Things were just getting boring when it happened.

A beam of blinding light pierced the sky, turning the darkness of my closed eyes to pure white. I squinted against the glare, amazed by the force of the... whatever it was.

"What is that?!" I exclaim, unable to tear my eyes away from the oddly beautiful sight.

"This feeling..." Kakashi's clone said slowly, "This chakra belongs to the Akatsuki." I look up at him sharply. "Come on," He continues, "Let's go."

The clone escorted me all the way to the blast site before disappearing. I jumped down just as Naruto, Hinata, and Yamato arrived.

Sakura turned as she heard us running up. "Naruto!" she gasped, "Keira."

"It looks like everybody noticed and gathered here as well," Yamato commented.

"What happened here?" Naruto shouted.

"There are signs that indicate that Sasuke was here not too long ago," Sakura explained.

"It's faint, but I can still sense Sasuke's smell," Kiba added, "There also seems to be the scent of some other guys."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked.

I glanced around. "Well, based on the area that looks like a battlefield," I mumbled.

"I'd say there was a battle here," Shino agreed.

"As expected," a dog announced, "One of the scents here belongs to whoever carried it into town earlier. In any case, it looks as though Sasuke has somebody travelling along with him. An accomplice."

"Then, back in the town..." Sakura said.

"It looks like Sasuke formed his own group," Kakashi observed, "The other scent that's here belongs to a member of the Akatsuki— a man by the name of Deidara."

"Didn't he blow himself up when you sent him into another dimension using your space-time ninjutsu?" Sakura asked.

"I guess he faked his own death to escape us," Kakashi sighed.

"And when did this occur?" I question, baffled by the events they were describing. Sakura and Naruto both looked to the ground while Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. "Oh," I mutter, understanding, "I... I guess I missed a lot while I was gone, huh?" I gave a shaky smile. The silence grows thick around us. "Well, what does that information tell us?"

My question breaks the tension. "The Akatsuki travel in two man cells, so there are three cells left," Kakashi continued, "Sasuke travels in a four man cell."

"Why four?" I ask.

"Well, maybe they were the only people available, or maybe they were the only ones who made the cut, or maybe... maybe it was just what he was used to," Kakashi theorized. Naruto, Sakura, me, Sasuke... we used to be our own four man cell.

"It doesn't matter how many there are," Naruto declares, "Right now, we need to trace Sasuke's scent!"

"We can't," Pakkun informs him.

"Huh? Why not?!" Naruto asks incredulously.

"The scent ends here," Kakashi says. Kiba makes a sign and concentrates, searching for the scent.

"What does that mean!?"

"In cases like this, there are two options," Yamato speaks up, "Either he was blown to pieces, or—"

"Or he used a space-time ninjutsu to escape," I realize.

Kiba lowers his hands. "Looks like that's the case," he announced, "Right now, my nose has a greater sense of smell than a dog. I've found Sasuke!"

A nose better than that of a ninja dog... Kakashi mused.

You really have grown, haven't you, Kiba? I think.

"Kiba, lead the way," Naruto orders.

We began to run.

After several minutes, Kiba called out, "There's no mistaking it! It's this way! Judging by the scent, he's not currently on the move. They must be resting."

"This is our chance," Kakashi muttered.

"We can't mess this up," I murmur.

Sasuke... there's finally a clear path towards you.

We enter a forest and take to the trees, running as quickly as we could. It's then that I sense the mind racing with alarm. "Someone's sensed us," I announce, concentrating on the mind that's just barely inside my range of perception.

"Can you tell what they've found out about us?" Kakashi asks quickly.

I concentrate, ignoring the splitting pain in my head. "N-Numbers," I gasp, "Chakra— they know we have dogs! And—" The mind slips away as suddenly as it appeared. "It's gone," I sigh, "But it definitely belonged to someone in Sasuke's group."

"That's fine, Keira. Good work," Kakashi says."Sasuke will soon be aware of us," He sighs, "Our advantage is slipping away."

I tighten my fists. Sasuke.

Suddenly Kiba makes a noise of surprise. "What is it, Kiba?" Naruto asks.

"This is bad! Sasuke's on the move!" Kiba exclaimed.

"We have to hurry. He's probably going after Itachi!" Naruto shouts.

"Hold on; something's not right," Kiba said, "Sasuke's scent is splitting up. It's going off in a lot of directions!"

"They noticed we're following them," I announced glumly.

"So they've created a diversion," Kakashi concludes.

"How'd they notice us?" Sakura asked.

"I noticed them noticing us," I tell her, "The mind belonged to a powerful chakra sensing shinobi. No matter how much we suppressed our chakra the ninja probably would have sensed us."

"The distances are too great, so we cant use the radios!" Kiba barks. "I'm the only one who can track him, but I can only go after one scent!"

"And I can't sense him from this distance but I don't know which way to go!" I say.

"I'll look everywhere, even if I have to go through every single blade of grass!" Naruto declares.

"Which will take to long— Oh, you're not thinking—" I grin.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Naruto affirms.

"You're fanatastic, Naruto," I exclaim. "Don't stretch yourself too thin now, yeah?"

"No problem," Naruto reassures, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Several Narutos appear. "Impressive," I acknowledge before turning to Kakashi. "Kakashi, I'm going to take to the air, see if I can spot them. If they're in the trees I won't have a chance, but otherwise... well, I'll be more useful up there than down here."

"Alright," Kakashi agrees.

I shed my jacket, then push hard off the next branch I land on, adding chakra to my legs to boost my height before snapping my wings open through the slits in my shirt. And then I'm up, breaking through the trees and soaring into the sky, feeling the sun beat into my back, my wings, and the feeling is so good I nearly forget the purpose of being up here in the first place.

And then I'm searching for Sasuke.

___________________________________________________________

I know, I know, short chapter, long wait in between updates.

Sorry.

It's just that this awkward time period doesn't really effect Keira or her story much so I'm just a little bored with it. Sorry ^^

Comments help me update faster! I know it takes time, but a comment that's more than just "Update" really helps for inspiration and motivations! Soo...

Comment! Vote!

Bye!

gaara119