Naruto POV~

We got through the night without much hassle. I awoke curled up in a comfortable nook in the tree branches.

'He hasn't come after us?'

"I think he's regrouping. He probably didn't expect us to be this difficult. He will definitely approach with more caution later."

'Hm. Well, you are the strongest Bijuu.'

"Heh." Kurama blew off the flattery, though I knew it got to him, "I'm not some pushover like my siblings."

I smiled at him, 'None of you Bijuu are exactly what I'd call pushovers. The Akatsuki are all above S-class, for sure.'

Kurama soured. "Yes. I don't know what they're planning, but I don't want the Tailed Beasts to have any part in it."

'Me neither.' I sighed and dropped down from the tree. 'From all the chakra we used, I'm pretty sure someone noticed us, too.'

Kurama groaned, "What a pain in the ass."

'You can say that again.' I looked around, scanning the area as far as I could reach. Not a single person, as far as I could tell, but unless I used Kurama's chakra I wouldn't know for sure. I sure as hell didn't want to risk using Kurama's chakra now, not after yesterday.

"So, what's our plan?"

I sat down heavily, putting my face in my hands. 'We should find their base. How many Bijuu were captured?'

"So far, it was just Shukaku and Matatabi."

'Shukaku, huh? And two-tails, too. They might try to go in order, so they would go after Isobu next, right?'

"It's strange, though. He came after us."

'Why?'

"It wouldn't make sense to capture the strongest one first. Not if my suspicions are correct. He probably wasn't even aiming for us, he just stumbled upon our location."

'What suspicions?'

Kurama sighed. "I was thinking, while you were asleep. There's a good chance he's using this thing called the Gedo statue to extract the Tailed Beasts from the Jinchuriki."

I narrowed my eyes, 'That sounds familiar. Have you mentioned it before?'

"Maybe. Anyways, the Gedo statue is an empty vessel of the Ten-Tails."

I felt the blood rush out of my face, 'You think they're trying to summon the Ten-tails?'

"It's the best explanation that fits with this."

I didn't answer, trying to digest this information. 

'How do we stop them?'

Kurama frowned, "We could free the Bijuu and defeat the Akatsuki, but unless we find out why they're doing this, who is really in charge, and how they know these things, there isn't much we can do long term."

'Who is really in charge?'

"I don't know. This Pain fella doesn't seem to know exactly what he's gotten himself into. He might have the Rinnegan and be the leader of the Akatsuki, but he's not the only leader, I don't think."

I pondered on this. 'That makes sense. We should do recon, then. Gather as much information as we can without getting caught, get the Bijuu out of their hands, and uncover as much as possible. All without being discovered by the Hidden Villages or the Akatsuki.'

"We have our work cut out for us."

I cracked a smile, but it faded once I thought into it more. 'Hey, Kurama?'

"What?"

'Isn't it true that when a Bijuu is extracted from a Jinchuriki, the Jinchuriki...'

Kurama was silent for a moment. I could sense his frown. 

"Yes. But I won't let that happen to us, kit. Or the others."

At this, I smiled softly at him. 'Thanks, Kurama.'

He smiled at me, too, red eyes shining. 

Kakashi POV~

"We're here." I announced, keeping my voice light. On the inside, my heart leapt into my throat. 

The whole trip, Sasuke had kept his face blank and tone curt, as always, but I noticed a certain tension in his shoulders that wasn't there before. He did well of hiding it, but I felt the same, to be honest. His fingers kept gravitating towards his katana.

Sakura looked eager to find Naruto, probably to satisfy her own guilt more than anything. 

Sai, on the other hand...I didn't know what to think of him. Sakura already tried to kill him twice. Danzo had appointed him, and from his lack of proper communication and exceptional combat skills, he was a trained ANBU level shinobi of a different sort. I hadn't seen him before anywhere, but there was a certain feel to him that I was wary of.  

He had other intentions, no matter how he tried to hide them. Whether they were harmful or not, I didn't know, but knowing Danzo it was best to remain cautious. 

I was careful to keep an eye on him.

The location we'd arrived to was a disaster, to say the least.

It was close to where Asuma said he felt the Kyuubi chakra. It was hard to believe at first, but now that I was actually here, the damage was evident. 

The whole area for as far as we could see held signs of battle, from toppled trees to gouges in the ground. Several smoking craters still dotted the area.

This was no accidental slip-up. 

Naruto got into a fight with someone.

With who?

He'd been so careful to hide his tracks, it was incredible. Even if I actually tried, I wasn't able to track him.

Whoever he'd fought was dangerous enough that he was forced to risk discovery.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my teams' reactions. Sakura wasn't trying to hide her surprise, her eyes wide and hands wrung in front of her. Sasuke showed no outward emotions, though his eyes flashed for a moment and his breath hitched at the sight of the wreckage.

Sai did nothing.

Shelving my suspicion for later, I snapped my Icha Icha book shut and went on to observe the area. After a minute or so, I summoned Pakkun.

"Yo." Pakkun surveyed our location. "What happened here?"

"Remember what I said about finding Naruto?"

Pakkun made a noise of surprise and glanced around. "He did this?"

"Looks like a fight of sorts. Care to check it out?"

The little pug shrugged and began to sniff the ground. "If Naruto's involved, sure."

We scouted around a bit, looking for something I knew wasn't there. If Naruto was trying even a fraction, there was no way we would find him here. 

Or so I thought.

"I got something!" Pakkun shouted from across the clearing. All heads snapped up to look at him. He waved us over with his paw, and everyone was there in an instant.

Pakkun pointed his nose towards the shadowy forest, leading away from the village.

"I can't tell for sure, but there is a faint scent trail leading that way. It stops several meters in, no doubt because of the speed Naruto was traveling and his skill, but even though it doesn't provide us any location it gives us some semblance of direction."

"Naruto was pretty good at fooling us all this time. What if this is to throw us off?" Sakura asked.

"I doubt it. From the looks of this area, Naruto got into a pretty big fight with someone. Whoever this someone is gave him enough struggle that he risked using the Kyuubi's chakra. The other person's scent is around here, too, but it's not one that I recognize. I'm guessing this is the direction Naruto escaped from, and he wouldn't have much time to lay traps for us if that was the case. Besides," Pakkun shrugged, "this is the most logical direction to escape from."

"Hm." I commended, "Yes. It's away from civilization. Quite logical."

Sasuke looked quite disappointed at Pakkun's revelations. A twinge of understanding poked at my heart.

"So, what do you say?" Pakkun turned to look at me, "Care to investigate?"

Not seeing any other response, I ran a hand through my hair and said, "I don't see why not. Might as well check out a bit before we go home. Shall we?"

Sakura fisted her hands and agreed with a semi-aggressive, "Let's find Naruto. And bring him back."

None of us responded. Casting a sideways glance at Sai, who was being strangely quiet the whole time, I took off into the treetops with the rest of the team on my heels.

The small voice in the back of my mind screamed at me the entire time.

Naruto POV~

"Hold up." I muttered out loud, scanning the desert before me with shaded eyes, "Is Gaara still alive even? I mean, he was Shukaku's Jinchuriki, but Shukaku got kidnapped. Shouldn't that mean he's dead?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"I don't know. We would've caught wind of the news if the Kazekage was dead, right?" I continued to talk out loud, my thoughts too jumbled and my attention too focused on the land ahead of me to not speak aloud.

"There's only one way to find out."

I paused, internally screaming, though out loud I just whisper-shouted, "HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO INFILTRATE THE GODDAMN SAND VILLAGE?"

"I can hear your mental screeching, dumbass. Shut the fuck up. You could wear a disguise or something."

I paused, going back to speaking through my thoughts, 'We've never been very good at masking our chakra. If we don't draw much attention, and if you withdraw all your chakra to yourself, I should be able to walk through the village without much hassle. But if any sensory ninja decide to pay special attention to us...'

"Just be as nondescript as possible. If you don't give them reason to pay attention to you, then they shouldn't."

I groaned, 'Well, shit. Too bad there's no forest for me to hide in and the sentries will be able to see me from literal miles away.'

"Even then it's not like you can just saunter into the village. Those are security levels that no one can pass through without being noticed. It'll be even more suspicious if you sneak in instead of going through the main gate like a normal person."

'There aren't many normal people who just happen to walk into a Hidden Village.'

"Make an alibi."

I sighed, 'Okay, this is my cover: I'll henge as a traveling ninja-merchant who took an interest in the goods of the Hidden Sand. I'll go in, check it out, buy some shit to make it seem realistic, then high-tail it out of there as soon as we get the information we need. Hopefully they'll let me in, cuz they'll be on high alert after the Akatsuki infiltrated them.'

"...why are you telling me this? I know who you are already -"

'Okay, okay, stupid fox -'

"And you're a merchant? Do you even have any money left?"

'...'

"..."

'I'll think of something. For now, let's just get to a nearby small village and get what we need for my amazing alibi.'

"You realize you're gonna have to rob someone - "

'Let's not focus on the details.'