Hiya.

Wow. It's been a little while. Hope you guys are still enjoying this story. This is an intermediary chapter, but the story is still coming along. :)

I've been writing with slightly different punctuation lately. An odd thing to note, for fanfiction, but there it is.

Enjoy! ^_^

…
Chapter 18: Contemplations and Complications.
...

The noise from the sway of the trees and rustle of wind was the only sound as he remained motionless, crouched in the tree, unseen to even his comrades below. The height provided him cover, a great view of the surrounding area, and quiet privacy to think things over. His eyes skimmed over the boundary to their camp as he considered his situation. This mission was overshadowed in his mind by his hesitation, concern, and the enmity he'd expected from this joint mission. But the thing that bothered him most was how torn he felt about being here in the first place.

Naruto hadn't wanted to leave his pregnant wife. But he also needed to find Sakura. He wanted so badly to see her returned safely and alive to Konoha, and the midwives and reassurances of her fellow Hyuuga were no substitute to Hinata for the embrace of her husband or knowledge he would be there for her and their unborn child. She needed him now more than ever. Her body was changing so rapidly, and her stomach was getting larger every day; it wasn't the time for Naruto to be taking off.

But the final decision maker for whether or not he should leave Konoha had been a long conversation with his wife on the values of family.

.

"You don't need my permission to find Sakura, Naruto. I want her home too."

Naruto didn't like hearing Hinata say that. "But what if I'm not back in time for the birth? And what if I don't come back at all? What if you're left alone to raise–"

She kissed him softly to interrupt him, knowing that if she let him verbalise his fears, it would only make this worse for him. "Sakura's our family, too. And I have faith in you Naruto. You'll be back in time. I know it."

.

Sweet words and wisdom; this was Hinata in a nutshell. How did he ever think he could get her convince him to give up his promise? Naruto barely recognised himself when he felt torn like this. He didn't want to leave his child fatherless, like he'd been. He didn't want his child to grow up with surrogates instead of the real deal. This was a very real fear for him. But Hinata… the love of his life—she saw things differently. She pierced his soul with those eyes of his and knew better than him what he needed to do.

Naruto sighed. This was all he could do, being who he was. And given what had brought him to this place.

Or more accurately, who.

This was all Gaara's fault.

He glared haughtily in the direction of the man in question (wishing he could eliminate him from the list of travelling companions) and then back at the tree line he was supposed to be keeping an eye on. The redhead's silent treatment was getting on the blond's nerves; every time Naruto tried to draw him into a discussion (nay, argument) over what he'd done to Sakura or the fact that he was obviously hiding something, Gaara would just listlessly ignore him and then Kakashi or Ino would attempt to rein him in (Sai found it too amusing, Neji didn't seem to care, and the sand ninja just watched his attempts silently, as though this was to be expected).

Naruto was not surprised that Kakashi, Sai, Ino, and Neji were also in this group. These were the people—available—who had the most at stake at getting Sakura back. Kakashi, as Sakura's former teacher and perpetual guardian of the former Team Seven. Sai, as the teammate who overcompensated with friends to prove he was one of them. Ino, as the best friend who would kill someone for deliberately leaving her out of this. And then there was Neji. The mostly stoic Hyuuga had a stubborn streak when it came to his faults—he still blamed himself for Sakura's capture.

Naruto still remembered the row that Tenten had started with him to get Neji to vent his feelings on the matter. His position on this team would normally be questioned, but this time, made the most sense.

As for the sand ninja, Gaara had brought four companions with him—three of which seemed to be special jounin, the last being an ANBU. The sand jounin were friendly enough, offering to help cook the food and hunt for some berries to add as a side to the rabbits that Neji caught and skinned.

Naruto shivered involuntarily at that. Why Neji was bothering with that when they'd brought rations, he didn't know. The guy—even as Naruto's friend—was weird beyond measure. Everyone said that if you spent too long hanging around Might Guy and Lee, then you were bound to go bonkers at some point, and with the natural stoicism and cynicism of a Hyuuga like him, that was quite the feat.

Naruto snickered to himself.

And the sand ANBU was weird as well, but Naruto really liked her. She reminded him a little of himself and kept flirting with Neji. It was subtle and, dare he say, sophisticated. Her technique was admirable. The Hyuuga hadn't picked up on it at first, but after the knowing grins of his companions drew his attention, and the Suna shinobi started snickering openly, it had finally dawned on Neji what the girl was doing. Mia, if Naruto remembered her name correctly from their introductions. And anything that made Neji uncomfortable was entertaining enough to be all good in Naruto's book. Nobody (not even Neji, in his shock) had bothered to inform her that he was engaged.

It wasn't fair, but it was too entertaining to interfere in. And the ending was going to be funny as hell, even if he did feel sorry for Neji. And Mia, really.

Honestly, they all seemed really cool in their own way. And even Temari had impressed him with how easily she put herself on the line as a guest of Konoha. It said a lot about the person she was, to him. Someone you could trust to defend the people they cared about; the ninja they were looking for must be very important to the sand shinobi, and that was more than enough for Naruto to believe they were in this for honest reasons.

But Gaara… Naruto barred his teeth in the darkness, just thinking of that block head. He was hiding something. Even Tsunade baa-chan had agreed with him when Naruto brought it up the night before they'd left Konoha.

"I know he's hiding something, Naruto. Stop being so damn annoying about this and just do as I ordered you!"

Then why did Baa-chan trust him? Why had she agreed to let the sand ninja join them? They had all the information they needed, thanks to Ino's father, and didn't need Gaara's stupid help to get past the border into the land of sound.

Somehow, this was all his fault.

Naruto sighed again and turned his attention back to the area he was supposed to be keeping an eye on. The wildlife was abnormally quiet, but he chalked that off to the unusual cold; this time of year, it wasn't supposed to drop so low on the seasonal thermometer. And look out duty was so boring that normally he'd be fighting to stay awake, but the frosty air was helping him at least. Just as long as he didn't freeze to death, it would be fine.

When the last of the group—barring the redhead—started settling into their sleeping bags, Naruto's mind wandered again to his wife and that conversation they'd had the night before this mission.

.

"Old man Jiraiya wants me to learn to control Sage energy."

He'd asked Naruto four months ago, but the blond had said NO because Hinata had just found out she was expecting that morning; talk about timing. Naruto hadn't thought of this offer for months, not until now. Even when he'd gone with Sasuke, Ino, and Kakashi to rescue Sakura from Suna.

So, why now instead of then?

"Will you–"

He rubbed Hinata's stomach gently. "I...can't. Not yet."

She understood. He knew she would feel guilty no matter what he said, so he showed her how much she meant to him, slowly, taking all night. Naruto never wanted her to feel bad about anything, ever. The night before this mission began, he took his time loving his wife. It made him dead on his feet in the morning for a while, but it was worth it.

And she was right. He couldn't leave Sakura out there. He couldn't leave it all up to Gaara. A man who would sooner sacrifice Naruto's best friend to the snake gods than rescue her.

Hinata had kissed him before he left their bed, unable to join him at the gate due to an appointment with the Hyuuga healer (which made it even harder for them both). "I believe in you."

.

Naruto fiddled with the charm around his neck; a reminder of his bond with Hinata. She'd bought it as her wedding present to him; the moonstone designed locket had a lock of her hair inside it. It was a traditional Hyuuga gift, apparently, and he'd never had a girl—woman—give him something so precious before.

It reminded him of his promise to his family, and his promises to the people he loved most.

Kakashi came to relieve him an hour later and the blond turned to find that Gaara was the only one still awake in the clearing. The redhead chose that moment to glance from the book he was writing in to catch his gaze before turning away again, seemingly unruffled.

Naruto glared at Gaara, feeling the urge to attack him bubble to the surface again. The redhead paid him no mind and that only bothered the blond more. He wanted to pummel him so bad. But more than that, surprisingly, he had so many questions.

What was Gaara up to? Naruto didn't believe for a moment that this guy was being completely honest about his intentions. Maybe his companions were eager to find their own fallen comrades who'd been carted off—maybe by Orochimaru—but not the redhead.

Sasuke.

Thinking of the snake once again reminded Naruto that his best friend was in Otogakure. He didn't want to believe that Sasuke had something to do with this. But they would find out what was going on when they finally found them all.

Gaara shifted noisily, getting up to pack some of his things like he was finally going to turn in for the night.

They called him a demon, Naruto though, baring his canines. The Demon of the Sand.

He didn't look like a demon. Naruto had never seen a demon before, but they were supposed to have fangs, and claws, or creepy eyes and monstrous forms, right? That was in all the literature. And Jiraiya used to tell him stories of beasts in all their terrifying description that used to devastate the land with their chakra forms.

Gaara just looked like an ordinary human.

A dumb, annoying, short human.

"Naruto," Kakashi's warning was low and dangerous. "Don't.

Naruto ignored him. He needed to have it out with Gaara.

"Naruto."

Naruto almost didn't hear Kakashi; he kept moving forward, until his sensei grabbed his arm forcefully to stop him.

"I know what you're thinking of doing. Don't."

The blond narrowed his eyes at him. "Kakashi-sensei–"

Kakashi held a hand up to interrupt him. "Don't risk this mission." He glanced over at the Kaze-heika, warily, not wanting to provoke a reaction and cause an argument. "There's too much at stake for you to fly off the handle now. Just…just wait until we find Sakura."

Reluctantly, the blond slowly nodded his head and sat back down. He could've sworn that Gaara had heard Kakashi; the redhead paused in what he was doing and cocked his head to the side. After a few seconds, he returned to the task of setting himself a good distance from everyone else before closing his eyes to the world.

Naruto glanced at Kakashi one last time before trudging to his bedroll, unsatisfied.

...

The temperature of wind sweeping through the region had risen. It had been cold the last few days, but the seasonal warmth seemed to have kicked in again. This was a relief, since they were headed to a tourist village and it would not do to arrive to a cold town and stick out like a sore thumb as the only people stupid enough to come this way.

The town was called Beppu and it was an out of the way resort for civilians who preferred to avoid the well-travelled paths of ninja. From the high vantage point before coming into town, the rag-tag group of Leaf and Wind ninja were treated to a spectacular view of the numerous steep rooved farmhouses, greenery befitting mountain villages, and a hub of colour and excitement that catered more to visitors than the simple people who lived here; a cross between a farming village and tourist must-see, with onsen houses and mud baths. Locals and sightseers alike were naturally suspicious of ninja so Kakashi made the suggestion that they cover up before heading down into the lowlands.

"We need disguises!" Naruto exclaimed, his fist in the air and drawing chuckles from most of their group. He pulled off his headband and shoved it in his bag, checking his person for any revealing gear before eyeing off the village from afar once more, his excitement impossible to contain. Kakashi was pleasantly surprised by his caution but not by his vigour.

"I'll go with him, Kakashi-sensei," Ino said. "Make sure he doesn't come back with a kangaroo costume for everyone, or something."

Naruto scoffed at her, but surprisingly, said nothing. He waved at her. "Come on, I want to see if they sell ramen!"

Kakashi checked their finances before handing some money over to Ino (making Naruto frown); the Wind ninja stiffened at the feel of his chakra as the wove a few signs to cast a genjutsu over the two of them to keep civilians from looking twice at them, just in case, and they headed down into the village cautiously.

The group got comfortable, to wait for the blondes to return. After an hour of a warm breezes and polite conversation, he finally stood at the approach of the two bickering ninja. Naruto was carting a large wicker basket on his shoulders, looking annoyed as Ino roused on him for what sounded like an incident at a ramen stand.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto interrupted her to bound up to the group.

"I bought a dozen outfits of varying styles," Ino said, "but Naruto…"

"Hey!" He said loudly. "It's fashionable."

Kakashi sighed, wondering if letting Naruto head down into the town and ransack the clothes vendors had been a good or bad thing. The needed clothes, for sure, but the excited blond had him suddenly wary. They would've done this in Konoha, but the idea to sneak over the border as civilians had only been suggested in the last twelve hours.

"What did you buy?"

Naruto dumped the basket on the ground and rifled through it. "Ta-da!" He pulled on several dress shirts that were bright and uncomfortable looking.

"What is that, dickless?" Sai asked, smirking at the fuming blond and ignoring the chuckles from their group.

"I'm going to guess a circus came to town recently and donated a bunch of their clown costumes," one of the sand ninja said; Takara, if Kakashi remembered correctly.

The man was unrepentant as Naruto growled at him, now picking at the other clothes Ino bought, which seemed far more reasonable. But the comment seemed to cut the tension, and everyone hovered, checking out the clothes and choosing what looked best for them. Ino's fashion and extensive shopping skills were legendary in Konoha and she'd clearly sized them all up and was spot on about matching their respective body shapes to the items she'd bought. The Wind ninja all thanked her for tagging along with Naruto to the village before moving off to discretely change their clothes.

Naruto huffed when Kakashi said that under no circumstance was he allowed to wear that colourful eyesore and grudgingly chose something Ino had picked out.

Gaara stood just out of range of the commotion, an eternal frown on his face. He saw no problem with his own clothes and it was only after a sustained stare and cheeky smirk from Mia, and curious glances from the Konoha ninja (which were drawing more attention to him than he'd like), that he also stepped forward and chose some of the ratty clothes.

He looked up to see Ino raising a questioning eyebrow at him and he reluctantly gave her a curt nod of approval before turning away, missing her smug smirk. She was really very proud of herself.

Refusing to remove his menpo, Kakashi instead covered it with one of the scarves Ino had bought—he could only assume, in preparation for his stubbornness. He was the unofficial leader of this expedition, so they were waiting for his orders when he finally deigned to turn around, his disguise firmly in place. He wouldn't need a genjutsu this time and preferred to conserve his chakra, anyway.

"Let's go," he said, and Naruto whooped, having to be held back from running ahead by both Ino and Sai as they explained the importance of keeping together, to him.

Down in the village, Naruto started pointing out some of the attractions he'd found the first time, to the Wind ninja, and they listened with interest. The Fire customs were so different to Wind, that Kakashi would be suspicious if they weren't at least mildly intrigued by it all.

They moved unimpeded and unsuspiciously through the crowds.

Kakashi's suggestion to come here was to foster a little more companionship between their two groups, but he'd painted it as a necessary stop to pick up some information on the border from the perspective of the civilians—which he knew was also important, so the idea was met with positively. Without their ninja insignia and tell-tale signs of their village on their person, the Wind and Fire shinobi mingled better.

Kakashi had a feeling that this fostered teamwork was going to be invaluable.

He kept an eye on both Naruto and Gaara from afar as he pretended to be interested in the merchants and their goods; they were keeping away from each other, which was both a relief and a shame. If Kakashi could get those two to work well together, he imagined this mission would go off without a hitch.

As the day darkened and the festivities took on a more fireworks kind of deal, the ninja retreated to the local inn (though it was tempting to stay and watch), as it was going to be an early morning for them all. They had discovered a few titbits about civilians being able to cross the border only after being probed by ninja; the general unrest among civilians was bordering on anger for a lot of them. The fact that their travel was being restricted by a military code of conduct was insulting and arrogant.

Silently, Kakashi agreed, but there was nothing he could do about it. This was a ninja war—no matter the cease-fire—and it had never sat well with him when the non-combative population were dragged into it.

He sighed. They had all the information they needed, either way. This foray hadn't been in vain. When they found an inn that had room for them, Kakashi suggested to Gaara that they should rent out one of the larger rooms instead of two smaller ones, which would make more sense to an onlooker. The redhead nodded at him and said nothing to interfere as Kakashi did just that.

At least he's being amicable, the copy ninja thought tiredly, ignoring Naruto's glare at his suggestion.

…

Gaara hated walking everywhere. He hated that it took too long to travel between villages. He hated that it meant more camping opportunities. And he hated the sheer tediousness of the speed they were forced to limit themselves to. It was grating on his nerves, and he refused to suffer alone. Naruto had been nothing but impetuous and disrespectful and therefore became the target of Gaara's ire.

After leaving that civilian village, he'd had the nerve to make fun of Naruto's clown outfit; one of the very few times he'd acknowledged the blond's existence on this mission.

The argumentative blond had then started by yelling at him that while civilians were allowed over the border, they were subject to questions and probing that ninja could not hide behind. It irked Gaara to mentally agree with the idiot. If they passed through the checkpoints into the land of sound as they'd been dressed in Beppu, they'd only raise suspicion; they still had all their ninja gear and would need it once they made it through that hurdle.

Startled by Naruto's moment of wisdom, Gaara had gone contemplatively silent. He didn't want to dress up in circus clothes, but this suggestion fell in line with what they needed; to have an excuse for all their excess baggage.

It was smart. But then Naruto had ruined that image by immediately turning to Kakashi and asking, in a petulant voice, "why do we have to suppress our chakra? We didn't have to at the village."

"There are chakra sensors along the borders to keep shinobi from violating the cease-fire." Kakashi explained to him. "Even in disguise, we need to be careful. One misstep could bring about open war again—and before we're prepared to wage it."

All the checkpoints along the border to the land of sound were currently being manned by chunin level shinobi but the easy kill or incapacitation would only draw attention to their crossing. And any chakra used to slip through their nets would instantly alert every tower to their position. It wasn't a perfect system, but due to the distrustful nature of their business, shinobi had been holed up within their villages for the most part, and the border guards were little more than a skeleton crew.

If the alliances between the hidden villages weren't breaking down, this crossing would be impossible.

But now they had to decide the best, inconspicuous, way to get through unsuspected, taking into account the chakra nets that kept them from sneaking across in other sections.

This was a pain already.

Kakashi sighed, closing his eyes as Naruto and Gaara bickered over the blond's choice of clothing for the circus act. Ever since they left Beppu, they'd been arguing. The days of the redhead—righty—ignoring Naruto's taunts were over. Gaara didn't debase himself by calling the blond names or raising his voice; his taunts were more underhanded, subtle, and about pot shots at Naruto's intelligence. He made innuendos about the blond sound so sophisticated, it was mind boggling.

So, when they finally got to the part where they had to decide how to get through the checkpoints without all the probing, it was no surprise that Gaara had given Naruto a hard time over his newest idea: a travelling circus. Thus, Naruto had gone on a stealing spree (alongside the Wind jounin, who were all happy to oblige) and come back with a number of ridiculous outfits. He'd then tossed a particularly obnoxiously coloured outfit at Gaara, continuing their arguments from earlier.

This mission hasn't even gotten to the fighting and it's insane.

Gaara's eye twitched. Was this Kakashi's idea or that baka, Naruto's? He dropped the brightly coloured apparel on the ground and turned away from it.

"Hey!"

That answered his question. Gaara resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the blond.

Naruto scooped the offensive robe up and started dusting it off. "We have to look like we perform tricks for audiences, Gaara."

"I'm not wearing that." Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. "This is a stupid idea."

Naruto snarled. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Any idea is better than this one."

Kakashi took the robe from Naruto and returned it to the pile; his former student glared at him for it. "And just how do you intend us to cross the border, Kaze-heika, if not as a travelling circus?"

Using an honorific earned a deeper glare from Naruto, but the copy ninja just ignored him.

"As Roma," Gaara said. "Gypsies," he clarified at the copy ninja's uncertain expression.

"Nomads?" Kakashi was surprised.

"They barter information in a black market that is notoriously mistrustful of ninja, and they cross borders easier than we can; given the current state of affairs. And many of them use weapons forged from the same source that shinobi acquire theirs." The leaf ninja all looked at him like he'd grown an extra head and Gaara had to remind himself that this was information most shinobi never discovered, since the Roma were an overlooked peoples.

He sighed. "The Roma come and go because shinobi devalue them. If you want to blend in and not alert the border post to our true identities this is the best way to do that."

Not to mention it saved them from looking like idiots.

Kakashi nodded his head, catching on. "Best under guise of someone considered helpless compared to ninja, than some brightly coloured caricature that will only draw attention and be remembered for suspicious scouts later on." He hadn't wanted to wear the clothes Naruto picked out, either. He smiled genially at the Kaze-heika. "Seems your reputation is well-earned."

"A Roma pointed me in the direction of several of her acquaintances as being informed as to the path taken by those we're looking for," Gaara said.

"That gypsy, Shey," Mia said, nodding her head to him in understanding. She turned to Kakashi. "Apparently, we'll learn more if we find a gypsy named Rupa."

"Sanka or Roma are their preferred term," Gaara said, uncharacteristically considerate.

He wondered how long Gaara had been following the gypsy lead. Had he been planning this route since before entering Konoha? It wouldn't be an easy trail to follow but it would be less dangerous than just wandering the land of sound without point or purpose.

He nodded. "I agree. This is the best idea."

Naruto was the only one who disagreed.

"Nobody would look twice at a gypsy caravan that was just passing through. Well, not a third time, anyway." The copy ninja was beginning to understand. This future Kazekage was very interesting. There was hope for him yet. As well as an alliance. The idea of a three-way accord just felt weird—they'd been allied with Otogakure, alone, for so long now. A sudden change in that was going to take some getting used to.

At least, it might. They still needed to figure out what was going on in Orochimaru's neck of the woods. If the Senkage was up to something, that would reset the board in terms of their current predicaments.

At a distance from the border, a quick perusal using the numerous arrays of jutsu available to the ninja in their group showed a small number of ninja guarding the border post; nothing they couldn't handle if things went south. It wouldn't be difficult to snuff them all out and move on, but then how long would it be before someone came along, found the bodies, and tracked their killers? Who knew how close the nearest backup was?

And now that they were closer, Kakashi was able to confirm the reports (with what little he could deduce, now having no access to his chakra in order to avoid the chakra sensors) these shinobi were indeed chunin level, barring a single jounin who was out of sight and in what could only be called a portable officer's mess hall; higher ranks in cushy job assignments always took the better accomodations, of course.

When the last question was answered and the ninja seemed confident they were looking at a straggler group of Sanka headed to meet up with a larger caravan, Gaara pulled the scarf he'd chose tighter to further hide his face and trudged forward, forcing his companions to follow him or get left behind.

It wouldn't be long now; Sakura was somewhere in this godforsaken country (and perhaps in Otogakure itself) and nothing was going to stop him from finding her.

He resisted the urge to look back as he couldn't help the feeling of eyes burning into his back as he led the way.

...

At the precise moment the rag-tag team leaf and sand ninja pretending to be gypsies were pausing at the border to the land of patties, they were being watched by curious eyes that had seen through their disguise. He was more than just your average sensory type and he wasn't the chunin level lackey they took him for as the lone Sharingan of the ninja party swept over the border shinobi warily.

He felt that perusal and realised immediately who he was dealing with.

The leaf and sand group answered the questions as gruffly and rudely as gypsy were prone to, giving no indication that they thought highly of the ninja probing them. It was a good act; playing their part as though they weren't all highly skilled ninja that could wipe out the small battlement of shinobi stationed at border control.

The usual checks for Roma were performed—from unobtrusive chakra checkers to physical pat downs of whomever looked the most intimidating, not to mention a perusal of the goods being carted over the border. Everything was by the book and non-invasive. A dozen, watchful eyes settled on them from the guard tower, the side windows, and lookout posts; all watched with varying degrees of disinterest or disgust as the group was waved through with no more fuss.

All but one.

He couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the disguised group, no matter how his curiosity was piqued. His companions were all chunin level (and a few who didn't even deserve that title), so it was no surprise they didn't see through the façade. It was clever, not relying on chakra; he wondered idly if medication had been used to inhibit the signs of chakra usage on their bodies, as some of these unobtrusive scans checks did check for that.

Border control was typically assigned to lower level ninja but there was a jounin level shinobi nearby—a ninja worthy of the praise and reverence of his rank. But with him preferring to abstain from routing tedium, this made it easier for this rag-tag group to go undetected.

Taizō frowned at the retreating ninja as the mismatched team disappeared along the road. Standing atop the guard tower, he had a clear view of them as they seemed to dematerialise into the dust scattered haphazardly along the road toward the nearest village.

He wondered what they were up to but, more than anything, why they were here. It was dangerous—the risk of sparking an international incident was more important than normal missions now, and Taizō knew for certain that these people had nothing to do with the rash of assassinations that had caused this cease-fire.

So what is going on?

His companions returned to their previous positions in the wake of the group disappearing, which was slouching, uninterested in keeping their eyes peeled, and belligerent. Nobody wanted to be here, of course. And that was more than one could expect for such a boring job as keeping watch during a cease fire. Taizō would normally be fuming at their indolence but in this case, he really did understand. War parties were not going to be charging through this place and burning their three-week-old rations, forcing them to send a message to command to send more.

No, the nations had more important things on their mind.

Taizō couldn't get the frown off his face in the wake of the leaf and sand shinobi passing through, though. And it bothered him. What were they up to? What had happened to make those two group join forces? And what was he supposed to do about it? He'd been tempted to alert the jounin to the subterfuge but couldn't think of a way to do that without revealing his own. It was more useful to let them through and pretend he couldn't see through that disguise—he had the chunin level moron persona to maintain, after all. There were more important things at stake than breaking his cover.

The Akatsuki were not your run of the mill ninja organisation after all. If he hadn't been trained to the Akatsuki level standards, this event would've gone unnoticed. And if he hadn't been able to see through the disguise of those misfits, he would offer himself up to Lord Hidan as his next sacrifice as he would well deserve. But even though he specialised in sensory jutsu, that rag-tag mix of wind and fire were obviously very adept at camouflage. He had to hand it to them. They really knew their stuff, despite being his enemy.

No chakra needed.

But it bothered him. Just what the hell were ninja from those villages doing sneaking into the land of sound, together?

When his shift was over, Taizō excused himself and made a show of retiring to his room; he shared it with two others, but they were both still on duty for at least another ninety minutes. He had time. When the coast was clear, he snuck back out and into the grassy area several of the lower officers (who weren't allowed there) snuck to on occasion to smoke or chin wag about things they weren't supposed to know.

Taizō cast a jutsu to alert him if someone was coming, then sliced open his palm, inscribing a summoning symbol on the ground, then slammed his hand down on it, and waited for the miniature, drill-beaked bird to pop its head out.

"I need to speak with Lord Pain, immediately," he said, as soon as it appeared.

The drill-beaked bird cocked its head to the side, then nodded its head mechanically before disappearing in a puff of smoke. It was a small version of the giant one that Pain employed, and the limit of Taizō's allowance to communicate with him. Being a spy along the border afforded him a direct line to the Akatsuki, in case of emergency.

He wondered if Lord Pain would consider this an emergency or a simple curiosity. But the current state of affairs necessitated that he finds out—it would be worse for Taizō if he didn't report it.

He only had to wait—and pace impatiently—for ten minutes before two shimmering forms appeared before him. Of course, nobody in the Akatsuki was close enough to come to him personally, and he hadn't been expecting them to be able to, but … why were these two communicating with him, and not Lord Pain?

Despite the disappointment, Taizō bowed respectfully. "Deidara-sama. Sasori-sama. I am honoured."

"Who are you, again?" Sasori asked.

"Taizō Hotaru, my lord."

"That vagrant's kid, yeah?"

"Right. The one with the mad right hook."

Taizō only nodded, waiting to be told to get to the point.

"You look surprised to see us."

"Am I not good enough for you, un?"

"We, Deidara."

"Of course, my lords. I was just surprised."

Deidara made a distinctly disapproving sound, but Sasori remained impassive. He was looking around at the grassy area Taizō had called them to. It was a small area outside the guard room and technically they were just over the border; a secluded, out of sight spot where some shinobi came to smoke or wank with little fear of being caught. Only conifer trees hid them from view on the north side of guard tower. And in the distance, Taizō could see the rise of smoke. He wondered if Pain-sama was pushing forward with the attack on the snake…

He swallowed heavily and forced his attention back to his shimmering companions. Even if he did currently look like the waves on a faulty television instead of his usual self, Sasori was still intimidating.

"I–" Taizō found himself unsure how to start.

"I think he was hoping for Pain-sama," Deidara said.

Sasori turned back to face Taizō. "Pain-sama is busy. State your reason for calling on us. Now."

"A disguised group of both leaf and sand ninja just passed through this checkpoint and into the land of rice patties a short while ago," he said without hesitation.

"Interesting."

Were they staring at him like that for a reason? Taizō sweated under the intensity of their joint gaze.

"Nobody else noticed of course." He was aware he was rambling but couldn't help himself. "The jounin assigned to this guard keeps to the rules and stays out of the way unless called on. The group was cleverly disguised and, um, didn't even show up on the chakra scans. I think…" He trailed off.

What did he think?

Sasori and Deidara exchanged a meaningful glance.

"Is everything okay?" Taizō asked.

"Yeah, un."

"Fine."

"As long as things go according to plan, un." Deidara sniffed loudly. "The other puppets?"

"Still in place."

"Good."

"As for this mismatched group," Sasori said. "Did you recognise any of the individuals, Taizō?"

"They were well hidden," he said. "If I'd been an actual chunin no-one would be any wiser for it. Kakashi of the copy ninja, for sure. That blond brat he's often paired with who used to be his student, too."

"Uzumaki," Sasori said, glancing at Deidara again. "Anyone else?"

"I think… I mean I can't be sure…"

"Spit it out, un."

"I believe one in the company was the demon of the sand."

"Very interesting. You have done well Taizō."

"Yes, thank-you, Lord Sasori." Taizō bowed again.

The sudden sound of far off chimes drew their attention; a standard procedure for a hidden village under attack by an unknown force.

Sasori smiled as the watched the smoke rising from the north-west. "Let Pain-sama deal with the snake on his own, I've got a better plan for us, Deidara."

"You're not the boss of me, yeah."

"Not officially. But I don't care; you'll enjoy this more, anyway."

Deidara looked curious. "What is it?"

"We're going to have a little fun with our sneaks."

"Alright, just don't diss my art, yeah."

"Looks like they're heading toward the smoke," Taizō said. "Could even make it all the way to the very heart of sound."

Sasori scoffed, his true visage hidden under the Hiruko puppet, so the spy didn't know what to make of that sound he was making. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

No. Not at all.

…
XXX
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A/N:

SHAMELESS PLUG: I'm currently posting a finished, 10 chaptered story on both ff net and on AO3 called In Love and War. (Another title with 'war' in it, I know. It's the only title that seems to fit.) It starts off more …. different … than it ends and was quite the ride to write. Hope to see you guys there. :)

Lotsa love. ^_^

R&R

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