Tobi was awake before everyone at the left ninja base, except for Gaara of course, who was on guard of the base at the moment. Tobi tilted his head to the side slightly, before speaking.

"Hello red headed man that looks a lot like Danno that Tobi thought was dead!" He said happily, and Gaara glanced back at his, nodding his head slightly.

"Hello." Gaara replied, his voice having a slight cold chill to it.

"Why is red headed man trying to find Kruno, if he knows Kruno tried to hurt him when we killed him?" Tobi asked, honestly very curious.

"My name is Gaara. Stop calling me red headed man. And why do you care?"

"Because Tobi cares about Kruno a lot! He doesn't want anything bad to happen to her, so he needs to know why you want to see her after you know she was there when we killed you!"

"Because she was the best and only friend I ever had before Naruto." Gaara said, his eyes glancing over to the boy with the blonde hair. "She was the only person who ever wanted to be around me on their own behalf, and she didn't try to run. She wanted to be my friend, she wanted to make me happy. And I know the Kruno who lives with you, she isn't the Kruno I met when I was younger. I am as determined at Naruto, as Shikamaru, to find her and bring her back to the leaf." Gaara said, and Tobi nodded his head.

"Do you love Kruno-Senpai like Shikamaru loves her? Because that would be weeirrdd!" Tobi said, his child like features taking over.

Gaara glanced over at Shikamaru, who even in his sleep looked depressed without her by his side. Gaara shook his head, and he glanced back at Tobi. "No, Tobi. I do not love Kruno like Shikamaru loved Kruno. Because no one could love her as much as he loves her. Not even if they tried." He said, and Tobi fell quiet after that.

It was a few hours later when everyone woke up, and the first thing everyone did was gather around Tobi, sitting crossed legged and stare at the Orange masked man.

"So, Why did you have to kidnap Tobi for this again?"

"I told you last night, Tobi." Shikamaru said, and he sighed softly. Shika grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from the bag beside him, and began to write a note.

"Oh, what are you writing?!" Tobi asked happily, and Natuto continued to start at Tobi with an unreadable expression. Shikamaru sighed softly as he glanced at the over sized child.

"A note for Kruno, telling her where and when to meet us to get you back." He replied, and Tobi nodded with a huff.

"Do you really think that Kruno will come for Tobi?" Tobi asked.

"We hope so. We hope she still has enough of a heart not to let someone she cares about be taken hostage like she used to." Choji said, talking for the first time in a long time.

"Kruno seemed to be fairly protective of her fellow teammates when I fought her." Sakura said, and Shikamaru and Asuma nodded.

"I can agree with that statement." Asuma said. "When we fought her, she was always trying to make sure that her immortal friend was okay."

"Oh! Hidan-Senpai!" Tobi said. "More maybe Kakuzu-Senpai. He is immortal too!"

"You mean that day, we managed to get stuck with the two immortal members of Akatsuki, and a blood thirsty Kruno?" Ino asked, and Tobi nodded his head quickly.

"Yep!"

"God, what a fight that would have been." Choji said with a laugh.

"What a fight it was.." Asuma mumbled under his breath, getting a round of laughs from the people around him. Shikamaru finally stopped writing as he glanced around at everyone, holding the neatly written letter in his hands.

"You got it all done, Shika?" Kiba asked, and he nodded his head. "Well, read it to us, Baka!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he held up the paper slightly, adjusting his legs under him before he began to speak the words he had written.

"Dear Kruno,

We are well aware of how much little Tobi means to you, and he tells us how much you mean to him. Well, what if I were to tell you that he had taken your little friend hostage, and if you do not show in three days time to the coordinates below, we will kill Tobi. You come alone, bring anyone else, and Tobi will die.

Sincerely,
People who need to talk."

Below the letter was coordinates that they would be traveling to in the next day with Tobi. Now, the leaf had no actual intentions of killing Tobi, but they knew if they did not threaten his life, Kruno wouldn't show.

"Wait, you're going to kill Tobi?!" Tobi shouted, flailing around in the robes slightly. Sakura sighed softly as she walked over to Tobi and placed her hands on his shoulders, calming him down.

"No Tobi, it's just a lie we're telling Kruno so that she will come here to us. It's the only way we can get her, but I promise that nothing bad is going to happen to you, okay?" Sakura said in a sweet voice, and Tobi nodded slightly.

"Promise Tobi!" He shouted, and Sakura nodded.

"I promise, Tobi."

"Is that all you have of the letter?" Asuma asked, and Shikamaru nodded slightly as he looked over at Kakashi. Kakashi nodded before biting his thumb, and slamming his hand against the ground. When the smoke cleared, Pakkun was standing in front of them, causing Naruto to smile.

"Hi, Pakkun!" Naruto said, and the dog nodded to him before looking up at Kakashi.

"What is it, boss?" He asked, and Kakashi extended his hand to Shika, who handed him the letter, neatly rolled up.

"Take this to Kruno Inuzuka. She is with the Akatsuki, and it is vital that she gets this today. Understand?" He asked, and Pakkun nodded. Kakashi attached it to the dogs collar before he took off running in the direction of the Akatsuki base.

Shikamaru sighed, and everyone began to pack up camp, and once it was packed up, they untied Tobi from the tree and began their journey to the place to meet Kruno.

Hopefully.

//

Kruno was sitting at the base, alone. Everyone else except Pein and Konan had been sent out on a mission, but Kruno knew they wouldn't leave Pein's office very often. Kruno sighed softly as she ran her hands up and down her arms slowly, her eyes closed. When she was alone, she really felt alone. She really would start to over think things, and that's exactly what she was doing right now.

She wondered what Shika was doing right now. Was he playing Shogi with Asuma-sensei, cracking jokes every once in a while? Or was he training with their team, complaining about Ino and trying to get Choji to stop eating so much during training? Were they doing okay without her?

Of course they were. She never did anything but hold them back in the long run. She wasn't up to their standards when she was with them. She wasn't as good at them when they knew her. She wasn't enough, but honestly, was she ever?

That's a stupid question. She was enough for a lot of people. She was enough for the people she cared about. At least she knew she was for the Akatsuki, because they opened their arms wide for the girl with the broken soul. They made it to where she was able to find a place that she fit in, and that was something she could never repay with anything but protecting them with her life. She would gladly put her life on the line for any of her teammates.

She would gladly put her life on the line for anyone she cared about. Shikamaru was also on the list, because no matter how hard as tried to tell herself that she told herself that she did not care for the Nara anymore, she knew deep down that she would always care about him. He was her first love, and first loves meant something so much more than most people wanted to give it credit for.

If you were to ask Kruno today exactly what she felt for Shikamaru, she would tell you that she wasn't sure. But who could blame her? She knew she loved him, but she thought she hated him. It was all a mess, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to fix it with just an 'I'm sorry.'

She sighed softly as she pushed herself up off the couch when she heard someone hit the door. It was late at night by now, and no one was suppose to be home for a few days, so she was slightly on edge about opening the door. But regardless she did, pulling it open slowly as she glanced around the outside, slightly confused when she didn't see anyone. She went to turn around to leave, but she felt something hit her foot when she moved.

She glanced down at the perfectly rolled paper, and she bent down, picking it up before hurrying back inside the base, plopping down on the couch. Once she was comfortable, she unrolled the paper and read the words on it slowly.

It felt like her whole world was crumbling around her again. One of her best friends would be killed if she didn't go talk to these people, who would probably kill her regardless. But, she knew that Tobi wasn't one who would be able to fight for himself in this situation, and that the only way to fix it was to go and do what the note said.

Kruno was ashamed of herself for even hesitating to go look for Tobi. She had promised everyone that she would protect her teammates with her life, and the fact that she hesitated to go save Tobi would have been like a huge middle finger to the promise she had made him.

She slid into her room, and began to pack things she would need for this journey. She packed her shuriken on her left hip, and her kunai on her left. She slid on her Akatsuki cloak, and her ring on her finger before gently placing her sword holder on her back, adjusting the sword within the holder. She grabbed the note off of her bed, and started towards the door.

Once she successfully snuck out of the base, knowing full well that she would be punished by Pein when she got home, she began her way to the coordinates on the paper. She was determined at this point, and she only had two days to get there. Without a second thought, she infused chakra with her feet and began to fly through the forest to find where she was suppose to meet these ninja, and save Tobi.

She was fully prepared to die on the self sent mission, and she felt slightly bad for the fact that she would not be able say a proper goodbye to her friends. She wondered what Kisame would do when he found out that she had left without premission. Would he come looking for her, and find her dead somewhere? God, that would probably kill him to see her like that, but right now, Kruno didn't care.

All she cared about that Tobi was in danger,

and she WAS the only one who could save him.

///

IM GETTING SO NERVOUS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF CHAPTERS.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: There will be NO. updates on July 3rd. I am going to kings island for the entire day, but I will try to update twice on the fourth!

question of the day:
What do you think she will do when she figures out the true intentions of this plan?

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