~~~ One Week after the Chunin Exams ~~~

The young pink-haired kunoichi hummed to herself softly as she left the flower shop that she frequently visited. It was run by the Yamanaka clan and when Ino wasn't off training or doing missions with her team she would run the store for her parents, who were also very busy shinobi. Sakura had gotten in the habit of stopping by the store to get some flowers before going to the hospital to see Lee, sometimes also running into his teammates at the shop.

The others from their class would sometimes come and visit too, however, Sakura had made it a part of her routine to go every day, rain or shine. Not only would she talk to Lee for hours, but he didn't mind helping her study or train, offering all of the support he could. In a way, the pair worked together to keeps both of their spirits up.

"Oh, Sakura," Tenten chirped, catching a glimpse of the girl as she left the hospital. "You're here again today."

"Yeah," Sakura smiled, glancing at the flowers she just bought. "I guess I've been trying to keep Lee company."

"Well that's good," Tenten sighed. "The nurses like it when you visit instead of Gai-sensei; there's usually a whole lot of yelling and crying." 

Sakura chuckled. "Those two are very enthusiastic." 

"Anyway, I'm off to train," Tenten remarked, patting Sakura's shoulder as she passed. "See you later."

Sakura quickly waved goodbye before heading inside the hospital, nodding her head in greeting as she passed nurses and doctors she recognized. When she reached Lee's room, she knocked softly, entering the room when she heard Lee yell to come in.

"Sakura!" Lee exclaimed, sitting up in bed.

"Hi, Lee," Sakura chuckled, walking over to his bedside and placing down a bouquet of sunflowers. "I brought some flowers."

"I'm running out of vases," Lee complained. "I have so many flowers that I've told the nurses to take some home."

"You'll have plenty of room once you can go home," Sakura assured him. "I'll even help you pick out more vases."

Lee's smile lessened a bit. "Hey Sakura, do you think you could bring a wheelchair for me?"

"Sure," Sakura agreed immediately. "I'll ask the nurse for one."

Lee nodded as Sakura scurried out of the room, waiting patiently for her to return with a wheelchair. A minute later she returned, pushing a wheelchair over to his bed and carefully helping him sit down.

"Where do you want to go?" Sakura asked.

"How about the garden?" Lee suggested. "They're always adding new flowers."

Sakura smiled, beginning to push Lee's wheelchair out into the hallway. "That sounds nice."

The short trip to the garden was silent, making anxiety begin to fester in Sakura as she wondered why Lee was so off today. Once they made it to the garden, Sakura stopped beside a bench, engaging the wheelchair's brake before sitting on the bench beside him.

"A doctor came to talk to me today."

Sakura turned to Lee, her eyes shining with hope. "What did they say?"

"No one in the village can even begin to reverse the damage," Lee remarked. "If I'm lucky I could probably walk again with crutches or a cane, but the nerves in my arm are so damaged that I can't even grab things properly."

"Lee..." Sakura sniffled, her eyes watering as she struggled to listen.

"There is one last hope," Lee said. "There is a medic-nin named Tsunade Senju, she's the best there is. The Third Hokage even said that she could probably heal me, but no one knows where she is."

"So we just have to find her?" Sakura asked. "Then there's still hope!"

Lee clenched his hands, his gaze focused on the ground. "If the damage isn't fixed within the next six months to a year, the damage will become permanent and there's no chance I'll ever be a shinobi." 

Sakura went silent for a moment before standing up.

"Sakura?" Lee asked, watching in confusion as she kneeled on the ground before him.

"Lee," Sakura mumbled softly. "I promise I'll help you in whatever way I can, and I'll work even harder at becoming a medic-nin."

Lee smiled. "Thank you, Sakura."

~~~ Meanwhile in Amegakure ~~~

"Why are we having a meeting?" Zabuza asked, leaning partially on his giant sword.

"I thought we had time off?" Deidara whined.

"What are you complaining about?" Kakazu scoffed. "We haven't done much of anything lately."

"That's about to change," Pein began. "Firstly, in order to even out our members in Itachi and Kaneki's absence, we have a new member."

"That's me! Tobi!" 

Everyone tensed, alarmed by the fact that this seemingly idiotic man had managed to enter the room completely undetected. 

"Yes, this is Tobi," Pein introduced the man. "Kisame and Zabuza will be a team for the time being and Tobi will be part of Zetsu's squad."

Kisame and Zabuza both groaned.

"Secondly," Pein continued. "We're resuming the hunt for the tailed beasts."

"We are?" Sasori asked, tilting his wooden head.

"Yes, starting with the Three-Tails," Pein nodded. "We'll be sending Tobi and Zetsu."

Kisame glanced at the masked man, narrowing his eyes. He knew he had met this man before somewhere, but he couldn't place his finger on it. In any case, he didn't want to go back to Kirigakure, so he was grateful a different team was going.

"Glad you didn't send me," Zabuza sighed. "I never want to go back to that place, Haku too."

"Tobi, Zetsu," Pein said. "You leave in two days."

"Got it." The two echoed.

"That's all for now," Pein announced turning to leave. "They'll be missions for the rest of you later, I'll be in my office."

Pein vanished down the dark hallway, leaving the rest of the Akatsuki to mull over these sudden developments. 

"Kana isn't going to like this," Deidara grimaced. "Sooner or later we'll have to extract Naruto's tailed beast, which means he'll die."

"We don't know that for sure," Sasori interjected. "Naruto's body is different from an average human or Jinchuuriki, he has extreme strength and regeneration, so it's possible he wouldn't die."

"There's no way to know for sure," Kakazu shrugged. "Let's just focus on  the other Jinchuuriki for now."

A hawk cried outside, the noise drowned out by the constant rainfall, a container strapped to his back containing a very important message. The messenger flew gracefully towards its destination; the Land of Fire.

~~~ One Day Later In a Small Village of the Land of Fire ~~~

Kana's ears perked up when she heard the cry of a hawk from above. Rather than the irregular bird calls she had heard before, this Hawk was trained. It cried three times before pausing and repeating. Itachi held up an arm, allowing the bird to perch there and present its message. The container on its back was inscribed with Amekagure's symbol, and inside was a letter addressed to the four of them.

"It's from Pein-sama," Itachi told the group. "It's addressed to all of us so I'll read it aloud."

I'm not sure there's a proper way to tell you all this so I'll just say it.  I am not the Akatsuki's true leader, just a figurehead. For a long time, I was content with that, he has the power to make my dreams a reality and I just had to follow his instructions. But Kana has changed my mind about a lot of things, including what peace is. I no longer wish for destruction, I experienced it enough as a child when my friends and family were all killed because Ame got caught in the crosshairs of war. I had forgotten why we created the Akatsuki in the first place, blinded by grief and anger. But he does not care about what I think and he's furious that I've altered his plans. He's joined the Akatsuki under the name 'Tobi,' but do not be fooled by his idiotic act, he is extremely dangerous and has claimed to be Madara Uchiha. He's making the Akatsuki resume the hunt for the tailed beasts, and I'm sure you know what that means. Continue your search for Tsunade and heal Itachi. With Itachi at 100% strength, we may stand a chance against him and be able to protect Naruto. I also would suggest finding my old teacher, Jiraiya of the Legendary Sanin. He was teammates with Tsunade and with his help you should be able to find her quickly. I have given you a piece of his clothing, use Gray and Yuki to find him. When you find Jiraiya and Tsunade, bring them to Konoha, from there I'll let you decide what to do. Hide, run, fight, warn the other Jinchuuriki, do whatever you like. As far as I'm concerned Pein is dead, I am no longer your leader, do as your heart tells you and when all of this is over, come back to Ame as our Kage, Kana.

Stay away from the Uchiha in the orange mask.

- Nagito 

Itachi finished reading the letter, his eyes wide in disbelief. "An Uchiha?"

"How's that possible?" Kaneki asked. "And there's no way he's actually Madara Uchiha, even if he were alive he'd be a feeble old man."

"Maybe it's not an Uchiha then," Naruto suggested. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei has a Sharingan and he's not an Uchiha." 

"Well, whatever the case, let's focus on finding Jiraiya for now," Kana criticized. "He'll hopefully lead us to Tsunade."

"What about the other Jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked, raising his voice. "Gaara is in trouble!"

"Jiraiya could probably help us warn the other Kages and villages," Itachi assured the blonde. "He has a spy network, Sasori told me about in once since he also has a spy network. Jiraiya has connections and knowledge about various groups and villages, including the Akatsuki."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hold your horses," Kaneki sighed. "First we need Kana's summons to track them. Normally Kana or I could do it, but he's too far away and I'm not good with recognizing unfamiliar scents."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly as Kana giggled, her hands flashing through the signs for the summoning Jutsu. With the usual puff of white smoke, her two loyal summons appeared, Grey seeming energetic and Yuki appearing happy to see her.

"Long time no see!" Grey huffed. "How'd the Chunin Exams go?"

"Sorry Grey, but the pleasantries will have to wait," Kana interjected, holding up the piece of fabric. "I need you two to find someone."

Yuki lowered herself to the ground. "Alright, I'll take two of you."

Itachi and Naruto gently got on the snow-white wolf.

"Yuki, you follow me," Grey said, sniffing at the cloth. "I'll lead the way."

Kana and Kaneki hoisted themselves up onto Grey with ease.

"Hold on tight." Grey insisted.

And then they took off, their pace at a jog so Grey could focus on tracking.

A/N

I noticed that I haven't updated this in about a week, so here's a new chapter for you guys. Also, be sure to join the Discord server, as I'll be having a live Q&A on there this weekend! Hope you liked the chapter!