Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, items within it. These are all owned by the amazing Masashi Kishimoto.

I only own my Original Characters, plot work, relationships and events that are not already canon.

Thank you.

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八

eight

finishing unfinished business

The warm sun had almost reached its peak in the clear blue sky. A light and airy breeze drafted between the leaves, rustling them gently. Birds chirped happily, without a care in the world, and ignorant to the foreboding that swirled around them. Five figures dashed through the thick forest in a blur.

Akiko pushed off another branch with her heeled foot, the loose strands of her hair almost tangling within the twigs.

She and Kakashi took up the rear, while the three younger Chuunin led the way; Shikamaru slightly ahead of his teammates. They had been moving solidly without breaks, but she didn't want to risk deteriorating their energy before they'd face off against the Akatsuki.

Once they had passed Konoha's borders, she called out to them.

"Let's rest down here for a bit."

Shikamaru turned his head to argue back, but Akiko had already leapt down into the clearing below them. They followed the Cloud kunoichi.

She landed gracefully on the soft grass, surrounded by the towering trees and moss covered rocks. She sat on her knees. Long hair smoothed over her shoulder and brushed against her thigh as the Chuunin landed before her. Kakashi positioned himself to her right.

Staring at the young faces in front of her, Akiko could feel their uneasiness underneath their show of calm courage they had presented in front of Tsunade. They were much too young, too inexperienced for what they were about to do.

"It's not too late for you all to return back to the village." She faced her head to the side, staring blankly at a tree. "This isn't your battle." This would be the only chance she would give them to back out.

Shikamaru smirked. "We're not kids anymore, Akiko-sama. This battle is ours too, as much as it is yours." She turned her head back to stare at him. The three Chuunin shared the same look of determination. "We know who the most important person in our village is now. Either way Akatsuki will be making their way to Konoha, and if we don't make our move against them, it'll be too late for anyone else to do something."

She had to admit, he wasn't wrong. Most likely the pair of Akatsuki, high off their capture and extraction of Two-Tails, will be keen on catching the Nine-Tails in Naruto. Which means either way, they'd be headed towards the Hidden Leaf.

Akiko chuckled lowly, raising a brow at the pineapple-headed Chuunin.

"Don't get cocky now." She raised a fist. "Well then, I guess we'll have to figure out a plan now."

Spread across each of their faces, was an uncharacteristic seriousness.

"Shikamaru." Kakashi said, speaking up for the first time. "Let's hear your plan first."

'Ah…' Akiko hummed to herself, recalling that Shikamaru had told Tsunade he had already come up with his own plan. She nodded at Shikamaru, actively listening.

"When I developed my plan, I based it around Akiko-sama and aiding her. But now that you have joined, Kakashi-sensei, I want to change the plan a bit."

Kakashi turned his head in interest. "I get it. Please explain."

"I will explain by dividing it into several scenarios." Shikamaru pressed his fingers together. "Make sure all of you listen carefully."

Akiko sat at the window sill, staring outside as Konoha's villagers passed by as if no troubles thrived in their lives. Her arms were crossed tightly against her chest, her tanned fingers unconsciously tapping against her forearms.

"Oi, Akiko."

Without turning her gaze away from the view, she hummed disinterestedly. "What?"

Asuma laughed, almost sheepishly. "It's nice of you to visit an all, but are you planning on sitting there the whole time? In silence?"

She turned around just in time to see him attempt to reach for the shougi board at his bedside table, but just as his fingertips brushed the evergreen wood, he almost appeared to wilt. Hissing in pain, he gripped his side, swearing under his breath. Akiko rolled her eyes.

"Tch." She clicked her tongue, moving away from the window and grabbing the shougi board. Placing it on the table, she wheeled it over his lap. "No wonder Kurenai didn't want to leave you alone, look at you."

The olive-skinned shinobi just waved his hand, brushing off her words even though she could clearly see his teeth grinding together. Sighing, she patted his legs, and moved to sit, cross-legged, at the foot of his bed. She began shifting the shougi pieces around, sliding them into position.

"What are you doing?"

"You have eyes, use them."

"Is it so hard to get a simple answer from you?"

"Is it?"

"You should be kinder to me, I am the patient here, you know."

Her brows shot upwards. "Oh really?"

Asuma grinned childishly, sitting up further. Akiko shook her head amusedly. Laying the last piece, she raised her golden gaze at her old friend.

"I might be a bit rusty, but let's play."

Asuma clapped his hands together excitedly. "Maybe I can finally win."

"Sorry to break it to you." Akiko placed two fingers on her shougi piece, pushing it forward. "But I never lose. It's not in my nature."

She watched sweat fall down the side of his face as he noticed her sinister smirk, before chuckling good-naturedly. They played in content silence, moving their pieces across the board. After his last turn, Akiko shifted around, pushing her thumb into her chin as she analysed the board to calculate her next move.

"You remind me of Shikamaru." Asuma spoke up after a beat.

"Hm?"

"He's like an old man, always making me play shougi with him."

Akiko raised her gaze from the board. "So, you're saying I'm like an old man?"

"Oi! Stop being so touchy!" Asuma scratched his beard sheepishly. "Anyways, the kid likes to play shougi and he's ridiculously good. Beats me every time."

"You don't give much of a challenge at these things," Akiko grumbled under her breath. Asuma cleared his throat indignantly, sending her a look which she returned with an overly cheery smile. "What were you saying?"

Asuma huffed at her, before continuing his story while she went back to figuring out her next move.

"Shikamaru is a slacker. Fell asleep every day in class at the Academy, and his Genin results were less than great; told me it was too troublesome to move his pencil across his paper." Asuma chuckled at the memory. "But he's so good at strategy games that it just didn't make sense to me. So, one day I decided to give him an IQ test that looked like it was a game."

"And the results?"

"I was right." At his proud tone, she turned her focus away from the board. "He was a clever guy, all right... he's a super genius."

Akiko piqued with interest. "Super genius?"

"Shikamaru has an IQ of over two-hundred."

"Two-hundred?!" Akiko gasped, her eyes widening in response. She could barely process that the dark-haired kid she had seen had an IQ almost thirty percent higher than an average genius.

"Two-hundred." Asuma's deep voice repeated in confirmation. "Like a clever strategist, he analyses his opponents, and quickly concludes a prediction of their next movements."

"How many steps ahead does he predict?"

"After studying and gathering as much as he can from his opponent in that moment, he can devise over one-hundred strategies and instantly picks the most effective. This puts him ten steps ahead of his opponent; it's Shikamaru's ability."

"Shit." Akiko could admit she was coloured impressed.

"Shit, indeed." Asuma laughed.

"Man, I almost feel sorry for the kid."

"Huh? Why?"

"Getting stuck with a sensei like you." She teased. "With your cigarette breath-"

"Oi!"

"-Manipulating them with bribes-"

"How did you…?"

"-Who can't even tell them about his serious relationship-"

"Now wait just a minute!"

"-Or win a game of shougi."

"Huh?"

Swiping her thumb across her chin, Akiko lifted her head upwards slightly, a cocky smirk lingering on her lips. Reaching an arm out, she positioned her final move on the board.

"I win."

Asuma stared at the board before him, muttering to himself about how he could let this happen, before closing his eyes and crossing his arms. She took his reaction as acceptance of her win. But was quickly proven wrong as he opened his mouth to say;

"Impossible. You cheated."

Akiko was in awe to be able to witness Shikamaru's genius ability first-hand.

The plan he had devised, held multiple possible outcomes and counter reactions to anything that could present itself to them during battle. It was almost foolproof. But she saw a single flaw in his plan.

"I'm impressed at how much you observed about your opponent from just one encounter." Kakashi complimented.

'Hm,' Akiko agreed mentally. 'On top of that, he readjusted the plan to fit Kakashi...it really is remarkable.'

Shikamaru nodded. "That's the plan I developed with the limited information I had. It's a pain but it's the best plan we've got since the other Akatsuki's power is still unknown to us."

There it was, the single and most fatal flaw in his plan - not knowing an enemy's potential. His plan focused mainly on the knowledge he held on Hidan, but not knowing what Kakuzu was capable of would lead to failure. Of course this was inevitable with any enemy to be faced. But she didn't want to think of what could have happened if the Chuunin had run off on their own to face the Akatsuki.

But the thing was, even though the Leaf-nin had no idea of the extent of Kakuzu's power; Akiko certainly did.

"Shikamaru." The young Leaf-nin turned to face her with a questioning look. "How long would it take you to alter your plan if I gave you the information you need?"

The collective sound of an intake of breath echoed in her ears, as each member of her newly formed team stared at her.

"Akiko, you…?" Kakashi trailed off, his unspoken question lingering in the air.

The Cloud kunoichi grunted as she shifted from her position, awkwardly extending her right leg. Tanned skin exposed from the long slit in the threads of her knee-length kimono, Akiko traced her fingers over the slight disfiguration of the scar that wrapped around the top of her knee and halfway to her calf.

"Around five years ago, Akatsuki requested for me to join the ranks of their disillusioned organisation. Let's just say they didn't appreciate my answer." She moved again to show the added scars along her bare arms. "A while after that I reencountered Kakuzu, and the newly appointed Hidan, for the second time. I managed to hold my own against them, at the loss of two of our strongest ANBU, but an obvious grudge was held between both sides. It's most likely why they'd been specifically tasked with retrieving Two-Tails from Yugito."

A brief silence ensured as everyone took in the story Akiko had just dropped on them. Ino played absentmindedly with her ponytail, while Chouji shifted around with a frown, and Shikamaru scratched the side of his jaw. She could feel Kakashi's glare burn against her profile.

Akiko reached her hand out to grip Shikamaru's wrist, pulling his attention back to her.

"How long?"

"Ten minutes, max." Was his answer.

Akiko nodded, releasing him and moving back. Reaching into her side pouch, she pulled out a small scroll; unravelling it and placing it in the middle of them all.

"Hidan and Kakuzu." She pointed to their names on the scroll; underneath a flurry of neatly printed notes, some paired with small diagrams. "It would be best to regard them as almost immortal in your minds."

"What?!" Chouji blurts out in disbelief.

"Immortality doesn't exist in our world, but their jutsu is a near comparison." Her manicured fingers, rings glinting in the sun, brushed over Hidan's half of the scroll. "Shikamaru, you have witnessed Hidan's power. His Curse Technique gives him the ability to bind his opponent by consuming their blood. His immortality is given by Jashin, the god he worships, through ritualistic sacrifice. It's near impossible to kill him."

Shikamaru had an evident grimace painted over his features, while Ino appeared shaken. Akiko moved her hand over to Kakuzu's section.

"Kakuzu, on the other hand, stole the knowledge of Takigakure's secret kinjutsu; it transforms his body into something like a rag-doll, bound by hundreds of thick black threads. With this, he is able to detach and reattach parts of his body."

"How do you know this, Akiko-sama?" Chouji asks.

"Throughout the years...and an infiltration mission."

Akiko, the same year as when she first encountered them, had infiltrated the Waterfall Village and stolen the files regarding the S-Rank missing-nin. She pointed near the bottom of the scroll, focusing on the four different diagrams of animal masks.

"But that's not all. He harbours four extra hearts within these masks, meaning all together he holds five hearts." A collective gasp occurred. "Fire, Lightning, Water and Wind affinities are linked separately to each mask. He is also able to use Earth Release in a defensive power which hardens his skin like diamond, allowing him to withstand most attacks with little damage."

"So that's his immortality?" Ino asks, platinum browns pulled together.

"He replenishes each of his hearts, should they be destroyed, with that of his enemies." Akiko grunted in confirmation.

The three Chuunin before her, all shared the same disheartened looks. She shook her head, feeling their waves of pessimism.

"What we are dealing with is one opponent who we won't be able to kill, per se, and another who has five lives and an intelligence that can most likely hold its own against Shikamaru's genius." Akiko's words did nothing to comfort the Chuunin. "But, Hidan can be incapitated with Shikamaru's original plan. All we have to do now is modify the plan and utilise the information we have on Kakuzu."

"With the information you've provided, our odds have risen against them, Akiko." Kakashi complimented under his breath.

Akiko acknowledged him with a side glance. "Kakuzu's main defense is Earth-natured, which will be weak against Lightning techniques. It's what has allowed me to take out three of his hearts." The Chuunin perked at that. "Kakashi and I both have natural affinities for Lightning-based ninjutsu."

"So, you and Kakashi-sensei will deal with Kakuzu, leaving us with Hidan?" Chouji proposes.

Before Akiko could answer, the silent Shikamaru finally speaks up, still digressing the information he has been given.

"No." Chouji turns to face his best friend.

"Shikamaru?" Ino calls out.

"Akiko-sama." Shikmaru's narrow eyes find her own. "Give me ten minutes."

Akiko raised her chin in concession. Pulling out a few protein bars, she hands them to the Chuunin, before rising from her position.

"Rest up for now, restore some of your chakra reserves." She moves away, walking towards the sound of water. "You have ten minutes, Shikamaru."

Kneeling at the edge of the river, she placed her hands in the cool flow of the current. The warm sun bore down, forcing perspiration to form. Pulling her hands out, she pushed her palms against her forehead and swept away the blonde strands that framed her face, tying half her hair in a loose bun.

She didn't flinch when the silver-haired Leaf ninja flickered next to her, crouching.

"Akatsuki, huh?" Kakashi's silent, Why didn't you tell me?' drifted in the small space between them.

"Hm." She replied - noncommittal. She could sense he wasn't pleased with her lack of answer, but decided he wasn't in a position to force her to explain herself. Instead of allowing silence to settle, she surprisingly found herself speaking up. "Shikamaru, his genius strategic ability is...refreshing."

"Yeah, no doubt he could make a great shinobi out of himself - if only he had the motivation to do so."

Akiko swallowed the light chuckle bubbling in her throat. "I have yet to see the others in action, though. Do you think we're making a mistake, allowing them to do this?"

She turned her golden eyes to meet Kakashi's dark grey gaze. He stared at her for a beat, before sighing and looking up into the sky.

"No." Akiko, too, turned to face the sky. "This is their will to do so, they're trying to prove themselves."

That didn't sit right with Akiko. "Proving themselves shouldn't have anything to do with this, Kakashi."

"They also have come to face reality, partially thanks to you." He added. Akiko relaxed slightly, appeased, before nodding in agreement. "There's no doubt they took on this mission for the bigger picture."

They spent the next few moments in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, or even calming, it was just quiet enough to divulge in their own thoughts.

Akiko mentally prepared herself for battle. Success meant taking out two members of Akatsuki, lessening their power, and finishing what her sister had started to protect those like her. Failure...meant certain death. Never had Akiko in all her years as a kunoichi feared death, it was something she had accepted long before she should have needed to. Rather, failing in what was important in life rattled her more.

Her thoughts were broken when she felt Kakashi's large hand wrap around her forearm. Her initial instinct was to yank her arm away, but as if he could read her thoughts, his grip tightened. She turned to face him with furrowed brows.

"Akiko."

"What do you think you're doing? Let go of me." She hissed.

"What I wanted to say, on the fence earlier…"

Her eyes widened in disbelief, before she scoffed. "You're seriously going to do this now?"

"Yes." He gave her a hesitant look.

"Your timing is absolutely shit."

Kakashi almost appeared offended, as a scowl shifted behind his mask. "I'm trying to apologise to you."

"Well you can keep your apology, Kakashi. I think you're about seven years too late."

She moved to pull away from him, but his grip tightened and her scowl deepened. She was ready to strike him with her chakra-infused lightning, when he finally said the words.

"Akiko, what I did...to you, to us." His gulp was audible. "I don't have enough time to explain, but I do have time to say this. I'm sorry."

She felt like a bomb had dropped on her. 'He really had to do this now?' She sighed internally, closing her eyes.

How long had she honestly been waiting to hear that from him? Yugito's answer for her had been 'too damn long.' After confessing her love to him, and ending up rejected, Akiko hated to admit she never truly moved on.

She argued it was because she didn't have time, choosing to focus on her work and family rather than the opposite sex. But she couldn't even fool herself with that excuse. The seventeen-year-old in her held hope he'd suddenly appear in her village, profess his love and meet her father to ask for her hand in marriage.

And now he decided to suddenly apologise, albeit without the explanation she deserved as to why he literally disappeared on her. She felt that facade she had built to shut him out fracture.

But she forced everything at the back of her mind. This wasn't the time to dwell on these things. Kakashi, this time, allowed Akiko to move away.

"You really do have the shittiest timing, Bakashi."

Akiko stood up, catching the widening of his eyes at her using his old name she used to call him when they were teenagers. She reached her hand to tug him up easily. As he stood a whole head taller than her, her face tilted up to stare into his uncovered eye.

"Try that again after we get the Chuunin back to Konoha. Preferably pair it with an exposed face and a proper explanation. I think you owe me that much."

When Akiko returned to the clearing, ten minutes over and a slightly sluggish Kakashi trailing behind her, she was greeted with keen expressions across all three Chuunin's faces.

They were still seated, facing each other, as Akiko walked up to them. Placing her hands on her hips casually, she addressed them.

"Is the plan ready?" Shikamaru nodded firmly. "Let's hear it."

Shikamaru's newly formed plan was near perfect, and if everything went as he predicted, they really had a greater chance of a successful mission.

He had asked Akiko to personally deal with Kakuzu, simply because she was a better suited opponent for him; which she agreed. This left Kakashi holding off against Hidan, he was fast enough to counter the mentally unstable Akastuki's scythe. Team Asuma would provide back up, with Shikamaru taking charge in making sure each person was in place to begin his plan.

But there was one thing Akiko had to ask the young Leaf-nin.

"How the hell did you manage to swipe these?" She held up one of Asuma's unique trench knives, created with the same special-made metal used for her own modified yari.

Shikamaru appeared sheepish as he tugged at his ponytail. Though he didn't answer, his mannerism was enough for Akiko to know her olive-skinned friend had no idea his blades were in his student's possession. She was positive he didn't even know his team had even left the village.

Instead, the dark-haired shinobi held his hand out to Akiko. "Akiko-sama, take this." He dropped a tube in her hand. "Please use it when there's an opening. I'll let you keep it, it's the only one I have."

She tucked it away in the gold-plated cuff on her right wrist.

"Everyone, after you memorise the plans, simulate them in your head three times or more." Shikamaru turned to face his teammates. Each holding their own serious expressions. "The success rate of the plan highly depends on whether or not you do the image training."

"Got it." Chouji grunts.

Ino nods her head. "Okay!"

Giving them a moment, she angled her head to glance at Kakashi. She found him already staring at her, and they shared a look, behind their gazes a silent message.

'Protect the kids. Don't die.'

Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino rise from their seated positions.

"You three ready?" At Akiko's question, they nod once. "Well, to get things started we'll need to find them."

"Then first, we need to find their trail." Shikamaru finishes.

"Trail…" Chouji mutters, looking down at his sandals in thought. His head raises after a small second. "I get it, you're saying we need to find the path between the Temple of Fire and the Collection Office."

"We could get their footsteps and scent there." Ino adds.

Kakashi cranes his neck to look at them, his back turned away. "Let's go."

All five swiftly move out.

The land seemed almost dead.

Akiko walked past the towering, barren and decaying trees; heels shuffling along the uneven, sand-coloured earth. Gold eyes watched over the expanse. Hawks flew overhead.

"The trail can't be found due to the rain." Kakashi spoke from behind her. Akiko came to a stop as the others moved in front of her.

Shikamaru sighed. "Either way, we can't do anything unless we find our enemy."

"I remember they told us to stay and wait for them." Chouji piped up quietly. "But obviously, they won't return to the same place."

Ino crosses her arms. "The second team should be monitoring the Collection Office, we would know if they passed through there."

"Hidan is an idiot, but Kakuzu isn't. Most likely they're taking a different route - but they have only one destination in mind."

The Chuunin stared at Akiko with furrowed brows.

"Whether they are going after Asuma's supposed corpse, since they think he's dead, or they are after Naruto; their destination is Konoha." Shikamaru mumbles under his breath.

"Then that means," Kakashi began, turning his head away. "It'll be a wide search. How are we going to find them?"

Trailing her hands over the silk of her obi, wrapped around her waist, Akiko stared at Shikamaru shifting around. She watched peculiarly as he pressed his fingers together, and turned his face up to the sky in a thoughtful manner. She could almost see the gears working in his head.

Mentally she sighed. 'Was it a mistake to send my team back home?' She questioned herself. Yayai's sensory skills would be perfect right now. Akiko shook herself out of her thoughts. She had to make do with what they had now.

There were a few options she could use.

The first obvious option was to use Kakashi's ninken, but with the recent rain, it would be too difficult to even catch a sliver of their scent. Akiko wasn't as skilled in tracking, but she could utilise a chakra-induced storm to locate them - but it would be too obvious, hindering their plan of being inconspicuous. Her third possibility was to summon Raijuu, but she wanted to keep that as the last possible resort since the last time she had attempted to do so, the mother-wolf of lightning had lectured her all night.

"We'll go with that."

Shikamaru broke Akiko's focus from her internal debate.

"Huh?" Kakashi cocked his head to the side in confusion.

Noticing the young Chuunin was still staring up at the sky, Akiko tilted her head to see what he was looking at. The others raised their heads too. She was confused, as the only thing in the sky were the hawks circling above them - one even dared to land on the ground a metre away from them, pecking at the land.

"I got it."

Akiko was surprised to see Ino wearing a confident smirk, shared with her two teammates. In fact, it seemed even Kakashi was in on it. She glanced at the faces of her makeshift teammates, with a raised brow.

"Am I missing something here?"

From the corner of her eye, Akiko could see Shikamaru's shadow extending to trap the hawk not far from them. The bird could barely struggle against the strength of dark tendrils wrapping around its body. Next to her, Ino pushed her pale arms out in front of her, hands forming an unrecognisable seal.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

One moment Ino stood next to Akiko, and the next she was nearly crumpled to the ground if Chouji hadn't caught her body. Akiko stared at the younger kunoichi's body for a beat of silence, blinking once, before finally digesting her unconsciousness.

"Ino!" She moved to snap her fingers in front of the platinum blonde's face.

"Don't worry, Akiko-sama." Chouji said, carrying his teammate's body to rest against a trunk.

"This is the signature technique of Konoha's Yamanaka Clan - Mind Body Transfer."

Akiko sent Shikamaru a dubious look. "So, if she's transferred her consciousness to another host, where is she…?" Her question was answered once Shikamaru's shadow released the hawk, and it flew over to her. "Ino?"

The hawk crooned in response. Akiko's expression remained blank, while internally she screamed.

"Ino will be able to extend our search, much quicker than we would on foot. We'll just have to wait a few minutes."

As the hawk flew away into the distance, Akiko moved to stand off to the side silently. She was slightly shaken over the platinum kunoichi's jutsu, simply because she thought of her to be dead. But, on the other hand, she finally had an idea of what she was capable of - yet Akiko was unsure of how well her jutsu would be against the immortal Akatsuki duo.

"You alright?"

Next to her, Kakashi's hands were buried deep in the pockets of his pants. Her eyes narrow when she sees his silent expression of mockery, a tell-tale sign he had noticed her slight stress.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Not at all."

"Hm." Akiko grunts, crossing her arms across her chest. "I actually thought she had died before we even entered battle. Imagined myself trying to explain that to Tsunade-sama, and saw my own life flash before my eyes."

At her admission, Kakashi's shoulders shook as he chuckled, causing her to roll her eyes. She glanced over at the younger Chuunin briefly. Shikamaru and Chouji had taken to crouching near Ino's body, watching over their teammate. She admired their closeness, they looked out for each other. Her attention refocuses on a still-laughing Kakashi.

"Shut up." She hissed to the silver-haired ninja. "It's not funny."

Clearing his throat, and shaking his head, Kakashi turned his dark eye to her face. "You think the plan will work?"

Akiko scowls. "Are you doubting your own shinobi now?"

He clucked his tongue at her accusation. "I'm not. You're the one who has encountered our enemy before, so you tell me. Do you think it will work?"

"I think Shikamaru's plan is ingenious." She pauses. "But it will only work if we follow it accordingly, and should the plan go awry, we need to remember the countermeasures we've set. My top priority is making sure Akatsuki don't lay a hand on them, which means taking the brunt of the battle and relying on you."

"You can trust me." Kakashi replied seriously.

Akiko lowered her head at the double meaning of his words. Not acknowledging them fully, but not disregarding them completely. If she was truly honest with herself, she would admit her face had even started to become heated. Before she could conjure a response, her attention was diverted back to the Chuunin.

With a frightened gasp, Ino's body jerked forward as she became conscious again. Akiko and Kakashi flickered back to the team in an instant.

"Are you alright, Ino?!" Chouji gripped his teammate's slim shoulder worriedly.

Gathering her senses, Ino sighed in relief, placing a hand over her heart. "That was close!"

"Did they notice?!" Shikamaru questioned. Ino shook her head.

I think it's okay." She said, before turning to look at the older Jounin. "As expected they're heading to Konoha through a different route. They're in the two o'clock direction. We'll run into them in ten minutes."

"All right." Akiko replied, flexing the muscles in her calves as she stretched slightly.

Shikamaru turned his head towards the sky in thought, before he, Chouji and Ino rose from their crouched positions. Next to Akiko, Kakashi shifted on his feet.

"Let's do this."

Akiko pushed off her heeled feet, as each member of her team split and concealed themselves, keeping their sights on the clearing below them. She leant her back against the old wood of the barren tree trunk. Peeping over her shoulder, she could see Shikamaru and Chouji near each other; on her left was Kakashi and to his, was Ino.

Nodding her head at Shikamaru, he moves away into position. Crouching on the thick branch, Akiko pulls two kunai from the pouch attached to her hip, and skillfully wraps an explosive tag on each one.

The hairs on her bare arms and the back of her neck raise, and she realises the Akatsuki are much closer. Almost in range to begin their plan.

Flickering, she lands softly behind Kakashi. With one hand holding onto the two kunai, the other reached out to move his Leaf forehead protector away from covering his Sharingan.

"You'll need this. Read Kakuzu's movements, make your move quick, and I'll follow after you."

Got it. Be careful." At his reply, she nods her head once, before leaping in Shikamaru's general direction.

She misses the way Kakashi watches longingly as she moves away from him.

Akiko catches up to Shikamaru easily, concealed behind another tree. A hawk squawks once above, just as her eyes land on the two Akatsuki. Their backs are faced towards her, but there's no doubt that it is Hidan and Kakuzu; the former carrying his scythe across his half-covered body.

Akiko kicks off, running up along the tree trunk, the two-kunai twirling in her fingers. Shikamaru crouches to the ground, his knee digging into the earth and hands forming the seal to extend his shadow. She reaches a higher branch in time to witness the dark shadow split to trail the two Akatsuki - who both jump away to dodge Shikamaru's jutsu. Following their movements with her eyes, Akiko swiftly throws the kunai at their feet. A large explosion bursts through the clearing.

Shikamaru's shadow continues to swirl towards them, and Akiko catches the sound of metal breaking. From her vantage point, she sees Hidan slide out of the clouds of dust created by the explosion, calling out to Kakuzu - who appears from the other side.

Focusing on the Akatsuki, she manages to catch the end of Kakuzu's sentence; "Forget that, watch out for the shadow."

"Tch!" The scythe-wielder scoffs. "I won't fall for it twice!"

"Hidan, look up!"

From the corner of her eye, Akiko catches Shikamaru mid-air, throwing Asuma's two Chakra Blades with faux tags attached. The young Chuunin lands by her side. Realisation mirrors on the faces of Hidan and Kakuzu, both thinking this attack to be the same as the last.

"Hidan, dodge it!"

The pair leap away, but the Chakra Blades land right before them. Angling their faces, they brace themselves for an explosion that never detonates. A moment passes, before they register that the tags aren't real and that they've been trapped by Shikamaru's shadow.

"They got us." Akiko hears Kakuzu grumble lowly.

Stretching next to her, Shikamaru rises to his full height as he smirks slightly at the trapped Akatsuki. He huffs proudly before pushing off his feet - landing before Hidan and Kakuzu. Akiko stands up, and leaps swiftly off the branch to join the dark-haired Chuunin.

"Kagemane Shuriken no Jutsu…" Shikamaru murmurs. "...A Success."

Akiko's posture is relaxed, left hand resting on her slim waist as she regards the two Akatsuki with a deadly gaze. Her demeanour seemed too casual, but everything was strategic. The hand on her waist was right near the scroll for her yari, if anything were to happen in this moment she'd be able to unseal it in a flash.

Her eyes meet Hidan's.

"Bitch." He greets her with a sneer before turning back ro look at Shikamaru. "You bastard! I dodged the shadow, so how did you-!"

"-That thing there is a Chakra Blade." The young Chuunin cuts off Hidan, nodding his head at one of Asuma's blades. "I bet you know that it's made from a special metal that absorbs the user's Chakra characteristics."

Almost comically, Hidan's expression was completely dumbfounded. "Kakuzu, what is he saying?" He asks his partner.

"Idiot! Shut up, Hidan." The masked Akatsuki grumbles to his partner. His odd eyes set themselves on Akiko. "I should've known you would be here too."

"We have unfinished business I plan on finishing today." She replies easily, cocking her head slightly. She sees him strain against Shikamaru's shadow possession. "The Chakra absorbed in those Blades exhibit power based on the user's jutsu."

"Basically, the Blade itself is exhibiting my Kagemane no Jutsu. Those Chakra Blades belong to Asuma." Shikamaru adds.

"Thirty-five million ryo, huh?" Kakuzu appraises. "After I kill the both of you, I'll be sure to collect my bounty. Even if I must dig him back up myself, out of the ground."

"That's going to be quite the challenge, considering Asuma is still alive." Akiko drops the bomb on the Akatsuki, and she can feel Kakuzu's glare intensify on her. "Do not disregard your opponents when they stand before you. Especially when they will be the last faces you see."

Hidan, oblivious, glares at Akiko and Shikamaru; although the Cloud kunoichi is distrustful of Kakuzu's sudden silence and calculative gaze.

"Well let's finish this," Shikamaru states with finality.

"Oi!" Hidan yells to his unspeaking teammate. "Why the hell have you been so quiet?! What are you doing getting caught up, too?!" Receiving no response of recognition at the least, crazes the purple-eyed Akatsuki even more. "Oi! Oi! Oi! To tell the truth, aren't we pretty screwed?!"

Next to Akiko, the young Leaf-nin clucked his tongue patronisingly. "Screwed? According to my plan, it was finished from the moment I caught you."

Something didn't sit well with how perfectly the start of Shikamaru's plan was going. Akiko held faith in the boy, but Kakuzu was one of her most lethal enemies, and his lack of response or retaliation put her on edge.

As Shikamaru shifts and forms the Rat seal, a shadow extends from his body to possess Hidan; Akiko charges a slight current of lightning through her body - the tips of her hair barely curling, but she could feel her power slowly surge. Preparing herself for anything that could happen in the next few moments. From the corner of her eyes, she even manages to notice Kakashi keenly watching what was to unfold.

Shikamaru's shadow overpowers Hidan's and takes possession of his body. His shadow then slinks around the Chakra Blade and yanks it out from the ground.

Hidan's hiss acquires Akiko's attention. "Damn it! What are you doing?!"

"There's no way I'm gonna miss the second time." Shikamaru scoffs, a slight smirk lingering in his expression, before seriousness takes over. "I'm going to corner you guys. I'm not going to mess up the order this time."

Shikamaru begins to shuffle backwards, slowly but surely moving his legs, and Akiko watches on as Hidan mirrors every movement. He struggles against the power of Shikamaru's shadow, but is still unable to overcome it.

"Damn it!"

Shikamaru halts, and extends his arm to his side and acts as if to pick something up. At the other end of his shadow, Hidan copies the motion, yet picks up his scythe which he had lost grip of during the commotion.

"I know your face now! No matter what happens to me, I'm gonna kill you!" Hidan curses through clenched teeth.

The Leaf Chuunin starts off to his right, running towards Kakuzu's direction. "You're stupid, aren't you?" He taunts the crazed Akatsuki.

"Tch!"

Swiftly, Shikamaru leaps, holding his arms overhead.

"Kakuzu! Dodge it!" Hidan screams at his silent teammate, who seemed much too calm for someone with a triple-bladed scythe coming for them.

It happened in slow motion before Akiko's golden eyes. Hidan, without any control of his own movements, swings the scythe as if to cut his teammate in half - and before the blades touch Kakuzu,he leans forward to dodge the attack. The sleeve of his robe was sliced off in a clean cut.

The sound of uprooted earth cracking echoed, as Kakuzu's arm shot out from the underground, yanking out the Chakra Blade which hindered his movements.

Shikamaru's eyes widen in surprise.

"All right!" Hidan cheers loudly.

Akiko clenches her teeth at the sound of the thick dark tendrils protruding from Kakuzu's detached arm, moving around. It reminds her of nothing good, and everything bad. Without a beat of hesitation, Kakuzu manipulates the tendrils to fling the Chakra Blade at Shikamaru.

She reacts before anyone else is even capable of doing so. Surging forward in front of Shikamaru instantly, she throws her own shuriken to deflect the incoming Chakra Blade, the sharp clink of metal clashing, before anyone could even blink. The Chakra Blade embeds itself into the ground a metre away, and Shikamaru finally reacts with a low gasp. To anyone it would appear as if Akiko was glowing, yet up close, her golden chakra warped itself tightly against her bronze skin.

"You never knew when to keep your nose out of other people's business." Kakuzu derides, eyes narrowed at the Cloud kunoichi.

"As far as I'm concerned," Akiko starts, raising her chin slightly. "You are my business. At least until I kill you."

"Oh?" Kakuzu hums condescendingly.

Akiko contemplates how Kakuzu managed to counter their attack, and it clicks that during the paper bomb explosion, he would have detached his arm, sending it underground. She's not overly surprised that he out of the pair had managed to think quick and act. But at least now Shikamaru had a physical idea of what to expect.

The thick, wire-like tendrils wriggle back out through the hole. A large bundled lump among the tendrils, pulsates, as it moves to Kakuzu's shoulder. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. Knowing that what was beneath the lump was a beating heart made Akiko's stomach twist uncomfortably.

"You said we were finished, but my powers are still unknown to you, boy," Kakuzu addresses the young Leaf Chuunin. "Though I doubt this meddling woman would have let you come to die without some warning." With his left hand he grips his right shoulder, the emerald green ring on his finger glaring at Akiko. "You're intelligent, unlike my partner," He compliments - the tendrils swiftly finish sewing back his arm and he flexes his fingers. "But even if you analyse this fight, it doesn't mean everything will go as planned."

Shikamaru's frown deepens, as Hidan chuckles loudly, still trapped in the Chuunin's jutsu, before realising Kakuzu's insult towards him.

"Kakuzu! What do you mean, 'unlike my partner'?"

Kakuzu turns his glare to Hidan. "Just as I said, you idiot."

As the Akatsuki duo bicker between themselves, Akiko uses the time as a chance to refocus herself and Shikamaru.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes…" Shikamaru grunts. "Thank you for before-"

"-It's okay." Akiko cuts him off, shaking her head. "We must stick to your plan Shikamaru. Let's go!" She urged him under her breath.

Shikamaru stared into the golden eyes of the Cloud kunoichi looking back at him over her shoulder. He could see it, though she was probably doing her best to hide it - the pain and the need to fight. He had only felt a miniscule fraction of that pain, in comparison to what she feels currently.

Shikamaru nods once in confidence, catching her slight smirk, before he moves back into his plan.

They were finally in the face of their enemy, barely at the start of engaging in the battle Akiko knew Hidan and Kakuzu would deliver. There was no way she would allow herself, or her newly formed team to fail now. It would be tough on them, all of them.

But Akiko had long overdue business to finish. And she swore on her life that it was going to end today.

A/N: it's been two years too long! i'm sorry! thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing! it's a bit of a filler, but i'll be focusing more on getting new chapters out for y'all 3 let me know your thoughts on this one!