The clay moved in my hands as I attempted to make one of Deidara's birds. No such luck though. It's worse than usual since I haven't been able to focus.

My gaze kept flickering to the clock on the wall, like I've done every five minutes. The uneasy feeling from an hour ago didn't go away, only increased. Even as I made it to the base and to Deidara's workshop, the uneasiness never settled. The urge to head over to Shikamaru is overbearing and I keep on scolding myself for it.

I'm sure he's fine. And even if he wasn't he's more than capable of taking care of himself. I'm busy. Too busy to deal with a 'feeling'.

I've got to learn something before Deidara get's back from his search. But there's that too. The strange thing is, I thought Kakuzu was after the Two Tails Jinchuriki.

His partner is loud as hell, so when I met Kakuzu, I could hear his partner cursing from beyond the walls. Why'd they switch targets?

My gaze wandered over to the clock and I groaned, dropping the clay and letting my head fall onto the table.

God damn it. I don't even know where he is or who he's with. Using that technique I'd surprise him and anyone else with him. Like Choji or even Ino.

They're not supposed to see me ever again. And they're especially not supposed to know that I've been in contact with Nara.

He can handle whatever situation he may or may not even be in.

I know this. But it bothers me. Maybe because he's the only one who knows most of the situation. Over these past three years he's been the only connection to home.

And while I haven't talked to him about the experiments or even the Frenzy, I do talk to him. About normal things. With Sasuke, Haru, and Hawaki, it's always about the plan. What's next. Locations. How to incorporate attacks. It's always revolving around the mission.

Because I can't talk normally with them.

I'll tease them, yell at their idiocy. But they're not from home. And Sasuke is as in the dark as the rest of my friends back at the Village.

Haru and Hawaki are the only ones other then Nara who know. But it's not the same. They treat me as a leader. They'll try to make me laugh, make the situation light, bearable. I appreciate what they do.

But I'm still their leader. I need to project that.

Nara treats me normally. He's my friend, maybe even my best friend. But I'm not his leader. I'm his friend who's on a mission. So he'll talk to me normally, tell me how everyones doing, and listen to me bitch about how annoying Kabuto is.

He's my connection to my brother and my home. He does a lot for me. And while I'd sooner tell Haru and Hawaki the extent of the damage to my psyche, I trust him.

But right now, I'm in the middle of something important. The sooner I learn this, the sooner I can go back to the house. And the sooner Kaname teaches me, the sooner I can continue my search for Itachi. Then the sooner I find him, the sooner I can save him. And then maybe I'll be able to help him and Sasuke rekindle their bond.

Then Sasuke will be saved from his own hatred.

There's so much to do. So much and so little time. I need to save the Uchiha's. Sasuke, Itachi, they're two of the most important people to me, second only to Naruto. I don't have time to waste looking for Nara just because I have a bad feeling.

I know this.

But my eyes flicked over to the clock regardless. Pursing my lips tightly, I glared at the clock before growling out some profanities and shoving some of the clay in the workshop into my kunai pouch.

God fucking damn it.

I weaved some signs and transformed into Shikamaru. I'll Flash Step there, so anyone with him will think I'm a clone.

Two minutes. I'll check on him for two minutes. But the moment I confirm my bad feeling is way off track I'm leaving. I do not have the time.

Besides, how much trouble can the kid even get into?

"Two minutes. How bad can it be?" I murmured to myself before flash stepped away.

~

"Whoa!" I dodged a scythe, a familiar one I've only seen from a distance. The man in front of me is also familiar. Although I haven't really met him properly.

I'd recognize Hidan easily, if not for his strange weapon then the stench of death that's always surrounding him. And where's one, there's always the other.

My gaze went to Kakuzu who stood not that far away. This isn't good. "Hey." Shikamaru stood beside me, with narrowed eyes on the enemy.

It would appear he was speaking to them, but I knew it was to me.

I took in the situation, spotting Asuma and the two gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu.

Great. Asuma doesn't even stand a chance against them. Let alone the rest of them.

"Of the Akatsuki to pick a fight with, it had to be them." I hissed lowly under my breath. It was low enough the Akatsuki didn't hear me, but Asuma sure did. His eyes darted to me briefly before back at Hidan.

Unfortunately the only thing I know about them is that they're both immortal. Well, at least Hidan is. Kakuzu is just hard to freaking kill.

This much they're aware of because of the information I relayed to them. Unfortunately I didn't spend any time with them, and the most I got out of Kakuzu is he's got a surprisingly short temper.

That and Deidara always complains about him being a money grubber.

But that's about all I could give them. At least they're not too surprised. Based on the wounds on Hidan they tried to kill him earlier but failed because of obvious reasons.

Yet they still tried to kill him. The best way to deal with him is to cut him up into pieces and scatter them.

Shikmaru kneeled and shot out his shadow as Asuma readied his weapon. The two lunged at one another and their blades clashed, making Shikamaru spring into action to catch Hidan in his Shadow Stitching Jutsu.

Unfortunately Hidan is rather quick on his feet and managed to dodge the shadows at every turn. "That's a nifty little weapon you've got there." Hidan mused, his dark red eyes glinting as he jumped away from the shadow.

He threw both a broken sword then his own scythe, which is attached to a long metal rope.

Asuma used his kunai to deflect the broken sword, and barely managed to avoid his scythe.

However . . . "Asuma!" I jumped forward, kunai in hand, and went past Asuma. Hidan had yanked the metal rope back to try and use his scythe to decapitate Asuma from the back. My arm thrust forward as the blade of my kunai hit the scythe full on.

I used my other hand to grab the handle and yanked harshly, using my brute strength to fling Hidan towards us. Asuma used this opportunity to try and slash down the madman, but Hidan is rather nimble and he was able to twist his body up and over Asuma.

Once he was over me he swung the heel of his foot towards me and I released his weapon to block it with my arm.

Having regained his weapon, he jumped away, narrowly missing Shikamaru's shadow. My tongue clicked as I all but sneered at the silver headed immortal.

Asuma stood next to me, eyeing me from his peripheral vision. "You . . ." He's figured out I'm not Shikamaru's clone. I'm someone else completely, just taking on his form and using his voice to disguise myself as it is.

"Pretend. It'll protect you all in the long run." I murmured, readying my kunai. And myself.

If I blow my cover now, it's over. There's no way I'll get in touch with Itachi. And I won't be able to find out when they'll go after Naruto.

Damn it Nara. You had to get the Immortal duo. You couldn't have gone against Kisame or even freaking Tobi. I have no problem trying to kill that dumbass.

Hidan threw his scythe and used the metal rope to pull himself away from Shikamaru's shadow. His weapon is getting in the way. If he could just trap him with the shadows, then we can take off his damn head.

Asuma and I glanced at each other before nodding, going around in different directions and trying to strike Hidan.

As expected of an S-Class criminal, he's parring our every strike. Asuma isn't a joke, and I'm on the level of a Jonin. So the fact that he's fending us off is rather impressive.

But with Shikamaru's shadows, he's getting rather irritated since he can't move freely. He's the hothead of the group. If he gets too riled up, he'll make a mistake!

Hidan's eyes went to Shikamaru, and he smirked, throwing his weapon with great force.

No, he can't defend himself right now. Those guards don't seem like they'll be able to deflect the attack and come out unharmed. Just as I was about to Flash Step there, Asuma was there and he took a strange stance.

A golden light appeared behind him in the form of a strange. large, person with multiple arms. One deflected the scythe like it was a toy and the other struck Hidan in his abdomen, making him stop for a moment and cough blood.

"What was that?" I asked. I've never seen such a strange jutsu before, and I lived with Orochimaru.

"Chiriku's Jutsu. Of course Chiriku's better at it then I am but . . ." Hidan growled in annoyance, making Kakuzu look over at his partner. "Hidan. Don't underestimate them."

This seemed to annoy the silver haired member who shot his partner a nasty glare. "You stay in it. Just keep your mouth shut and watch."

Hmm. I glanced at the two briefly. This is the first time I've seen them in prolonged conversation.

I jumped high into the air, pulling out a shuriken with one hand and forming a hand sign with the other. "Shadow Shuriken!" I shouted, throwing the single star and having multiple solid duplicates rain down upon him.

The jutsu is rather simple, if you can do Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, you can do this. But not enough people utilize it.

Normally when I use this attack, there's paper bombs attached so when they all land, it goes off in a huge explosion. But no one else does it, if I were to do so, my cover will definately be blown.

Shikamaru can just say he learned it from me if Asuma asks later.

Hidan couldn't dodge all of them, but I deliberately sent less in one area. As expected, he went there, where Shikamaru's shadow was waiting. He noticed a little late, but ran from the shadows, allowing the remaining shuriken to hit him.

Shikamaru was still going after him. Asuma rushed to continue the close combat fight, but the way Hidan uses his weapon he can fly anywhere he so chooses. If I could just use my chains, or even my jutsus, I could push him back.

But I can't risk the mission.

"Heh. It's always the way with you nonbelievers. You're so desperate to escape your fate you choose the obvious line of attack! You're so transparent."

I nearly snorted. Shikamaru isn't someone who you can predict his attacks. You'll learn quickly that your single brain cell will never amount to his genius.

Brain vs Brawn.

While Shikamaru is probably the worst hand to hand combat fighter I've ever met, his brain more than makes up for it.

"You play around too much when you fight, you know that." Kakuzu spoke from the sidelines. My eyes darted to Shikamaru who gave me a hard stare and motioned towards Asuma. Although I can't understand Asuma's eyes, I worked with the lazy bum to get the gist.

I created another clone in Shikamaru's form and we went on opposite sides of where Hidan's about to land. Right in front of Shikamaru and Asuma. As soon as he did, the guards who were protecting Shikamaru, Asuma, and the clone and me, threw shuriken.

"You've got no where to run this time." Shikamaru stated, still using his shadow jutsu.

"Then I won't run." He let the shuriken hit him and continued towards Shikamaru and the guards.

Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "Immortal jerk." He grunted out.

Hidan readied his weapon. "I guess I'll take care of the weak ones first." A smirk slipped onto my face. You're so predictable. I moved one hand into a sign.

Although I only threw two shuriken, they were special. They began to light up and as Hidan realized what they were, it was too late. They exploded, doing damage to his back and making his left arm dangle as half of it was coming off.

"God fucking damn it! You bastard! I'll kill you! Son of a bitch, fuck!" He shouted, having to jump up to dodge Shikamaru's shadow all the while glaring at me murderously. Man he's got a foul mouth.

And I thought I cursed too much.

He got angry real quick when something didn't go his way.

"Well aren't you a basket full of sunshine." I muttered it to myself, I was so sure I said it low enough no one would hear. But Asuma turned to me, his eyes widening slightly. Ah shit.

He knows.

Of course he knows! It's my own damn fault for saying that stupid phrase every chance I get. What is with that phrase anyway? It's so stupid but I said it so much when I was younger. Guess old habits die hard.

Man, Granny is going to be pissed.

In the midst of my chastising myself, I didn't realize Hidan had thrown his scythe at me. Shit!

Before I could dodge, Asuma was beside me, and he blocked the blade, but it was so sudden that it stabbed his cheek, just enough to draw blood. But it didn't do enough to have damage. "It's not like you to lose focus." Asuma smirked, a bit of sweat beading down his forehead.

I pursed my lips tightly. "Sorry."

"Captain Asuma!" One of the guards shouted. Shikamaru went after with his shadow and Asuma ran Hidan's way. But something is strange.

Hidan is smirking.

As his blade returned his tongue licked his blade. What is with his sudden boost of confidence? Something doesn't feel right.

Asuma weaved some hand signs before spewing out a gray dust like substance that covered Hidana and a large field. "Burning Ash!" He shouted as he did that.

Burning? But it's not on fire. And Hidan, he's not moving. He's staying in the strange substance, why? As the question crossed my mind, Asuma shut his mouth and a distinct sound like a lighter triggered the ash to explode, Hidan inside of it.

I brought my arm up to cover myself as the heat of the explosion whipped around me, but it didn't bring any comfort.

No, something's wrong. What is Hidan planning? 

I got a bad feeling.