Info dump time ! Who likes info dumps ?

*Knock**Knock*

"Get in"

*Creak*

"Kazekage-sama." Greets Fuji.

"Ah ! Fuji, this man next to me is Ren Takahashi, one of our essential operatives outside the village, he is also the current contractor to the Chameleon Clan. He is going to be of help during your mission." Says Rasa, pointing to an absolutely average looking man in Jonin attire.

"Hello Fuji-sama, I can't thank you enough for the opportunity your team gave to me." He says.

"H-Haha, i-it was nothing." Replies Fuji while sheepishly stroking the back of his head.

*Ahem*"Anyways, let's get to the gritty matters, due to our new Chameleon Contract, we managed to boost our intelligence operations to an unprecedented level for our village, Jonin Ren is our foremost operative in that department, and was able to lately uncover important information while on our pursuit of Sasori of the Red Sand. Ren ?"

"Hai, a couple of months ago I managed to discover some of Sasori's spies in the village, after informing Kazekage-sama we began the process of the tracking the infamous nukenin through his spy network, a month ago, we not only managed to locate him, but we also discovered the existence of a very dangerous organization made of S-Class nukenin based somewhere on the outskirts of the Land of Rivers." He says.

"Before this discovery, the Akatsuki was thought to be a revolutionary organization based on Amekagure that was destroyed by Hanzo the Salamander on the previous Shinobi War. At the time their methods were highly public and widespread, where they gathered all sorts of shinobi from Amekagure in order to defend against outsiders. Their new conduct suggests either a change of leadership, a copycat, or..." Continues Rasa.

"The leadership had a change of heart." Interjects Fuji.

"Quite."

"This organization operates using teams of two ninjas whose abilities complement each other, which considering themselves being composed of only S-Rank shinobi makes them capable enough to handle almost any number of enemies, right now we only managed to uncover 4 members of this organization. Sasori, Deidara of Iwa, Itachi Uchiha, and Kakuzu of Takikagure." Says Ren while handing Fuji five files.

"A couple of days ago, Kakuzu joined the two-man team of Sasori and Deidara somewhere in the Land of Rivers, they are currently headed towards Takikagure in a leisurely pace. We believe it to be a mission of some sort, maybe related to the recent wave of massacred villages on the Land of Waterfalls, your mission is to uncover the reason of their unusual behavior and to stop them on their tracks if their actions are deemed detrimental to our interests. Your secondary objective is to retrieve Sasori of the Red Sands either dead or alive if you find an opportunity.

We managed to convince the Chameleon Clan to transport you around their whereabouts with the aid of Ren's Reverse Summoning jutsu, so you will be leaving tomorrow morning, so take your time to familiarize yourself with your targets in the meantime. Dismissed."

"Hai !"

While Fuji is leaving the office, Ren couldn't help but voice his concerns.

"Kazekage-sama, is it really wise to send Fuji-sama alone against three S-Class ninjas ? Shouldn't there be more shinobi going along ?"

"We currently have three S-Class ninjas in our village, I can't leave since I am a Kazekage, Pakura can't either since she is stationed on our sea border as a deterrent against Kiri shinobi along with her new genin team, that only leaves Fuji. And while Pakura and I can handle ourselves against any normal S-Rank reliably, Fuji-kun is really on another level. You don't have to worry about him Ren." Rasa looks at him in the eyes.

"I'd rather worry about our enemies."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

*A couple of hours later*

Fuji sits in his favorite tea house, an empty cozy place in the outskirts of the village, reading the files of his mission. He looks up just before two similarly aged people open the door.

"Fuji-kun ! I knew you would be here." Exclaims the face tattooed woman.

"Yeah, after we checked his house, his training grounds, Yashamaru-san's house, and every other place he could've been." Snarkily replies her auburn haired companion, after which he dodges a playful punch from the latter.

"Hey Maki, Eichi, how have you been doing ?" Says Fuji as they sit on his table.

"Well it has been so long since we met, since everyone is so busy and all. So I thought we could have a little reunion, just our old team, minus Pakura-sensei."

To interject, these previous years, while Fuji was busy gathering a reputation as a fearsome S-Rank shinobi, Maki and Sato weren't exactly idle. After both of them got promoted at the chunin exams a year after our protagonist, Sato served the village as a particularly deadly ninjutsu specialist under Pakura for a few years, he was touted as the second person in history who managed to learn the Scorch release.

Pakura admitted afterwards that his explosive, chakra intensive style was more suitable for the Kekkei Genkai than her precise, supportive approach. Sato is currently wanted as a particularly powerful A-Rank ninja by Iwa and Kiri.

Maki meanwhile found quite a passion for Fuinjutsu, as while she didn't have any special talents in terms of developing new seals, she found quite a remarkable aptitude for developing new uses for old ones.

After the Kazekage noticed her talent due to her apprenticeship to Chiyo of the Honourable Siblings, he promoted her as the leader of a research squad manned mostly by clanless ninja, whose main goal is adapting Suna's extensive collection of environmental seals in order to create greenhouses capable of cultivating foodstuffs.

It was one of Fuji's fan fiction inspired ideas of course, which the Kazekage found highly promising as it undermines both the Clans and the Daimyo's influence on the village and furthers the Kazekage's own reputation while empowering the clanless shinobi.

"How is Pakura-sensei and the kids doing ? I heard some crazy rumors lately." Says Sato.

"Haha, yeah, since those Kiri ninjas really like their beach shores, Gaara has been constantly single-handedly sinking their ships before they manage to dock. And while any ninja of theirs could survive falling on the sea, you can't say the same for their supplies.

I heard from Yashamaru-kun that they're heading back in preparations for the chunin exams this year, Kazekage-sama really wants to make an impression this time." Replies Fuji.

A couple of years after Sato graduated from his apprenticeship under Pakura, she expressed her desire to shelter another team under her tutelage to Rasa, which coincided with Gaara's graduation from the academy, so Kankuro and Temari were pulled from the Puppetry division and the Assault division respectably, and created the previously planned team.

A.N : Gaara went through the Academy this time since he doesn't turn into a giant sand Tanuki at night, so I made him graduate one year later than Canon to preserve the original timeline (Gaara is one year older than Naruto here, instead of almost one year younger.), and the other two weren't in other teams for the same reason. Canon will be altered, but I like the Chunin exam arc too much to change it.

"Heeeh, that kid is really impressive, if I didn't know better I'd think he was possessed or something." Says Maki with a mischievous smirk.

"Hey, stop with the edgy jokes, you've been getting too laid back lately." Reprimands Sato.

Their personalities really reversed over the years, Maki is now the one that gets scolded by Sato, time really changes people.

Fuji just laughs along.

At his former teammates insistence, Fuji puts away the mission papers and start having fun with them, things quickly escalate from just cheerful conversation into a full-blown drinking session, jokes were said and stories were told, the last thing Fuji remembers is Sato exasperatedly pinching his nose as he describes a previous one-night stands assets to a tipsy Maki before the night starts to blur.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*The next day*

You know what's great about chakra ? No hangovers, that's what ! That's what goes through Fuji's mind as he stands next to the average looking Ren in an empty clearing, completely refreshed from last night's shenanigans.

"Put your hand on my shoulder, Fuji-san." Says Ren.

As Fuji does so, Ren performs a quick series of hand seals, after which he bites his thumb and slams his palm on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu !" He exclaims, causing a car sized chameleon to appear in a puff of smoke.

"Ren-kun ! And this must be Fuji-san, we have no time to talk, get on my back." Rapidly says the Chameleon, after which Ren and Fuji jump on his back and disappear in a plume of smoke.

Fuji didn't even have time to observe the home of the Chameleons before they got resummoned into a random clearing, a comically small chameleon staring up at them.

"Good, you're here. Now I can finally get back, I'm sick of spying on these monsters. They almost found me several times, I was scared for my life." Says the small chameleon.

" It's a good thing that you're safe, Nama-kun. Where are we right now ?" Replies Ren.

"We're close to the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of the Waterfalls, your targets are currently heading north along the road, they're really taking their time." Replies the chibi lizard.

"Hmm... Did any new information come up ?" Says Fuji.

"Yes, actually. Now that they're getting closer to the Land of Waterfalls, we managed to predict their general direction more precisely. They are definitely heading towards whoever is massacring villages on the land of Waterfalls."

"Alright, that's all I need, thank you." Replies Fuji.

"Good luck, Fuji-san." Says Ren.

"Yeah, thanks." Says Fuji as he disappears in a shunshin.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

*A few days later*

"I thought Itachi and Konan were supposed to do this mission." Says a hunched man in Akatsuki robes.

"They got redirected, they found a partner for Itachi, a certain Kisame Hoshigaki" Replies a tanned masked man, in similar robes.

"We just had to deal with Orochimaru, and even my art couldn't kill him. " Says a blond man with a slashed Iwa headband.

"The technique that resurrected the Third Kazekage was very feasome, the resurrected body could even regenerate after being obliterated. Hn." He continues.

"Orochimaru really deserves his bounty, to think he could even escape from your combined attacks." Says Kakuzu.

"If this dumb*ss didn't blow up his entire hideout then I would have been able to catch him, even the Sannin are no match for my puppets." Interjects Sasori.

"If the Third Kazekage hadn't managed to break out of Orochimaru's control then you would have lost, you should be helpful for my help my man. Hn!"

"You two stop bickering, we're here." Says Kakuzu.

They stop in front of a big tree with a man impaled into one of its branches, over a triangle surrounded by a circle made out of blood.

"So this is what our target is up to, huh." Says Sasori.

"He's just killing for the sake of it. Let me deal with him alone, I want the full bounty." Responds Kakuzu.

"Kill who ?" Says a grey haired man wearing a Yugakure headband while emerging from the forest.

"You, obviously" Replies Kakuzu.

"Eh... So you're a fan too ? Would you like to join under the embrace of our Lord and Saviour Jashin-sama ?"

"Nah""No""Hell no"

"Too bad, I guess we all serve in different ways."

Hidan grabs his three bladed scythe and jumps towards Kakuzu and co, Kakuzu simply elongates his hand and pierces through Hidan's solar plexus, seemingly killing him.

"Well that was easy." Comments Kakuzu as Hidan falls to the ground right in front of him, screaming.

"Aaargh ! That f*cking hurt you &(!?é& !"

The Akatsuki members simply watch as Hidan is presumably dying, they were however surprised when in a seemingly new surge of energy, Hidan pierces Kakuzu with his scythe straight on his stomach, drenching it in his blood. I guess he injured one of his spare hearts, talk about luck, huh ?

"Kurk!" Exclaims Kakuzu.

Hidan suddenly jumps backwards, while pulling out Kakuzu's hand from his chest, drenching his right hand in his own blood.

Before the rest could react, he swiftly draws Jashin's symbol under himself while licking the blood on his scythe.

Hidans skin then turns black with white markings which makes him look like a skeleton, signifying the success of the ritual.

"You're done for now !" He screams while plunging a kunai into his heart.

Just as Kakuzu is about to react, he suddenly starts writhing as a formless black creature surges out of his back attached to a mask with a yellow nose. As his back gets exposed, it shows three other masks attached to it, each one with its own distinct color.

As Hidans mouth opens out of shock, Sasoris hunchback figure suddenly appears in front of him, as a metal scorpion tail pierces Hidans chest, again.

Hidan however isn't affected by either the injury or the poison laced in the blade as he just attempts to slice Sasori in two. Sasori jumps backwards, dodging the blow.

Deidara, in his usual style, just summons his bomb bird and observes from the sky, believing that 2 vs 1 is already enough.

"So his ritual allows him to reflect injuries, since he drank the blood from one of your spare hearts, the damage gets reflected on it instead of you." Comments Sasori while looking at the masked creature sporting a new hole courtesy of his attack.

Kakuzu suddenly snaps to attention, as he grabs Sasori and jumps sideways as far as he could.

*Vroom*

A blue cyclone falls from the sky at unbelievable speed on their previous, creating a large crater while sending blocks of the ground into the air, obscuring the view.

The sound of another explosion reverberates from the point of impact, as a green haired man emerges from the dust screen, holding two glowing blue swords Zoro style.

The sheer speed of his propulsion destroys his trail as he practically flies towards the still airborne Sasori and Kakuzu.

Kakuzu is somehow able to twist in the air just before Fuji manages to cut 2 of his hearts, while Sasori's luck rears its head for once, as his Hiruko puppet has a base made of chakra metal, allowing it to change his chakra blade's trajectory away from his core before getting destroyed.

But while both of their vital points remained intact, their bodies got both cut in half. Unfortunately, they both managed to reattach them through their respective strings.

"Thank god one of my hearts came from a sensor, that was almost too close. Fuji the Jade, I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you." Says Kakuzu.

"Damn I hate that nickname, Iwa-nin and their naming sense, seriously. Anyway, why don't you all just surrender and save us some time, I really can't bother dealing with this." Nonchalantly replies Fuji.

"I don't think so." Answers Kakuzu.

"I guess I tried." Just as Fuji finishes his sentence, a bunch of small bat-like white creatures fly around him, exploding in a spectacular fashion.

"Eat that ! Nothing can match my art ! HN!" Shouts Deidara from his skyborne position.

The smoke clears to the sight of an unscathed bending Fuji as a Watery barrier slowly desintegrate around him. Water shields are the best at dealing with explosions after all.

Fuji's strength was great enough that the ground cracked when he jumped, heading straight towards Deidara.

The Iwa missing nin frantically urges his bird to turn, allowing him to just barely dodge Fuji's chakra sword. However, Fuji manages to create a chakra foothold right as he was straight above him.

Pushing against the chakra plane, Fuji uses the momentum connect a flying spinning kick Lee style straight into Deidara's stomach, which sends him flying at incredible speed into the ground, similarly cracking the ground.

'I'm so glad I figured out Tsunade's trick' Fuji couldn't help but muse to himself.

The kick allows Fuji to stay airborne for quite a while, so he begins gathering his chakra on his right hand for a while, making a humongous lightning spear. He rotates in the sky to generate momentum before throwing it at incredible speed towards Sasori, aiming for his core.

Before it hits him, a barrier made of black sand blocks the spear, the resulting electric field causes everyones hair to stand up. Sasori thought that he would he drenched in cold sweat if he was able to right now. The Third Kazekage's puppet standing next to him.

Right as he lands, Fuji propels himself towards Sasori again, noticing that Kakuzu was was busy fighting Hidan.

Sasori commands his puppet to harass him with sand constructs while he unseals a bunch of flesh puppets from his scoll. Fuji dodges the projectiles at incredible speed.

But it gave enough time for Sasori to manipulate his human puppets into throwing a barrage of large scale jutsu while using the Kazekage's puppet to shield Sasori into an Iron Sand dome.

The barrage of ninjutsu continues for a few long seconds. The dust clears up to show a clear field.

Fuji suddenly surges out of the ground, right next to the Kazekage puppet. He then uses a chakra sword to cut the chakra strings controlling its body.

"It took me a while to be able to sense which direction the strings come from, quite impressive." Says Fuji as the Iron dome collapses around Sasori.

"Tsk." A rare expression of annoyance shows up on his face.

"I guess this is goodbye."

The ground cracks around Fuji, as he speeds towards Sasori again.

Right as he is about to cut him in half, a giant white bird drops down on his path, while Deidara shunshins along with Sasori.

Fuji desintegrates his blade and barely manages to jump backwards, a hastily put on blue barrier shattering against the giant explosion caused by the bird.

Fuji observes the battlefield as he lands, with Deidara and Sasori on one side, and Kakuzu hanging Hidan's head on his waist, the latter's body still sprawled on the floor over his gods symbol while he's shouting profanity to Kakuzu.

"This technique is still incomplete, but I guess I have no choice now." Says Fuji.

Just as Fuji was going to do something, an angelic shadow covers his face.

He looks up to a flying Konan, with her signature paper wings.

"I came to inform you that Suna sent someone to spy on you, but I believe I was too late. Itachi and Hoshigaki are heading here right now in case they send more reinforcements." She says.

Realizing his predicament, Fuji appears next to the Kazekage's body.

"If I won't be able to finish my optional objective, the least I could do is bring with me a souvenir. Ciao !" Says Fuji before disappearing along with the body.

Looking at the now empty spot, Deidara couldn't help but collapse on the ground.

"Whew ! I knew the guy was famous, but that was honestly too much ! Hn." He exclaims.

"Tch." Comments a clearly angry Sasori.

Meanwhile, Konan just stared at the surroundings, thinking that they should up the threat rating of Fuji.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*A few days later*

-At the Kazekage's office-

"I see... So they were on a mission, probably from Yugakure then. You performed admirably Fuji-kun despite the cicumstances. Not only did you successfully spy on three S-Rank missing nin for a few days, but you were also able to secure my precedessors body and solve the mystery of his disappearance."

An old woman suddenly barges in the room, taking no heed to the secretary's complaints.

"Is it true ?! Was Sasori really responsible for the Thirds death ?" She demands.

"Yes, Unfortunately Chiyo-san." Replies Rasa.

"I see..." She replies with a sad look on her face.

Fuji procceeds to discreetly leaving the room, he doesn't want to deal with this sh*t.