Chapter 30: Countdown

A/N: 30 :O

Didn't realize it when I wrote the A/Ns up last chapter but I crossed 200k words on the story with that update, so thank you all for your support :)

Last chapter was kind of a kickback and chill chapter after the Danzo hunting chapter but today we're getting more on track again… The plot shall thicken a bit!

I wrote this chapter completely differently at first and wound up trashing it and writing this version instead, liking it much better. At any rate, I hope yall enjoy!

"What's taking you so long? The boss needs you!" A Chunin shouted at some poor Genin that was placing the final of three decorative flower pots down in the Kage's box of the arena.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" The Genin kunoichi shrieked, passing him by muttering something about slave driving Jonin-senseis.

The Chunin she left behind made sure no one was watching and kneeled by one of the plants in the corner, smiling, and "This will do nicely…" He said, yanking the flower out of the pot.

"Name," Kotetsu yawned, growing very bored with his assignment, all he wanted to do was get out of there and grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the arena to watch the Chunin exam finals.

"Rasa Sabaku, Fourth Kazekage."

The raspy announcement was enough to make Kotetsu's eyes bulge out of his head and fall out of his chair like a dumbass. Izumo sighed at his partner's antics and gave the Kazekage a quick but polite bow, and signed him in, then gesturing for Rasa's sole bodyguard to give his identity as well.

"Lord Kazekage! We've been awaiting your arrival," Baki greeted, with Temari and Kankuro behind him.

"Hey dad," Temari greeted with a smile.

"Yo," Kankuro chimed.

Rasa's eye twitched at his son's greeting, but had a feeling he did it just to irritate him. Just like he wore that makeup to annoy his aunt, and watched Perry Summer to annoy Temari. Strangely, he couldn't really think of something he did to annoy Gaara, but Gaara was a pretty simple person and used to be terrifying.

"It's good to see all of you," He returned, "But where's Gaara?"

"He's already at the arena, the exams will start up in under two hours," Baki supplied.

"Very well," The Kage replied, staring at the burn marks on Baki's half veiled face, thinking about the last message he read from the Jonin describing his capture by Danzo Shimura's people.

"Oh good, you're still alive Baki," Rasa's guard joked, rejoining the group, "If you weren't, my wife would've probably overthrown Lord Kazekage to declare war and wipe them all out if he didn't himself."

"Don't say things like that in public! We're literally in their village," Temari deadpanned in hushed but angry voice.

Baki chuckled to himself, "Kinyasu… It's been awhile."

"So it has; that was one hell of a target to drop on us like that. I wanted to go, but the message specifically asked for Pakura…" He trailed off.

Baki gave a nod of understanding, knowing full well why Kinyasu and Pakura didn't like to take missions with one another, "Don't blame me, it wasn't my request."

"Let's chat somewhere more secluded," Rasa suggested in a tone that left no room for argument.

"What do you think he could've found out?" Kiba asked in a skeptical tone, "How do you know he won't just make stuff up? You said no one's ever given you real information or background on your clan… Not even Anko-sensei or the Hokage."

"You don't have to remind me," Naruto sulked.

"Look, I'm just saying… I don't see why Shino's parents or any of his clan would provide you with more than our own sensei!"

Naruto leaned in closer to Kiba and whispered as they walked, "I would agree with you, but we both know the adults keep secrets from us. No matter how dark or important they are to us," He said and Kiba knew exactly what he was referencing, the Kyuubi.

He wasn't convinced however, "If Anko's not allowed to share that, why would someone else? It would have to be common knowledge among Jonin that it's classified or something."

Naruto shrugged, "I'm trying to be positive and open minded here…"

"Well let's make it quick, we don't have much time!" Kiba urged.

The big day had finally arrived, the Chunin exam finals! A month of hard work and training was soon to be put to the test for the (original) members of Team Six as well as a few of their other classmates, Kin's former teammates and a few rival village's standouts as well. Instead of tag team matches, the finals would be simple one on ones, and speculated upon by a large crowd in a coliseum of other shinobi and rich people who will inevitably place lots of bets which equates to profit for the host village that just so happened to be the Leaf.

Right now, Kiba and Naruto were in a hurry to meet Shino before things could get started in the arena. The Aburame had stayed true to his word, pestering his clan for information about Naruto's background which Naruto had explained to Kiba that Shino had been interested in figuring out how Naruto was not fully immobilized by the poison in their fight.

Approaching the dango shop in question, Naruto called out: "Shino! Over here!" The enthused Uzumaki rushed over, Kiba in tow. The Aburame heir merely gave a curt nod in reply and Kiba did nothing but stare at the strange, stoic Genin.

"Did you find anything out? Am I even more awesome than we all previously knew?" Naruto grinned provoking a silent eye roll from his present teammate.

Shino ignored the joke completely, getting straight to the point, "It is most unusual… My father and the clan were not forthcoming at all with information."

Naruto slumped in defeat, "What…? Why did I think there was a chance?"

"I'm sorry Naruto…" Shino apologized. "I know this is not my business, but I get the feeling you're your heritage has been buried by the adults. For what reason? I do not know."

"That's weird," Kiba muttered, "Why would they do that?"

"Precisely why I called it unusual."

"I kinda got that the first time," Kiba grumbled.

Naruto frowned for a moment in thought, this was something he needed to demand be addressed by either Anko-sensei or the old man. If he was a ninja and supposedly a lawful 'adult,' then he shouldn't be kept in the dark like this. If some of those in the village really did know more than the Hokage and Anko claimed, then it was bullshit that they continued to conceal it from him.

"It's all right, thanks anyway Shino!" He smiled, though it was obviously fake which Kiba took notice of.

"We better get going… We don't want to be late like Kakashi-sensei always is! See ya around, Shino."

As Naruto and Kiba started towards the arena, Kiba shot the blonde an odd look, "Kakashi-sensei's always late?"

"Yeah, according to Ino at least…"

"But he's a Jonin!"

"I know! How can someone be like one of the strongest ninja in the village and be that unprofessional?" Naruto deadpanned, "Come to think of it, there's that old guy too… The one Anko-sensei beat up the first time Shikamaru and I saw him. Apparently he's an old pervert who writes the porn Kakashi reads."

"Wait, you mean Jiraiya?"

"Yeah, that old guy!"

Kiba didn't bother voicing his next thought; Maybe I should start reading porn… It might help me become Hokage, who knows?

"Ay, you all right Naruto?"

"Huh? Yeah…"

"You had to force a smile back there, that's not like you… Just thought I'd ask."

Naruto smiled at his friend, "I'm fine, I just get a bit sore when it comes to never getting anywhere in finding out about my clan. It makes no sense to me; no one seems to know anything… But the old man said the Uzumaki were really strong."

"Let me know if you find a lead and need some help, I'll be there for ya," The Inuzuka promised.

"Thanks."

Kiba shot him a feral grin, "No need to."

"It's been a long time since we've all gathered like this," Deidara commented, "But aren't we going to wait for my man Sasori? And what about Orochimaru and…Itachi," He bitterly added.

The emotionless gaze of the leader's Rinnegan tilted their attention to the former Stone ninja, "Those whom you just mentioned are the reason this meeting is needed."

"Oh?" Kisame spoke up, intrigued, "And why is that?"

Kakuzu's form flickered as he too looked at Pein with an interested gleam in his green irises. Tobi could be seen to the side of them mumbling something to himself that likely held no importance and Zetsu was across from them by Deidara with a gap separating them from Pein and Konan, making a triangle of sorts.

"Sasori is dead," Pein pronounced.

"What?" Deidara blurted out, unbelieving, "How could anyone be strong enough to kill Sasori while holding Orochimaru and Itachi off at the same time!?"

"He was alone," Pein answered simply, "Itachi would only allow his partner to accompany him into the Leaf village itself, and we have reason to believe they are traitors. Sasori's location within the Land of Fire was pinpointed by the Sand and he was slain by Pakura of the Scorch Style and her team."

The shock melted off Deidara's face and his illuminated form shut it's eyes as he smirked and laughed quietly to himself. So Itachi's gone traitor on us eh? Good… I may have another chance to make him experience my art yet!

"So we're down three members? That could be problematic…" Kisame remarked.

"Replacements will be recruited, in fact if everything goes according to plan we will already have a new set of Sharingan on our side," Pein assured, Deidara's mood taking a dip at the mention of the near-extinct Dojutsu.

"But we need Orochimaru and Itachi's rings; Zetsu already retrieved Sasori's from his puppet-corpse in the Hidden Sand village."

"Retrieve their rings, hm? So that's why you sent me to the Land of Fire, I had assumed I was linking up with Sasori."

"You are only partially correct, Deidara. While the rings are an objective, I have something more grand in mind," Pein replied, turning his attention to the masked form.

"Tobi, are things in order?

"Yes sir!" The childish persona saluted, "I will keep you posted once my scouts have reported back further developments!"

Kisame chuckled, "Tobi's bossing people around? Good lord…" For once, Kakuzu snorted in agreement with his shark-like partner.

Ignoring them, "Excellent, you know how much is at stake here."

Before Deidara could pry any further on just what the fuck he was doing in the Land of Fire, Kakuzu interrupted, "Did anyone cash in on Sasori's bounty…?"

In the Kage's box of the arena, Sarutobi sighed relaxingly. He was relieved to see the exam finals were finally here, and it seemed like nothing was going to go wrong. He'd just been notified the Kazekage would be joining him in the box shortly, and almost all of the Genin participants were in the confines of the arena. Due to hectic events surrounding Danzo and the Foundation as well as the aftermath of rescuing Baki, the Third hadn't gotten a ton of sleep over the last ten or so days but he would likely rest well after this was over.

Behind him, were his two ANBU bodyguards, each clad in their armor but not the masks. One of them smoking a cigarette, enjoying it because he knew he wasn't supposed to smoke in the presence of the Kazekage. Honestly, some of the laws of formality and politeness were stupid, but he'd follow it for the village's sake. That said, as far as Asuma was concerned, if the Kazekage of all people would explode over a cigarette the Sand village didn't have a wonderful future ahead of them.

The other guard was taking a closer look at the decorative plant in the corner. How bizarre… She mused. The plant in question was a good four feet tall, sticking up within a flower pot. Its leaves were closed up in a shell of sorts, reminding her of a Venus fly trap but obviously bigger, "Whoever picked this ugly thing out…" She muttered.

"Dad, they're here," Asuma whispered, extinguishing his smoke.

With Raido back in the village from the mission he sent him off on 'unexpectedly' in order to have an excuse for Asuma to be the preliminaries proctor and with Danzo dead, it made sense to give the scarred Jonin his position back for the finals and have Asuma present for his security detail. He chose Yugao as the second body guard because he felt that with the line of conversations they would be having with the Kazekage inevitable it made sense to have two of the members of the mission present as opposed to others.

Rasa Sabaku, the Hidden Sand's Fourth Kazekage, made his appearance with two of his own bodyguards. He gave his fellow Kage a nod and even a faint smile, which he wasn't known to do often and that told Hiruzen he was very pleased about something so Baki must've kept the Leaf's back whenever the two presumably spoke earlier. Speaking of Baki, the still mildly banged up Jonin was actually one of the bodyguards, which was surprising as Hiruzen knew the man couldn't be one-hundred percent still.

The second bodyguard was a muscular man of average height, with a tanned skin tone that honestly looked like it simmered just a bit from too much patrol duty without proper garments or something. He had green eyes and very short ebony hair that stuck up just slightly due to what Hiruzen would assume is gel. He wore a customized Jonin vest of the usual tan that most Sand Jonin wore but it was bulkier and appeared heavier. On his right arm was a red sleeve, whereas his left arm only had a half sleeve that covered his wrist to elbow, likely to avoid concealing the dark green tattoo that represented his clan insignia on his arm. Strapped to his back was a long and also heavy looking staff with a thick, brick shaped tip with kunai-like blades peppering throughout the tips' surface ideal for plunging people who get too close.

That clan symbol, Yugao thought, also noticing it, and stepping away from the peculiar plant. He was the last one of them after the Third War. The Jishaku clan.

The Jishaku clan had been one of the Sand's few kekkei genkai wielding families. They, like some Sabaku members and a few other clans throughout the elemental nations, possessed Magnet Style. Unfortunately for both the clan and the village, during the last war every Jishaku member that inherited the ability was slain except one man.

Rumor had it that this lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) man nearly died on a regular mission that had nothing to do with the war shortly after it and only survived because Pakura of the Scorch Style had been there for him.

What an unconventional weapon, Asuma thought to himself, If this guy is who I think he is, that staff is very deceptive. He's a mid-long range fighter before a close range guy.

"Welcome, Lord Kazekage! I hope your trip wasn't too unpleasant."

"It was fine," Rasa replied, taking his seat and crossing his arms comfortably, "I do not wish to spit on your hospitality, Lord Hokage… But I am eager to discuss some things with you in private… Preferably before the exams are underway," He cut to the point, his tone serious.

"If this is about Baki, I assure you that you can trust these two," Hiruzen gestured his bodyguards, "Both of them assisted me in the rescue effort, and one of them happens to be my son," He informed, "Your guards may remain as well of course, if you want them to be here. Baki's been through quite a bit of it anyway."

Rasa contemplated that for a moment, then nodded, "That is acceptable," he then looked at each of them in the eye for the first time with a serious expression, "I thank all of you, Baki is a valued member of my village. From what he's told me, you all went above and beyond to rectify Danzo Shimura's mistakes."

Hiruzen laughed to break the ice, "There's no need to thank us, I'm just an old man trying to keep his village from going to war and pulling a miserable political thorn out of my side that has been digging at me for decades."

Rasa chuckled himself, "It is good to know the other Kage's, even the one residing in the strongest village… Still face political opposition."

"They're vultures, aren't they?" Hiruzen groaned.

"You have no idea…" Rasa claimed, "The reason why I didn't arrive until today, is because I cannot afford to spend any more time than necessary away from the village or those fools will take advantage of my absence."

"Politics," Asuma shook his head, that side of life always disgusted him, and it only got worse when he started devoting time to being an ANBU guarding his father in the office most of his time on duty.

"Baki's filled me in on everything; are you sure you still want them present?" Rasa warned, hinting that he wanted to discuss Orochimaru and Itachi.

"They're in the loop."

"Very well," Rasa accepted, and Baki now intensified his attention to the conversation, extremely interested in substantive details regarding the two rogues he'd been working with. The other guard from the Sand perked up slightly as well, he'd been there when Baki briefed the Kazekage on everything that went down, the entire story. To say he was intrigued was an understatement.

"It would appear I owe Orochimaru and Itachi for directing us to Sasori, as I understand it."

Hiruzen nodded, "It was as much of a favor to them as it was to you. They're undercover members of the same organization that Sasori was apart of."

"How can you trust them? Given their history…"

Expecting this, Hiruzen dodged that line of conversation, "With all due respect, Lord Kazekage… I do not appreciate being interrogated in my own village about who I'm associated with."

"My apologies…" Rasa backed off, though it was evident on his face he didn't like the secretion of the two rogue ninja involved in all this.

"Now then… Onto the problem at hand, Sasori's associates. I'm hoping the Sand will be willing to assist the Leaf in dismantling an organization known as Akatsuki."

"I can't make any guarantees," Rasa warned, "If Sasori were still alive I would not hesitate. However, he's not—I think you're aware of the Sand village's current economic state; I will not waste valuable resources to combat something we have no stake in. If you were banking on Sasori's involvement being enough to convince us, you're mistaken."

Sarutobi smirked, "If that were my strategy, there would've been no reason to kill Sasori first," he pointed out.

"True," Rasa agreed, "Then why would you think the Sand would be interested in this matter at all?"

"You haven't heard what Akatsuki's goal is yet," The Hokage answered simply.

"And that is?"

"They seek all of the Jinchuriki…"

The Kazekage's eyes widened, "What?"

"It's an organization comprising of ten S-Class shinobi. Thankfully, Orochimaru and Itachi don't count, and with Sasori out of the way, they're down to seven. We have a lot of information gathered on them, which I'll be happy to share with you."

"Why are they after the Jinchuriki? What is their intent?"

The Hokage looked out into space in thought, "We can only speculate on that part; their leader keeps his people on a need to know basis. Orochimaru thinks they want to create a global government and maintain peace through the fear of Biju… But it could be a number of other things; nothing good, I can promise that."

"Their leader," Hiruzen continued, "Possesses the Rinnegan…" He revealed darkly.

"The power of the S-Sage?"

The Fourth Kazekage was by no means a weak individual. He had reigned during the Hidden Sand's toughest era since the early days of the village's foundation, and considering the difficulty of his time's problems, he'd done a damn good job keeping order. From losing his wife to damning Shukaku into his youngest son's being to watching the Wind Daimyo piss away their economy… From a repetition of tumultuous sandstorms to a divisive political field to having to maintain a false image of strength that discourages the other major villages away from their boarder. Rasa could argue that if you don't take wars into account, he'd been tested as much as any reigning Kage from a broad standpoint on the many issues a Kage would deal with. But even when taking all of this into account, the mention of the Rinnegan provoked an uncharacteristic stutter.

"I'm afraid so," Hiruzen nodded, "I can give you a rundown on their entire roster if you wish."

When the Kazekage said nothing, the Hokage decided to get it out of the way so his colleague would recognize the names and see Akatsuki for exactly what it was, the most dangerous threat to the continent's current lapse of peace, "Kakuzu the Bounty Hunter, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara the terrorist bomber; I'm sure you're familiar with all of them. We don't know much about Tobi or Zetsu… They were never heard of before Akatsuki was formed."

"They have a kunoichi named Konan; we aren't certain… But she might be a former student of Jiraiya's, but the Konan he taught was supposed to be dead and neither Orochimaru or Itachi have met her in person yet. Their leader calls himself 'Pein;' there's no telling where he came from, but he's both the Rinnegan user and the mastermind."

"For some reason," Hiruzen wrapped up, "The Akatsuki is supposed to always have ten members; right now they are vulnerable with only seven and we have gathered enough intel to eliminate them. That is why I'm telling you all of this; EVERY village with a Jinchuriki has a stake in this, and if all of us make a move against Akatsuki now we can pull this by the root before they do any damage!"

Rasa stared into Hiruzen's eyes with a focused, contemplative look in his eyes, "How long have you known about this Akatsuki group?"

"Awhile… Since before Orochimaru's 'exile."

"And you have not told any of the other Hidden village's up until right now?"

"No, I haven't even spread the word about them throughout my own… I didn't want Akatsuki to figure out that Orochimaru was my informant. Linking up with Itachi to work against them was an unexpected development, but one that I welcomed."

"Thanks to them, you finally disposed of Sasori… Something your people have wanted for many, many years," The Hokage pointed out, "We need your help… And I can give you my word that I will step aside and let you claim the most credit and publicity when this is all done."

The old Hokage was definitely playing with a full deck, leaving very little room for the Kazekage to find a way to distance the Sand from the conflict. The Third was most certainly not wrong about anything he'd said… When it comes down to it, the Sand did need that publicity, badly just to gain some clients and maybe renew favor with the Wind Daimyo who'd been often using other villages (including the Leaf) for his bidding as opposed to his own Hidden village.

Even more important than the economics, allowing an organization that was planning to target Jinchuriki to roam and lurk until they were ready to take Gaara away was inconceivable… Not to mention the fact that if it were to happen, it would have the exact opposite affect of taking the credit for destroying Akatsuki. Rather than gain clients and attention of their Daimyo… They would be the weak, poor Sand village that was unable to protect their Jinchuriki and more vulnerable than ever.

"You will have my support;" Rasa confirmed simply, it wasn't like not lending it was a true option for him, "It will not be difficult to sway my people to eliminate S-Class criminals that intend to steal the One-tail from Gaara. And you make a compelling case about the potential gain during our economic crisis."

Hell yeah, Dad… For once one of these villages is going to do what we ask of them. Way to go… Asuma cheered in his head. Honestly, it was ridiculously rare when two Kage came to an agreement on anything important in one discussion, never mind in the same day talks started.

"However, the list of members you offered is imposing… But I trust that you have been planning for a way to combat them for a long time now," The Kazekage gestured.

Baki actually smirked at the prospect of this, it was an opportunity to potentially fix their economy, and he was always in favor of the 'hit two birds with one stone' approach when regarding the fact these ninja were after Gaara anyway. As Gaara's sensei, it would be his pleasure to wreck the plans of some power hungry rogues.

I hope you know what you're doing Lord Kazekage… Kinyasu thought, The likes of myself or Pakura will do just fine hunting these bastards, but how many others are up to the task? The Sand village didn't have many ninja that could compete with the Leaf's finest. The Third Hokage could use a number of his elites for something this dangerous, after all they had Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Leaf's Green Beast Gai Maito, Snake Mistress Anko, Ino-Shika-Cho, Cloak n' Dagger Kinnoe, apparently Itachi Uchiha unofficially and the three Legendary Sannin.

The Leaf had considerable firepower for this, but the Sand wouldn't have near as many up to the task, and if they lost some of their best in the process they'd take another step back as far as Jonin strength goes. The Fourth was taking a risk, albeit a necessary one perhaps, but that didn't mean the Jishaku had to like it…

The gleam in the Hokage's eyes said it all, "Our plan involves several of the other villages, and with your help… I think we can convince them," The old man stated, his voice soaked with optimism.

Rasa eyed his colleague with interest, wondering what line of thinking his fellow Kage had in convincing the others, "I'm listening."

Folding his hands, the elder Sarutobi present leaned back comfortably in his chair, "Before your village killed Sasori, there was no way I could try to convince any of the large villages to work on this cooperatively. Onoki wouldn't even want to talk at all, the Raikage would feel unthreatened since both of his Jinchuriki are adults and extremely dangerous in a militarized village. And as you know, the Mist is so absorbed in inner conflict that we don't even know what's happening there and they wouldn't be in condition to assist."

"How would my presence change any of their views?" Rasa questioned.

"Well, Onoki would only get more suspicious since we're allied," Hiruzen admitted, "But now we have a full story to use. We can claim to have gathered all of our intel from torturing Sasori before killing him… Whereas before I would've had to dodge inquiries about how I found out so much about them."

"Even if you did admit it, they wouldn't have trusted you."

"Indeed they wouldn't," The Hokage agreed, "But now we have an alternative truth to work with and build off of. Hopefully, with that and two Kage they will be more receptive."

Nodding, Rasa moved on, "So we use diplomacy to try and gain more allies, then what? Why can't we handle things ourselves?"

"The Akatsuki has hideouts all over the place in every country. We need more villages to cooperate so we can raid them all in one go before Pein has a chance to counter. Using what Orochimaru and Itachi know, we can map out the location of every known hideout and also ambush most of their members before their cover is blown."

"They can narrow down almost every member's location to a general area and we will be able to find them and take them out, just the Leaf and the Sand… That way you can take the majority of the credit without complaints of other villages. Everyone else will just be tasked with clearing their country of hideouts for us; their villages can pillage the money and supplies they find."

The Third's plan was solid; it would cripple Pein's operations and set the Akatsuki's plans back for years. According to Orochimaru, Pein kept the bounty money dispersed throughout their numerous hideouts so that the ryo could remain unguarded without running the risk of someone finding a hideout and taking it all. A lot of their cash was just kept in the Hidden Rain though… That said, throwing all the villages a bone to take away the Akatsuki's accumulated funds would be a good blow. If things went smoothly, the funds would be the least of Pein's problems though, as the Leaf and Sand could work together to eradicate their roster. As a side bonus, it might even improve relations with all the other villages slightly… But with the war grudges it was a long shot with any of the other three Great Nations.

"I see," Rasa stated, "This approach could work, but only if your spies intel is as good as you believe."

"I have faith in them, you don't need to worry about legitimacy," The Hokage assured.

"Then we shall discuss this further after the exams?"

"Of course," The Hokage agreed, "The action should be starting soon. I'm curious to see how your son handles himself in a fight, since Itachi was in his place during the preliminaries."

"You won't be disappointed," The Kazekage stated, with a small smirk forging on his lips.

Yugao's focus on their conversation was broken by a weird noise that caused her to turn around and observe the Kage's box confusedly, "Something wrong?" Baki asked, noticing her unease and putting himself on alert.

The two Kage turned to look at her as well, as did Asuma and Rasa's other bodyguard, "Where'd the plant go…" Was all she said, puzzled.

All eyes converged on the now empty flowerpot.

"Something wrong?" An ANBU questioned his squad mate.

The second shook his head at his partner, "Must be my imagination… Carry on," He permitted and the two took off.

After they disappeared, something emerged from one of the trees, a masked man in a black cloak with red clouds on it, "Zetsu?" Madara called out.

The venus fly-trap like form emerged from the ground revealing Black and White Zetsu, "Aww how do you always know when we're here?" "Shut up," His other half chided.

"What do you have to report?"

White Zetsu seemed as if he was eager to speak but Black Zetsu beat him to the punch, "It's worse than you feared."

"How so?"

"As you predicted, the Hokage filled the Kazekage in about us and asked for help. The Leaf and Sand will unite against us, just like you thought. There were also… Many clear comments that openly referred to Orochimaru and Itachi being informants."

"That is of no concern, we already knew they were traitorous," Madara waved off, "What is it that makes you say its worse than I believed?"

"The Hokage plans to spread all of the information he has on us to the other villages and make deals with them to wipe out our hideouts in the countries those villages reside."

"What? Something that open? So the Leaf is ready to blow Orochimaru and Itachi's cover are they? Hmm…"

"Yes, it would seem they want to go on the offensive now. While they believe they hold the element of surprise."

Madara chuckled with amusement at that, "Element of surprise you say… Ironic," He mused.

"What are we going to do?" White Zetsu asked.

"You're to continue as planned… The Hokage's left me no choice."

"Very well," Black Zetsu agreed, "One of my clones should be reporting to you soon…" White Zetsu informed.

"Excellent," Madara stated, "Just don't screw this up Zetsu… Do you remember the signal?"

"Yes," Both halves answered.

Shikamaru Nara stood in the middle of the arena with his hands resting in the pockets of his trench coat. Normally, he'd be idly cloud watching or perhaps conversing with his team… But today was different. Today the Nara didn't have time for his own greatest asset, (or in everyone else in the world's opinion greatest flaw) that asset being his laziness.

Chunin exam finals? Who cares… There're just a drag Anko-sensei was putting him through.

No, the young Nara was focused on the oddity of those around him. He was always the observant type, even if most people didn't notice. Right now his mind was racing because most of the participants had arrived, and something felt amiss to him.

Kin's former teammates for one, were not anything like they'd been in the preliminaries. As much as he complained to Anko that day, he had been paying attention to everyone carefully. It was important that he know as much about each opponent in order to strategize for the potential future matchup each of the other Genin could present.

What he picked up on about Kin's ex-teammates was rather simple. They were a much better tag team than individuals… One wielded an arsenal of Fire Ninjutsu, the other Wind which of course complemented one another perfectly. They were also very talkative, and seemed like really good friends as they were usually conversing with one another. They also despised anyone on Anko's team (with the exception of Kin) and the Jonin herself because their sensei did.

Considering what Anko and Kin told them about Tokuro assaulting her to keep her quiet in a closet, he naturally wasn't a big fan of this lot. He was wary of them, and expected the fools to talk some trash to him while they were waiting around, especially since Shika was the only present member of Team Six, plus he wasn't a confrontational type.

So far, neither of them said much… Neither had cracked a single joke, acknowledged any of their opponents existence and unless Shika's memory was getting hazy after a month without seeing them, he swore they were standing differently. The way he remembered them, one liked to slouch a bit and the other had a tendency to fidget when nothing was going on or no one was talking. Yet the first was standing straight up, and the second mirrored his body language, neither preoccupying themselves with anything but waiting.

While all of this was a little weird, it was possible Shikamaru was imagining things or overanalyzing. Then again, when he glanced at their facial expressions, he noted that neither looked like one would expect of a couple Genin prepared to try and rank up in front of a sold out crowd. There were no real emotions there… No anxiety, determination, nervousness, confidence or any other mood they could take on.

While it was true that ninja can train their emotions and shield them from the outer world… Shikamaru knew neither of these two possessed that quality a month ago. Why would anyone devote time to training that during the one month time allotted for training to prepare for these fights? That would be an idiotic waste of time… They could do something like that after the exams. Which is why the Nara couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right with them. Whatever it was, he doubted he would figure it out.

There was another thing that puzzled him however, Gaara Sabaku of the Hidden Sand village. This dude had been a pain in the ass from the start. The first time they met, he'd been accompanying his Jonin-sensei in a chat with Anko just as Team Six arrived at the tower, finishing the second stage of the exam up. He hadn't said much, only analyzing them… The Jonin, Baki or whatever it was had been a bit strange, seeming a little too interested in some Leaf Genin.

Then in the preliminaries, Gaara had been paired with Tenten and dispatched the Waterfall team in a whopping four seconds. All the Sand Genin did was apply a Wind jutsu to his Leaf kunoichi partner's kunai volley and it was over.

How strong was he? What abilities did he really possess? What skill level was he? What was his specialty? Taijutsu? Ninjutsu? Something else!? Temari and Kankuro didn't exactly fight in the conventional means after all…

But never mind any of that… Why in the hell was Gaara short now?

Before, he'd been much taller, hell he was as tall as the adults. Shikamaru had assumed he was older than this, but apparently he was thirteen. According to the information provided by the officials organizing all the betting on the matches.

All the sudden he was short, and even kind of frail looking. He was more or less Naruto's height now, and the muscles Shikamaru remembered him having were practically nonexistent.

What the fuck is going on? None of this made any sense! Had Gaara been casting a Genjutsu over himself that entire time to appear more intimidating?

Then why drop it now? A change of tactics maybe… He's trying to get himself underestimated. Shikamaru considered.

A familiar voice broke Shikamaru from his flow of thoughts, "Are you and your butt buddy ready to get your asses beat?" Ah, so Kiba and Naruto were finally there. Needless to say, that was Kiba talking. Well, more like harassing Kin's former teammates.

"Not gonna say anything?" Kiba taunted, "It's probably better that way… I may like to bark… But unlike you I don't mind biting too," He informed them, licking his lips Anko-style for good measure.

While Sasuke was high on Kiba's list of people he wanted to pounce on in front of everyone in this arena, these two were tied for the top spot. As far as Kiba was concerned, they were idiotic drones. He was all for camaraderie and loyalty to a sensei… But seriously, what was wrong with these punks? When Kin was missing, the would've rather done nothing than enlist his help despite it being his forte just because he was one of Anko's apprentices.

These dopes don't even know Kiba… or Shikamaru and Naruto for that matter. Yet they hate them that much? Total morons. It didn't help that they had been hostile and untrusting at every opportunity, even making a comment that irritated Ino during their match that put down Team Six. If they wanted to hate Team Six, Kiba was all too willing to give them a reason to!

The two older Genin shared confused looks with one another, as if not knowing what to say. Hell, they looked so lost in that moment you would think they had no Earthly clue who Kiba was. Kiba and Naruto stared at the both of them wondering what was wrong with them, "Guess I left them speechless Naruto…" Kiba snorted, brushing past them.

Naruto gave the both of them an odd look, neither appeared angry or even the least bit annoyed by the encounter. Pushing it aside, the Uzumaki passed by them as well and the two of them joined Shikamaru, "You see tweedledum and tweedledee over there? What the hell was that about…?" Kiba shook his head.

"That was really weird…" Naruto agreed, "I thought they hated us?"

"I was already keeping an eye on them…" Shikamaru admitted, "But yeah, something's not right here."

Not liking he edge in Shikamaru's voice, Naruto decided to dispute and try and put him at ease, "Who knows? Maybe they're giving us the silent treatment so we don't get in their heads or something? I'm sure it's not a big deal, and I'm sure any of us can take those guys one on one. Believe it!"

The Nara nodded, but he wasn't so sure about it personally. He was by no means worried about fighting either of them, if he lost he lost. He didn't really care, honestly. It was something else… Even he wasn't sure what it was exactly.

"They're not the only ones who showed up weird today…" Kiba stated, pointing a finger at Rock Lee who was doing pushups and getting berated for the waste of energy by Tenten.

"I get the feeling he's always like that…" Shikamaru grunted.

"Oi, what the hell happened to you?" A rather suspicious Naruto asked albeit rudely.

"What?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, surprised at being addressed.

"You used to be way taller! What the hell!?" He demanded.

With Danzo and Foundation gone, and Orochimaru having 'fled' the village in the midst of it, their need for using Gaara and Baki to walk freely in the village was no longer necessary. Thanks to Lord Third, they had their completely confidential temporary ANBU status instead, and would be present in the exams as a part of security.

That of course meant Gaara would proceed to the exam finals in person this time and showcase his skills. While Itachi had looked exactly like Gaara thanks to the Facial Copy Jutsu… Height and weight were another story entirely, "Do not concern yourself with it," Gaara left it at.

"Don't concern myself with it?" Naruto deadpanned, "Dude… That ain't natural."

When Gaara chose not to speak any more, Naruto left the poor Sand Genin be, "Whatever…"

Back with the masked Uchiha, true to White Zetsu's word, a clone emerged from the ground to report in, "What do you have for me?" Madara asked, not interested in having small talk with the plant man.

"Sasuke Uchiha is one of the participants in the exam this year."

"Really?" Madara sounded intrigued, "And how old is the little brother of Itachi now?"

"They had all of his public information available in the betting area, he's twelve years old, and was academy rookie of the year; his Jonin sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

Madara stiffened at the mention of Kakashi briefly but the Zetsu clone was far from the observant type, "Kakashi huh? Unsurprisingly; no one else is around to teach Sasuke how to use the Sharingan. I would like to see his match before we act, inform the clone that's designated to give the signal to wait until then."

"Okay. But what about the other stuff?"

"All I need to know is whether or not Deidara is here yet and if the other clones within the village are doing their job discreetly," The Uchiha put rather bluntly.

"Deidara hasn't come into view yet; so far none of the clones have been caught… And we've located all of the people you asked for, including Itachi and Orochimaru."

"How did you manage that?"

"One of our clones managed to get into the Hokage's tower to gain intel on how the ANBU are organizing their defense of the exams… He discovered that there are two extra ANBU whose identities are being withheld from the rest of ANBU. Two temporary members, Snake and Barracuda."

Madara nodded thoughtfully, "That is more than likely them…" He concurred, "You may leave now."

"Man… Why'd you have to go and bet on that Kiba kid… He's one of Anko's! Now he's got no chance."

Tsunade smirked back at her former teammate, "Oh shut up! I bet on both of them."

Jiraiya blinked, "What? Both? They won't let you do that…"

"I put a small amount of ryo on Kiba because he's the underdog… while Shizune will place more of my ryo on his opponent of a larger quantity since he's the likely winner. If Kiba wins, the odds are so much lower I'll make more than I lost on the other bet anyway. I can't lose this time!"

"Huh… You're a better gambler than I thought; I guess this means with your luck those two will go out there and knock each other out!"

Tsunade huffed in annoyance, "Whatever…"

"I am disappointed that you will not be fighting today," Hiashi remarked, each of his daughters sitting with him in the stands.

"I-I'm sorr-ry, father."

Hiashi said nothing, yes he was strict… Yes he was harsh, but it is how he was raised and how all fathers of the main house raised their own. The branch family wasn't much better, honestly, it was just the way of the Hyuga. "You failed to incapacitate an Inuzuka…" He began again, causing his older daughter to look down in shame.

"While I am inclined to admit they are a tough clan up close and personal, they are not supposed to have a chance against a Hyuga clan heir because we use the Jyuuken fighting style. You understand this, don't you?"

Hinata nodded shyly, they had this conversation already. Hiashi had been there to watch the matches of hers and Neji, and he wasn't exactly pleased by her performance or her surrender. "Today, you are to watch Neji… And you will do better next year," he told her. Contrary to the way that phrase sounded, it was encouragement. The way it came out of his mouth made it sound disciplinary.

"Y-Yes father."

"Hanabi," He stated, but got no acknowledgement.

His lips curled in an annoyed fashion, "Hanabi?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hanabi awkwardly replied. Scratch that, 'awkwardly' in this instance only justifies the response for a person who was not of the Hyuga clan. On Hyuga standards Hanabi seemed so discomposed that Hiashi forgot what he was going to tell her and just stared at her strangely.

"Are you feeling well…?"

"Yes, thank you for asking father!" Again, strange. She was being too… energetic? In her replies, which was not only weird for Hyuga clansmen but for Hanabi specifically that downright warranted suspicion.

"Act the part then," He scolded, disapproving of her current demeanor. His younger of two daughters just looked at him confused, and Hinata directed a rather similar look to her sister.

A/N: What the hell are the Akatsuki up to!? Big surprise, I'm not telling :P Though if you read into it you'll notice I've left some hints about various things.

Hiruzen finally looking to go on the offensive against them but it would appear he's not the only one feeling pressed to make a move…

Kinyasu Jishaku is (in my mind) a necessary character I needed to make. There are not that many Sand Jonin (Or Sand characters in general I should say) and idt it's a big deal to make another Magnet Style user as there are people with that kekkei genkai from multiple villages anyway. His weapon probably sounded weird, but you'll understand when you see it in action.

His existence is for the same reason I decided Pakura didn't die, I need Sand characters -_-

I've mentioned Maki before, as some of you may recall… She's the Jonin that had been Pakura's apprentice we got to know a little about during the war in canon. And then there's Baki… There really aren't many options out there. At any rate, he won't be some annoying insertion into the story I promise, hell you guys might like this guy. Unlike Tokuro, Kinyasu actually matters in the future of this story xD

As implied, his appearance in the story unlike canon (besides the obvious fact I made him up in the first place) is due to Pakura still being alive.

With that out of the way, I shouldn't sweep the fact we made it to the Chunin exam finals under the rug huh? Ohh man I'm going to be having fun with these next several chapters. As you all can see, there is something big coming but it's not just these exam fights!

On a side note… How crazy is it that I now have a chapter with no Anko, Orochimaru or Itachi at all? Lol..

'Til next time, RnR please :)