A few days later, Akai stood beside Naruto, the rest of her team not in the area because they were assigned to a different team on a different mission. It was explained to Akai by the Hokage that Naruto and Kakashi had personally asked for her to join them for this mission because of her stealth and her use of swords.

Akai had a tan cloak draped over her shoulders like everyone else, and she stared up at Kakashi who was looking over at the teams that would be going on this mission, Team 7 and Team 8, plus Akai.

"Okay listen here. From now on, our main objective is to find Itachi and take him into custody."

"Right." Everyone said, nodding their heads in sync.

"The Akatsuki is rounding up the tailed beasts, and we believe they already have the Three-Tails. According to the information obtained by Jiraiya, it is already possible that they have entered the land of fire and are looking for Naruto."

Akai glanced over at Naruto and watched as the boy tensed up slightly and grunted under his breath. Akai placed her hand on his shoulder lightly and patted it before returning her attention to Kakashi.

"Remember that Itachi is originally from the Hidden Leaf village. Three years ago, he came back looking for Naruto."

"Then it would make sense that he would be heading back to the Leaf this time as well," Sai said, and Akai nodded in agreement to the boy's statement.

"Then Sasuke should be close by too; he's following Itachi," Sakura said, and Akai looked down at the ground slightly, kicking her foot back and forth.

'With your cousin!' Akane said, giggling inside of Akai's head.

'Not now, Akane. I need to focus.'

'Whatever, tashikani!'

'That's my line.'

"I'll find him," Naruto said, and Akai glanced up at him. "I'll definitely find the way to Sasuke.

"Here's the search protocol, we will use this as our center point and use this to search the five-kilometer radius. If we find nothing, we'll move the center point and search the next five-kilometer radius. We'll keep repeating this until it works."

"Five kilometers? That's too far for our wireless radios to work." Sakura said, and Kakashi nodded his head. "Being split up like that could be very dangerous. There should be a minimum of two man squads so that if an enemy is a-..."

"Sakura," Yamato reminded, "Try not to be so worried."

"Look," Kakashi said, flipping open his cloak and using his Summoning Jutsu to summon his ninja hounds. In a cloud of smoke, a group of dogs appeared in front of them.

"Our voices can travel much further than any radio, and our noses and sniff out any danger. So, we'll protect you." Pakkun said, and Naruto smiled at the dog.

"Pakkun!"

"Okay, let's go over the team roster. For this mission, I'm assigning two ninjas hounds per ninja team."

"Two ninja hounds... but that."

"So please, play nice."

All the ninja hounds began to walk over to the different ninja, separating themselves into groups of two.

"What about me, huh?"

"You're a tailed beast, so thus a target. So to protect you from a potential Akatsuki attack, you'll be escorted by Yamato and a sensory type, Hinata."

"And don't forget Big Bark Bull over there!" Pakkun added as he laid on Kakashi's shoulder.

"What about Akai?" Sakura asked, "There aren't enough ninja hounds for her to have two."

"I can go on my own," Akai said.

"Everyone must be either accompanied by a ninja hounds or another person," Kakashi reminded, "So you will have to team up with-..."

"I am accompanied by another person. Akane and I are two different people," Akai cut off, not wanting to be supervised by anyone. She tapped the side of her head, "We are two separated consciousness that shares a body. Her senses are sharper than mine, so she will be able to warn me if anything happens. And I can keep her under control."

"This is true," Kakashi unwillingly admitted, before nodding his head. "Fine. I'll allow it."

"The main point here to locate Itachi and Sasuke. Do not engage them. That means you Naruto," Kakashi continued, staring at his student. "Do not run off."

"You got it; I won't," Naruto confirmed with a firm nod.

"Alright then. Let's go," Kakashi announced. "Scatter."

With that, everyone leaped in their separate ways.

| * | * | * | * | * |

Akai walked down a path, passing trees and other objects that were in the forest, one hand in her pocket and her other hand placed on the hilt of her dagger. A habit she obviously always did, a sense of protection came over it because she could pull her dagger out so quickly.

'Akaaaaiii...' Akane whined.

'What, Akane?'

'Can we kill someone? I'm bored.'

'No! I am not in the mood Akane. Shut up,' Akai said, shaking her slightly with a sigh. She continued to walk, her hand falling out of her pocket and swinging beside of her. Maybe she should have stayed with someone else, since it was rather boring to walk around the forest by herself.

The girl walked through the trees and glanced around as she went, the forest giving her nothing but unease. Maybe it was because of how large it was, and the fact that she could run into someone at any moment that she could have gotten attacked.

She walked for a little bit longer, having passed the five-kilometer radius she was supposed to stay in, before she noticed a man in a black and red cloak walking in front of her. He had short black hair, and she could tell that he had a mask over the front of his face due to the band on the back of his head. Akai recognized the cloak as the ones she had been described as the ones the Akatsuki wore.

The figure stopped, and so did Akai. She took a step behind a tree, but continued to glance around at the figure ahead of her.

"Show yourself. Who are you?" a voice demanded, a voice Akai knew.

The figure in front her walked ahead, into the field slowly. "So, you're Sasuke." Said the cloaked figure. "You really do look just like Itachi."

Akai at this point had moved closer to the front of the forest, standing behind a tree but so she could see both the Akatsuki member and Sasuke in the field. Sasuke's eyes hardened as he looked at the Akatsuki member, who quickly ran back into the trees behind him.

"Ah! Scary!" was what the orange masked man said before two giant bird, made of clay flew above Sasuke. Akai glanced up to see one of the birds had another member of the Akatsuki on them.

"Sasuke, look up!" Akai yelled, and the Uchiha glanced up as the birds began to fly down towards him quickly, crashing into the ground around him. When they hit, a loud explosion rattled the ground and knocked Akai's balance off slightly.

Akai watched as the blonde haired Akatsuki member landed on the ground near the one with the mask.

"We did it! We just took down Sasuke!"

"Good job, Deidara-senpai," said the orange masked man, and Akai shook her head slightly. Sasuke wouldn't be that easy to take down, and she knew it.

When the smoke cleared, a giant snake stood where the explosion had happened, and in the middle of the snake was none of than Sasuke Uchiha.

"Yeah, real nice."

"Quiet Tobi!" Deidara said, glaring back at his childish teammate. In another poof of smoke, the snake disappeared, and all that was left was Sasuke standing in a crater on the ground.

"I guess he's stronger than we thought, huh, Deidara-Senpai?"

"Can you believe that Orochimaru was taken out by a brat like that? Just look at the way he's glaring at us!"

"Akai." Sasuke stated, and both members of the Akatsuki's faces became slightly confused. The blue haired girl came out from behind the tree and nodded at him.

"Sasuke." She replied, walking towards him. It was at this moment that the two Akatsuki members noticed Akai.

"How long has she been here?!"

"I don't know, senpai!"

"I've been here the whole time," Akai answered calmly, while Akane started chuckling inside her head.

Sasuke's attention went back to his opponents. "Tell me where Itachi Uchiha is. Tell me, and I'll let you go."

"Sharingan huh? Itachi's kid brother, alright. You are only able to kill Orochimaru with that Uchiha blood. You were lucky to be born into that family, and nothing more."

Akai watched as Sasuke rushed towards the Akatsuki members, his katana grasped firmly in his hand as he ran past Tobi, the sword 'cutting' straight through him. Tobi fell to his knees, and then to the ground.

"One down. Okay, chatterbox. You're next. Tell me where Itachi is."

Tobi stood up, and Deidara shook his head slightly.

"What are you doing, Tobi? Don't let your guard down just because he's a kid!"

"He's too fast!" Tobi said, whining as he threw his arms around in the air slightly. Akai chuckled at his childish behavior, but watched as the blonde Akatsuki member threw tiny white clay figures out.

"Tobi, watch out," Deidara warned, and the boy ran away from the bombs, screaming. Tobi tripped half way through as the bombs landed on the ground.

"Wait! Wait! WAIT PARTNER! Don't blow him up yet!"

Deidara glanced over at Tobi and narrowed his eyes. In that short moment, Sasuke had leaped from the ground and was overtop of Deidara with the Katana raised.

"Deidara! Above you!" Tobi screamed, and Deidara quickly looked up, just in time to see Sasuke. The mouths on his hands formed one clay C1 explosion, throwing it at Sasuke.

"Un!" Deidara said, and the bomb exploded. A cloud of smoke formed where the two men had been standing, and Akai jumped slightly at the sudden explosion.

"Deidara-senpai!" Tobi screamed. "I'm going to miss him," he sniffed, sounding like he was crying as Deidara slid along the ground beside of Tobi.

"Would you shut up?" Deidara growled, glaring back at his teammate. The smoke cleared and standing on the branch near the explosion was Sasuke, still staring at Deidara.

"Akai," Sasuke called, standing on the tree branch, "I have a question."

Akai nodded as she leaped off the ground, landing near Sasuke. "Hm?"

"Can Akane use your body? No offense, but she's the better fighter."

"None taken. Let me ask if she's up to it."

"Who's this girl?" Deidara asked, and Akai's grey eyes glinted red as a smirk was formed on her lips.

"She said yes. See you later, Sasuke." Akai closed her eyes and pulled out her dagger, whispering a soft 'Hiramekarei Kaihō' as she took a deep breath.

Deidara's eyes widened as the dagger's blade was coated in dark blue chakra, before the weapon transformed into a giant sword. "What the f*ck is happening?! I asked who this girl is!"

Akai's body relaxed. Her head was still looking down at the ground, but her shoulders shook from the chuckle escaping her lips. Her head slowly lifted up, and her eyes opened. A confused look covered Deidara's face as he met the bright red eyes of Akane and her shark-like smile. Her hair a darker blue, a blue that resembled Kisame's color, and a smile that did the same.

"I'm Akane! Nice to meet ya!" Akane greeted, smiling at Deidara with her sharp teeth. She lifted her sword, tilting her head as she pointed the blade at the blond, a maniacal expression on her face.

"I'll cut you to pieces!"

| * | * | * | * | * |

Akane raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her. The blond, Deidara, had white clay flowing out of the mouths on his palms, lots and lots of them.

"Ew," she sneered, as she carefully placed Hiramekarei back inside the sheath on her back, "There's no way I'll let those touch my sword."

'Akane, focus.'

'I know, Akai, I know.'

The white clay slowly formed two slumped figures, which staggered towards Akane and Sasuke. Akane took a few steps back in disgust, watching as Sasuke swung his katana through the first one. Her expression turned into one of annoyance as she realized how the blade had gotten stuck into the clay, forcing Sasuke to use his Chidori to cut the figure in two.

And what's worse, the pieces started crawling back towards them.

"I never signed up for this, Sasuke! That's it, you owe me!" Akane yelled, jumping away from the larger clay figure, whose attention was set on her.

'Akai, I'm sorry, but I'll be risking our life now.'

'This early?!'

Akane nodded as she dropped her guard, closing her eyes and began to focus on her surroundings. Sending chakra to her feet, she steadied her form, while the clay figure's footsteps came closer towards her.

She blocked a few punches from the 'monster' until finally, it grabbed her hands and held them still behind her back. Akane stayed frozen; white clay began to cover her whole body.

"Akane, it's a bomb," Sasuke warned, yet Akane was still unresponsive.

'Akane!'

"Katsu!" At that exact moment, Akane's form instantly liquefied, disappearing into the ground. The clay exploded, Deidara smirked in victory as the smokes cleared up, leaving nothing behind.

It was later, after another big explosion was seen, that mist began to surround the whole battlefield. Thick, red mist.

"S-Senpai! Tobi is scared!"

"Shut up, un!" Deidara yelled, clasping his hands together before a large cloud of smoke enveloped the Akatsuki pair. It disappeared soon after, revealing a large dragon-like creature made of the same white clay.

'This one looks interesting, doesn't it, Akai?'

'Akane, stop.'

The dragon took off flying, with its creator on its back. His mouth opened and a smaller dragon came out, lunging towards Sasuke. Akane smirked as her figure slowly re-formed behind the blond, who didn't even realize it. In one swift motion, she pulled out Hiramekarei and held it against his neck.

"Do you miss me?"

"W-Where did you come from?!"

"The mist, of course." Akane glanced down, to see that Sasuke had destroyed another clay dragon. "I don't exactly like long-range fights, it doesn't suit a sword user like me. I mean, I can kill you with one swing right now."

"Senpai! The clay mines are all set up!"

"I'm stronger than you, brat!" Deidara growled at Akane, as he threw a bunch of C1 spiders at her. Akane instinctively jumped away, and it took her only a second to transform back into the mist to save herself from the fall. She changed back and stood behind the Uchiha, who had entered his Curse mode.

"I need him alive, don't kill him," Sasuke reminded.

"Why-... Oh, right. To find Itachi. The orange one doesn't seem so bright." Akane scowled. Above them, Deidara created another big dragon, which rapidly flew down towards them.

'Finish the blond.' At Akai's voice, Akane grin in excitement. Her figure disappeared back into the mist, and she re-appeared behind Deidara. The Akatsuki member pulled out a kunai and tried to stab her, but the knife went straight through her partially liquefied form. Her grin grew wider at his shock, while she split her sword in two and kicked him down, before slamming both the blades through each of his arms.

"The Uchiha couldn't even fight me by himself, huh?" Deidara mocked, glaring at the girl.

Akane gave him a sickeningly sweet smile, "Everything is fair in war," she replied, "I'm an assassin, I only care about the result."

Suddenly, a long blade of lightning was stabbed through the dragon's left wing. It moved so fast, cutting off the clay wing in one swift motion. As the dragon lost its balance, Akane quickly pulled out her swords and jumped away.

The dragon hit the ground, followed by hundreds of explosions, creating a giant cloud of smoke. Akane landed beside Sasuke a few seconds later, glaring at the Uchiha.

"Akane, your acidic mist?"

"Akane can't use it," a softer voice replied. The girl's eyes had returned to their usual grey color, and she looked much calmer than before. "It's my skill only. And I don't think my acid can do much damage on those clay, though it can always hurt humans."

"Just try it."

"I will. And by the way, that stunt of yours almost killed us, Sasuke. I can't survive if Akane dies and vice versa. Be more considerate."

Sasuke hummed in reply. The clay bird above them flew away from the smokes, and Deidara started eating the explosive clay with his mouth.

"Oh, that orange man left," Akai commented, turning her head towards where Tobi had previously stood. Instead, Sasuke tapped her shoulder, reminding her of the opponent in front of them.

Which was an enormous clay copy of Deidara himself.

| * | * | * | * | * |

Ha! Another update XD Do you like it? We hope you guys do, writing that was really exciting~

And of course, being the evil authors we are, we leave you with a 'cliffhanger'. This chapter doesn't even reach 3000 words; the tension should make up for it, right?

Well, anyways, vote and comment! We want to hear what you think!