damn slow to catch up to a kid doesn't mean that I'm your pack mule! If you summon me for ride again you better have a contract with some horses 'cause you'll need someone to get you to a hospital once I break your legs! You better have my Sake next time…or else." Poof. In a massive explosion of smoke the giant toad vanished.

"You retarded toad!" A voice screamed out. Within seconds three figures landed as the smoke cleared. "Kuso. Itachi I know you're around here!"

Itachi stepped out from right behind Jiraiya replacing his kunai in a pouch, "Jiraiya-sama." All three turned though only the ANBU seemed react in shock.

Suppressing a wince at realizing how close the prodigy was to getting a free attack on his back Jiraiya spoke urgently. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You snatch the Kazakage's kids, run around Ame and then think it's a good idea to just storm the whole 'impress the world' summit?"

Almost instantly Itachi responded, ignoring Jiraiya's incensed question. "Jiraiya-sama, it is good that we ran into you. I've received information about the organization that Orochimaru was a part of."

"What? Akatsuki!"

"If that is their name, I was able to see several of the members, first was a woman with blue hair who called herself Konan she was guarded by Hoshigaki Kisame." Itachi noticed that the elder shinobi reacted stronger to the first name than the second but continued on, "They contacted me regarding Orochimaru, first that he was expelled from the organization, but also that he is launching an attack on the Daimyo Summit. They estimated around 30 jounins and 120 chuunins, and stated that he was using some form of Ame disguises, in order to give the illusion that Konoha's allies were abandoning us."

"Well…that sounds like something Orochimaru would do…though where did he get that much man power?" Jiraiya mused quietly, "I won't bother to ask if you verified the information since, with the current situation that'd have been extremely hard to do. And even if the numbers are wrong we can't let an attack like that happen."

"There is also something that I need to bring up with the Sandaime Hokage." Itachi called out softly, "Gaara-kun, Temari, Kankuro, come here." Within a moment a few trees shifted, as sand shredded them revealing a group of children.

Despite the trees that landed all around none of them looked harmed, or even anything past winded. 'Kuso. It figures that a tree lands on the gaki, and no doubt he'll blame me.' The first child Jiraiya noticed was the blond haired boy. The glower on his face spelled out quite clearly what he was thinking of doing. Probably the only reason that he didn't just immediately start attacking was the young girl he was carrying on his back. The next person he noticed was the blond girl, tallest of the children, not including Itachi, carrying a dark haired boy on her back, 'Temari, the Kazekage's daughter. And the brunette boy carrying the other boy must be Kankuro. And…that means the red head with the murder in his eyes is the infamous Gaara, who is also a jinchuuriki…not good…I'm so glad I brought Tenzou with me.'

"You tried to hurt Naruto-niisan and Itachi-oniisan!" Gaara cried out angrily his sand raising in aggravation.

"You're that hentai who likes to touch me!" Naruto screamed…

"Touch you?" Itachi asked quizzically.

"Like he we was eyeing me up like he does women and wanted me to take off my shirt!" Naruto yelled out quickly.

"What?" Itachi yelled with his sharingan activated.

"Whoa?" The hebi masked ANBU called out alarmed. "What the hell is going to be in your next book?"

"WAIT!" Jiraiya roared out. "Before you go jumping to conclusions, I was checking his goddamned seal! Making sure the thrice-damned gaki wouldn't explode! His seal is on his stomach."

"You just want to touch me!" Naruto shouted out suddenly.

"Will you shut the hell up? No one wants to touch you!" Jiraiya screamed back.

"Naruto-kun is nice." Seimei quietly said from his back.

"Yea! I'd rather touch him than some old pervert like you! You're probably a leather person!" Temari yelled.

"Ugh…Ok…whatever a leather person is! What the hell do you want punk?"

'I'm a punk?' Itachi raised his eyebrow critically at the Sannin, "Gaara-kun wanted to come to Konoha with us. Obviously that poses a problem…I can think of several ways to facilitate that, and if we're careful we can avoid war, but I require assistance if any of them are to succeed." Everyone was quiet after that.

"You're kidding. Right?" The owl masked ANBU said suddenly. "There is no way Suna would let…Gaara, correct? No way that they'd let him go."

Jiraiya was quiet…"I see…I can almost imagine exactly what you are thinking. We'd need to talk to Sarutobi-sensei to get his approval." Looking up, Jiraiya said, "We'll escort you and the gaki to the summit, fortunately we have the proper documentation to take you to either the summit or Konoha. We need to go…you can tell me on the way."

"Forgive me Jiraiya-sama but I do need to check and make sure that everyone is alright. Tree jumping is something that Naruto and I are proficient in, but it's a new skill for Gaara, Temari and Kankuro."

"I am fine," Gaara said while still eyeing Jiraiya distrustfully.

"I think my leg is bruised and my ankle feels a little weak, but I'm alright," Temari said watching Gaara.

Kankuro just looked down, "Well…I'm kinda hungry…"

Hebi snorted, "Here have a ration bar. You'll love the flavor."

Itachi suppressed a grimace, "You'll have to eat it as we run Kankuro…if you can."

"I can eat this puny little thing! I can eat like 10 of them!"

Itachi thought better of saying more as he could almost feel the Cheshire grin behind Hebi's mask. "We need to go. I'll carry Yuubou, if one of you can carry Temari."

"I-I can keep going!" She protested quickly, embarrassed.

"I don't doubt that, however jumping through trees is a new skill for you, and you're slightly injured. If it was feasible then I'd have Kankuro and Jakunen carried too, but we need someone to be ready to defend us if we're attacked."

"Oh…"

"Actually," Owl began, "While you and Jiraiya-sama converse, allow us to carry both of them. We can trade off as we go." Receiving a sharp nod from Jiraiya both ANBU moved to their passengers.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, 'Every one of them turned to Itachi the second he started talking. I can see it easily; they are all hanging off every word he says. Hmm, perhaps he's not quite the stuck up punk I thought he was…it's pretty hard to deal with so many kids as well as he seems to.' Putting his musings aside Jiraiya called out, "Alright everyone, I want the kids in the middle and we'll make move in a triangle with Itachi and me up front for right now. We'll separate in a box in a bit. Let's move!"

"Why not summon that big frog again?" Kankuro asked curiously.

"Cause he'd go out of his way to squish us. And it'd send up all sorts of red flags…we don't want to spook them, especially if with Itachi is thinking of what I think he is." Within seconds they were off.

Jiraiya looked at the young Uchiha prodigy, "So kid…tell me what you are thinking…"

"Forgive me for saying but you seem unusually open to this idea." Itachi remarked calmly.

Jiraiya sighed, weighing his options on what to say. "You may not believe me, but I do care about Naruto. Quite a lot. Take from that what you will, but it's obvious to me that he wants this. And while he may hate me, I'm big enough to shoulder that and still want to help him."

Itachi looked at the sannin out of the corner of his eye for a moment, "Naruto doesn't hate you. He doesn't trust you, and he is very protective of his seal. So any trust you might have been able to build was damaged by examining his seal without him trusting you. He doesn't like people who he can't or doesn't trust."

"I see…" Jiraiya said quietly. "Well that just means it's a longer road, but one that I'll gladly take."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well I suppose there was a reason you were made a jounin...We are on the verge of war with Suna, due to the actions of the Kazekage. So if Gaara wants to join us, I'm fine with that. The power the Gaara so effortlessly wields will either be used for us, or against us if Suna does declare war...or even if they don't. So even if Gaara just wanted to leave Suna...we'd stand to lose little by helping him. Since such would be an act of war...and Suna clearly has a plan for war with us already."

After a moment of silence, Itachi started, "The option that I can think of with the highest chance of success would be to trap Kaze no Kuni's Daimyo in a genjutsu."

"Just having him order Gaara order to Konoha would be pretty obvious."

"I know…I told Gaara that he might have to go back to Suna for a while. If I put him under genjutsu and delay the orders, it will be weeks maybe even months before it activates, well outside of the time that we'd be suspected. My thought was to have the Daimyo investigate the house of Subaku. With his discovery of the Kazekage's actions regarding Gaara and his siblings, he'd order them separated. With the way things are now…how Kaze's Daimyo has been relying on us it wouldn't be too uncharacteristic of him to temporarily send them to Konoha. From temporary to being accepted as a citizen."

"There still exists the chance that the Kazekage will try to rebel, either by open defiance or by attacking us later. It very well could be the straw that breaks the camel's back." Jiraiya cautioned.

"If he is going to declare a secret war on Konoha due to his Daimyo's actions then he was planning to go to war with us anyway."

"And he certainly is," Jiraiya interjected.

"Then he was going to start a war regardless. No alliance could prosper while he's checking and plotting how to attack us."

"In any case…We'll have to run this across sensei before we try anything. He'd be the only one who could get us an audience with any of the daimyo." Jiraiya said, "We'll need back up and a way to keep this under wraps. I'll ask, though I doubt you did…but you didn't tell the kids did you?"

"No…they can't leak what they don't know."

"And you told them to keep this whole thing quiet."

"Hai, but it won't hurt to reinforce that."

"We know that there will be some retaliation over this, regardless of if our hand is in this. This will be a disgrace to Suna," Itachi said quietly.

"Suna will no doubt find a way of trying to spin this in a way the limits the disgrace. No doubt Sensei will see to it. It wouldn't be good for the alliance if we did anything other."

"I wonder if we are jumping into too much too soon…" Itachi said quietly.

Jiraiya looked at the young boy. Slowly a frown began marring his face. "Listen. You were alive during the last war. You saw what it did. To the people, to the land, even to the closest of allies and the bitterest of enemies. No one escaped unscathed. War can and will find you, it finds everyone and drags them into it. Greed, envy, hatred…that is at the heart of every war. I…look for a way to end that. There is a cycle of hatred in this world…" Jiraiya's eyes flickered over to Gaara solemnly. "It takes a lot to break a cycle…and even more to make sure that the cycle stays broken."

"We are risking war…"

"By helping Gaara? Maybe. But I doubt it kid." Jiraiya hesitated for a second. "Well let me rephrase that. We're practically inviting war to dance in our house by doing this. But when I look at Gaara and Naruto…I see two people who could easily be a major proponent of the cycle or one the largest impediments to it. The rocks that change the stream. Suna isn't raising Gaara for anything but war, either with us or someone else, and with the way things are right now we'll definitely be at war with Suna and they'll have Gaara spearheading every major operation."

"But that is what I mean…our actions might be the action that starts the war."

"No you misunderstand. This…hasn't really even been told to most of the jounin yet." Jiraiya said quietly. "Suna has been making some deals that were vastly unpopular with their Daimyo. Enough so that their daimyo put them in their situation. While the majority of Suna's genin and chuunin think that Konoha and their daimyo are at fault, many jounin are aware of the Kazekage's actions that provoked this whole mess. With the two of them bashing heads so visibly to the jounin, it seems imminent that either the Kazekage will stage a coup d'état for control of Kaze no Kuni or he'll open a war on Konoha. In either case…we'll be pulled into war."

Itachi remained silent as he digested this. It was nearly a full minute before he spoke, "If war is inevitable, then why not alert our jounin at least? We could slowly step up our forces to be ready to defend Hi no Kuni without causing alert to anyone else, even if there are spies in our village."

"Many reasons…but overall it's too risky at this stage. I'll tell you more once you've gotten clearance from Sarutobi-sensei."

Itachi nodded quietly, "Well what did you mean when you talked about Naruto and Gaara?"

"Both of them contain the power of bijuu. Typically, as in Suna's case, they are used as weapons of war, killing machines unrivaled and able to enter suicidal odds and survive. Furthermore both of them have felt the treatment that jinchuuriki get, the fear, the hatred, the loneliness. But within them is still the heart and mind of children. They can do both great good and great evil in this world. Either they can be raised in places where they are hated and feared, grow up surrounded by that hatred and in turn propagate the cycle. Or they can be raised with people who care, and experience love. They can be the example of those who stand outside the cycle. A beacon of hope that strength and order can exist in this world without war." A few moments passed in silence between the two, before Jiraiya said "We need to get back and begin rotation. I also have some cloaks and mask that ANBU use for client protection to keep their clients identity a secret among other allies. I'll give these to all of the children."

"I've never heard of that."

"Usually this only shows up on S-ranked missions. Where the client wants as few of even us to know who they are. Occasionally we'll have someone who doesn't want to be known among general populous but needs to enter the village. These cloaks and masks have special protections that our ANBU can pick up on, to determine if they are authentic so they'll know that it is an authorized person or group, and not just some imposters who picked up on this little code." With that both returned to the group with no fanfare.

Several hours passed by as they all shifted the rotation of the children. Few words were said as they arrived closer the summit. Once they arrived, only the minimum was stated to the ANBU who asked no questions of Jiraiya about his strange entourage. But all the ANBU picked up on the nervousness of the escorted individuals. In less than 10 minutes they were within sight of the actual tower.

The group was lead to a small fairly squat building. On the outside it was clean and unremarkable; on the inside it was very comfortably furnished. While the outside seemed to be made of bleached sandstone, painted white with a low dark roof. The interior was a much different story. The floors were made of mahogany and the walls made of white oak. The furniture was largely velvet, or silk, and the entire thing was spacious. Designed for the privileged and their entourage.

All eleven members of the group were escorted in and given rooms.

Barely moments after Jiraiya closed the door to his room he quickly placed his hand on the ground resulting in a soft puff of smoke. Before him sat a small toad who silently handed him a scroll and quickly un-summoned itself. Quickly unraveling it Jiraiya's face bore a small smile at the contents, before a grimace stretched over his face. 'Damn it Sensei...are you trying to make yourself out to be the bad guy? Here and now of all times?'

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&X&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Jiraiya, sitting alone in the lounge area well away from the kids and noise, was hoping for some form of notification from the ANBU about being able to see Sensei's proxy. But as the evening came and night started to set in he figured that he wouldn't get such a convenient way of talking to Itachi alone. 'Given the protectiveness of the kids, I don't doubt one or two might try to listen in, and I can't afford to split my attention with this at all. I need the kids to be in a relaxed mood, so they can help Itachi...And my taking Itachi away to talk to him will kill that mood, and having Hebi and Owl try to distract the kids will no doubt make both Naruto and that Gaara kid suspicious and naturally they'll want to see Itachi. Why are all jinchuuriki so clingy...and why clingy to Itachi?' Jiraiya let out a sigh, 'Plus I need to keep Itachi from feeling like I'm insincere. So that means that...Did Itachi just walk past me? He's going into the kitchen.' Standing up Jiraiya heaved another sigh as he followed Itachi into the kitchen. Jiraiya lightly sighed and allowed his features to turn downcast, "Itachi we need to talk. Before we see Sensei." Jiraiya placed two tags on the floor behind him, and walked past Itachi to place another two down, sealing them within a sound barrier. 'I can't let him yell since this is a weak seal arrangement.'

"Jiraiya-sama?" Itachi said both a bit skeptical and unsure.

"Itachi, listen to me…I shouldn't tell you this yet because Sensei wanted to tell you this himself. But this is something that you need to know. It's probably best that you hear this before we go see Sensei and he tells you. As things stand in Konoha, the Uchiha are seeking to stage a coup d'état with Danzou's help. Regardless of if Sensei can talk the coup down again, it has to be stamped out."

Itachi stopped everything he was doing. Sharingan activated. His entire body tense as he harshly whispered, "The Uchiha are no traitors!"

"Itachi," Jiraiya said in warning, "Why do you think that your father sent you to 'guard' Naruto? He could have sent people better qualified to do so, more trusted, more experienced. He wanted you to befriend Naruto, to gain his trust. And he would have either used that trust turn him into a weapon for the Uchiha, or cut him down when if his attachment to sensei and the rest of the village was too inconvenient." Jiraiya said bitterly. "Why do you think I was so against you being his sensei? The original punishment that the elder council had brought up for you was death. Not because of your actual actions, but to divest the Uchiha clan of the weapon called Uchiha Itachi. Sensei brought up that you defended Naruto, and Naruto was attached to you. It was the Hyuuga who proposed that instead of death, which may have pushed the Uchiha into action much earlier you would be separated from the Uchiha. Naruto would stay with you, because it would give a reason for Sensei to check on you and see not only how you were taking the punishment, but also assess your knowledge of the coup. Beyond that Hyuuga Hizashi volunteered to watch you, to further acquit you of a place in the coup. It was even brought up that the Yamanaka could search your mind. But Sensei refused, he believed in you, and didn't want to turn you into a weapon against the Uchiha."

An icy feeling was quickly spreading all throughout Itachi's body, 'It makes sense...it suddenly makes sense.' Itachi could barely hold in his rage. His chakra was only slightly spiking, a testament to Itachi's self control, and tears were slowly pouring from his eyes, "And you mean to tell me that my parents, the woman who birthed me, and the man who raised me…they are traitors? My aunts and uncles, and my otouto Sasuke! You're telling me that they are traitors! You want me to believe that they are plotting high treason!" It was slight but Itachi was swaying on his feet.

"No." Jiraiya walked to Itachi and kneeled down in front of him. He firmly gripped the boy's shoulders and looked in to Itachi's denial plagued eyes. "Listen to me. You have done your clan the greatest service and honor. It was concluded earlier that the entire Uchiha clan, with the exception of the unable, had become aware of the impending coup. But when your actions came up, it allowed Sensei to prove that some of the Uchiha didn't know. You are a prodigy, a genius, heir to the Uchiha clan, and the son of one of the heads of this coup, and YOU didn't know. Your words, beliefs and actions proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to Sensei that the Uchiha could be redeemed. That in the mist of whatever corruption had taken some of your clan members, the Uchiha loyalty was still paramount in your clan, and it could still be saved."

"You...the way you're speaking of them...of us..."

Jiraiya looked away from Itachi, "Yes. Originally we were unable to determine who in the Uchiha were spear-heading this. And even if we wanted to be optimistic and say that only a few Uchiha were in on it, the whole clan stood to turn against Konoha. You know, like I do, that if your clan members rise up against an enemy, you'd assist them purely on the trust that they are your clan members. Meaning that it'd only take a few influential members to start a civil war."

Itachi glanced at the white haired man, his doubt and pain clearly etched across his face. "I can't believe this," Itachi said shakily.

"That's alright." Jiraiya said slowly. "I shouldn't have said anything, but you deserve to know."

"I ...deserve to know?"

"As I said Sensei is going to tell you. But the plan was tell you at a better time. Although we got to the summit, Sensei isn't physically here. Things are too dangerous for Sensei to leave Konoha right now." Jiraiya looked at the young boy. 'Sensei I hope you're right about telling him now. If not we'll have a whole new set of problems on our hands.'

Itachi was silent for a moment. The reality of the situation was sinking in. Shoving his tumultuous emotions down Itachi asked "What about Gaara's request...If you knew that Sandaime-sama was not here...then why come here?"

"Mostly, because the summit was closer to where we caught up with you. We'll be able to contact him from here. But he has a proxy here."

Itachi slowly moved to one of the chairs."Should I really be told this?" Itachi asked weakly.

"Sensei trusts you with Naruto. A child who he himself looks at like a grandchild, and even convinced me to back off of you." Jiraiya said a little petulantly. "Furthermore, part of being a jounin, no matter what your skill level, is the amount of trust that the Hokage places within you. There are people whom have been jounin far longer that you that are really having to jump through hoops before sensei is willing to tell them. The other reasons are so I can check up on the proxy, but finally to pick up those same jounin who got put through the hoops."

"But...why...if what you said is true, then why put them through that?" Itachi's thoughts were still jumbled

Inwardly Jiraiya was extremely relieved. A little bit of denial here wasn't bad, since he overall was accepting the news. Jiraiya looked at the boy, and smiled. "Well timing is everything, and since the timing wasn't right Sensei had to kill time. Besides," Jiraiya said as he smirked, "I'm sure you've noticed plenty of our jounin are squirrely as hell. I couldn't imagine that those hoops they had to jump through was anything more than bit of petty revenge to mess with them, like they mess with him." In the back of Jiraiya's mind he could hear, 'No doubt that's why he plastered all that paperwork on me, and sent me out to get our resident walking catastrophe. See if you get another signed first edition Sensei.'

Itachi just nodded. "I need some time to think."

"Understandable. Just remember, the number of people who know about this needs to be as few as possible," Jiraiya said quietly. "But I think it's for the best that you have as much time as possible to think about this. I think we'll be going to see Sensei early in the morning, before the talks resume. So get some rest." Jiraiya briefly laid a hand on Itachi's shoulder as he turned to look at him. 'Sometimes it's a little too easy to forget that Itachi is an eleven year old boy.'

"I knew it! You're trying to perv on Itachi-niisan! Don't take off your shirt niisan!" Naruto shrieked as he stood shocked in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Damn it gaki! I don't like young boys! I was checking your seal!"

"Itachi doesn't have a seal! What were you checking on him! You just want to touch people! Chikan!" Naruto yelled as he turned and fled through the house.

"Oh by KAMI you stupid FRICKEN GAKI! I was not molesting Itachi!" Jiraiya roared out as he started to give chase to the fleeing blonde. Turning a corner he ran face first into a wall of sand. Unable to stop himself from panicking Jiraiya instantly did a kawarimi with a chair, 'Damn...this does not bode well...' before Jiraiya decided to shunshin away and give a moment to let them calm down.

'I hope Naruto didn't hear any of that...I wish I didn't hear any of that. But if this is true, then I'll still just hear it tomorrow.' Itachi thought to himself as he slowly made his way out of the kitchen with the sandwiches he originally came to make.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&X&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I…I…I suddenly understand so much more about you Otousan." Sarutobi said quietly. "War or peace. For the longest time I wondered how much you remembered of sacrifice. You haven't been on missions for years. And it honestly seemed that you didn't care that we were seemly the only thing you chose to sacrifice. But now…I understand. This is a fate worse than never seeing your loved ones...and you chose this so that we can live in peace!" Quiet sobs followed, both at the release of stress from the day, and the nearly numbing experience that this form of politics had been so far. 'And you always said you preferred to deal with foreign affairs 'cause you always had the option of killing them, running, and pinning the blame on someone else. Now I understand why you always said that with a straight face..."

The Kokuhyou who were overseeing Asuma's brief tenure as a Hokage both shared a glance before one of them placed a hand on the sobbing man's shoulder. The other slowly and calmly pulled the young Sarutobi's hands away from his hair. "You've done well. I think we've all had a reaction similar to that. We aren't politicians. Rarely are we negotiators, not without the very real threat of imminent violence."

"I...thanks...You guys are so quiet...I was worried...I knew my Tousan shut down ROOT a long time ago but it wasn't like him to just get rid of the people. At first I thought that you guys were the remnants...just a lot stronger."

The man had a slight build, with narrow shoulders and a smooth unmarred face. Dark brown eyes and short dark brown hair completed the overall unremarkable look the Kokuhyou was going for. "Well some of us did go through the initial program. But back then ROOT was a prestigious thing, also it was so secret that it had no official designation but was internally called "The Organization." Only the best were admitted, emotions weren't stomped out, they were brought out and controlled to make you the strongest you could be. We were trained to show emotions, be it in battle or infiltration, just as well as we were trained to show nothing. Everything was about misdirection.

Eventually "The Organization" was named ROOT; that happened right around the time it became a place where traumatized shinobi went to learn how to cope. The training then was more about keeping their center and focus so they could stay on the active roster while still improving their skills. After the third Secret War it got transformed to be much like the "Waning Offices" is now. Retiring shinobi would go to learn to adjust to a civilian life, but also so they could keep their skills up without going active again. It helped out quite a bit during some of the smaller wars, since we had plenty of vets who stayed up with their skills and passed them on. That's why that function got separated and declassified so genin and chuunin could get to it and learn."

Asuma looked up, despite that he wasn't a big history buff, learning about ROOT was something to get his mind of the politics. "Is that when it disbanded?"

"No, only that part of where retired shinobi would pass on their skills got opened up. Vets who wanted to keep their skills sharp still remained in ROOT. Danzou was charge of it pretty much since its inception, thought as far as I know it was Hiruzen's show up until the Yondaime got appointed. He had gone though the program himself, and took what ROOT was at the time and built that function into ANBU, which is why most vets are in ANBU now. From what the Yondaime said, the vets may be past their prime but they know of just about everything to look out for when defending the village, so while they were considered reserves, since they didn't go on missions unless absolutely necessary, they were the ones patrolling and watching over the village. It's for that reason that even after the Kyuubi's attack we were able to maintain our appearance. Most of those who died were considered reserves. So while we lost them, we didn't lose nearly as many active shinobi."

The Kokuhyou shook his head, "As you can expect, the quality of our ANBU has sharply declined. While the active ANBU weren't affected much, as they are almost always in the field, the trainees who would learn from the vets were crippled. They didn't have many teachers, and ANBU instruction has become more of a class setting now verses the nearly apprenticeship setting it once was."

"You became an apprentice when you joined ANBU?"

"Ah that's right you joined the Daimyo's guard at the time instead of joining..." the man said slightly nostalgically. "Well usually the apprenticeship happened after boot camp. You'd be sorted according to your strengths, then taught by someone who specialized in your weakness. Your classes would focus on your strengths but you would have a vet working on with you on all of your weaknesses. It was actually uncommon to have a vet with 2 students at once then, not that they ever really got a break from training the new recruits. That we didn't have a huge shortage of ANBU after the Kyuubi's attack was due to the policies of both the Sandaime and the Yondaime.

Well the Yondaime didn't disband ROOT when he had the reserve vets go into ANBU. He had the program restart, and put the Sandaime in complete control of it. If nothing else it was an unprecedented show of faith between the two that the Yondaime gave complete control of ROOT to Hiruzen. Once Hiruzen took back the mantle of Hokage he placed Danzou back in charge of ROOT. 4 Years later Hiruzen rescinded Danzou's control of it and disbanded the organization due to their differences in how the program should be ran, that's the official reason. Unofficially, Danzou betrayed Hiruzen's trust, by changing the curriculum, taking unofficial and unsanctioned missions, and training unregistered students who obviously would be his own shinobi force. I'd imagine that your tousan would have had Danzou executed, if it were not for the Daimyo's intervention on Danzou's behalf." The man stepped away from the younger Sarutobi, "That was the beginning of the rift between the Sandaime and the Daimyo. The Daimyo had clearly overstepped his bounds that he set and agreed upon..."

"That doesn't make sense..."

"Traitors to Konoha are to be treated as traitors to Hi no Kuni. That was an agreement between the Shodai and the Daimyo of the time. I'd imagine that was to lend authority to Konoha, but both parties have used that clause to their advantage many times. However the clause further states that if Hi no Kuni declares someone a traitor the Daimyo must rescind that order, even if we disagree we may not shield them. The Hokage is given the same privilege, meaning someone considered a traitor to Konoha cannot be forgiven or shielded by the Daimyo. But that was exactly what happened with Danzou. It left things almost as tense as the situation with Suna and their Daimyo." The man sighed, "Then you went to the Daimyo as a guardian."

"I wasn't aware all of this was going on."

"Well there was a reason your tousan broke your legs when you told him you were going to go." Shaking his head, the Kokuhyou continued, "I was there to watch you cry like a baby, and I was one of the people who took you to the hospital after your tousan couldn't stand to look at you...laying there pitiful like a cripple. When he told you that he wouldn't let you go even if he had to break your spine...He wasn't kidding. That he calmed down enough between then and your...'spar'...was the only reason that he didn't leave your crippled. He had already sent orders to doctors on duty that you were not to be healed with chakra beyond insuring your life. WE were sent to verify that those orders were rescinded. He told you he would rather have you crippled and hating him for the rest of your life, than just plain dead. That week that you were in the hospital...was, as you know the week that an Ame-nin tried to assassinated our Daimyo. When your healing was done and you tried to sneak out of Konoha, the one who caught you was the person who was a messenger to the Daimyo that we had someone who was willing to enter the 12 guardians."

Asuma looked back shocked and dubious, "You mean my tousan approved?"

"Ha, you wish. He still wanted to crack your skull open over that. But he let you go, knowing that it was best that you go. He didn't want to send anyone, and wasn't obligated to send anyone either. But he let you be the olive branch. I'm assuming you weren't received too well at first." Getting a quick nod the man continued, "Well that was most likely because they expected you to either finish the job, try to sabotage them. Would you fully trust the son of man you had all but betrayed? It's even present here. Normally in a meeting of the Daimyo when any of the various Kages are present they are in the chamber with the Daimyo, you know that. Given that the Daimyo has yet to rescind his protection of Danzou, there's little doubt he's wary of having Hiruzen too close to him even if Hiruzen has supposedly let things cool."

"Well...I guess it's up to me to not let shit hit the fan here..."

"You knew that already, though with Jiraiya-sama here...Things may have already hit the fan."

"You think the Daimyo has made some form of move?"

"I'm aware of certain things you've yet to be cleared for." Noticing the look the kokuhyuou operative interjected, 'Don't give me that look, you're a jounin so I know you're used to it and even understand it. Either way, at the rate things are going...Heh, bring an umbrella and a shovel, 'cause we'll all be wading through storm of shit soon."

"Ugh," Asuma sighed out, "If I'm not cleared for it, shouldn't you, not mention it to me."

Asuma could feel a cloud of smug billow out and hit him in the face as the man said, "Well I was given the authority to clear you for the information."

"Damit. Shikaku is right, this shit is troublesome."

Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)

Kokuhyou – Black list Members of ANBU who are either on "long-term" assignments, and not expected back for years, or ANBU who are listed as dead. The reason for the rank varies, some being Konoha spies acting as genin or chuunin in other villages.

Because there really is no place in the story to explain this, and some people may be confused, or screaming 'plot hole' in the head. Sarutobi Hiruzen sent Asuma to impersonate him at the Summit, with a Kokuhyou. The ANBU 'bear' who is posing as Asuma ran surveillance on him on Sarutobi's orders, to determine if Asuma's loyalty to the village was superseded by his obedience to the Daimyo. Since Sarutobi found the results inconclusive, he chose not to trust Asuma and sent him to the conference in his place to limit what he could discover and tell the Daimyo about what was going on in Konoha. This allowed Hiruzen to paint the Daimyo in a different light to Asuma, while monitoring him so that he couldn't give out any info without compromising himself and the nation. Furthermore with Asuma's personal knowledge of the Daimyo, Sarutobi could gain more info about the Daimyo by getting him to briefly talk about him without directly interrogating his own son. Finally if Asuma is discovered then him being there could be seen as an aggressive act of disobedience, as Hiruzen didn't come as requested, or an act to lower hostilities, as sending Asuma in his place could make the Daimyo more comfortable, and be seen as an act of catering to the Daimyo's unspoken desire.

Bear with Kakashi, Kurenai, and Gui, is actually another Kokuhyou, posing as Asuma, again checking for loyalty, but in their case willingness. Sarutobi sent Jiraiya, Kakashi and Anko, to inform them of the events they would be included in, but left everyone except for Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Anko believe that Bear was Asuma. Kakashi is not that irresponsible or petty, but it was his and Anko's orders to notify the rest on the mission. The apartment burning was a genjutsu Kurenai used on Kakashi as revenge for one of the many times Kakashi went out of his way to annoy her.