chapter 90

"Eiji?" Yugito called and his red eyes darted towards her instantly. He could tell that she was nervous, but he didn't much care. The picture of the house that Deidara had blown up was still fresh in his mind. The specific arrangement of the rubble into a mocking grin glared at him. The burnt bodies of the victims, a family that had nothing to do with the whole mess they were part of.

They hadn't been ninja. He didn't remember ever coming across them. They were just a run of the mill family. Normal people with normal worries that had the misfortune of choosing to live in a Hidden Village. The child they had was young too. 'Too young,' He thought.

Eiji shouldn't have been surprised, he guessed. However, part of his mind just couldn't help but assume that Akatsuki's problem was solely focused on their objective of gathering the Bijuu. He hadn't been able to realize that everyone was in danger because of them, that they were Missing Nin in the first place for a reason.

'I'm a fucking idiot,' He growled to himself.

"What is the plan?" The Jinchuriki of the Two Tails asked then, after a moment of pause. Eiji wondered if that had been because she was scared of him.

"First things first," He said, crossing his fingers in the Shadow Clone hand seal. Immediately, he punched it to dispel it. The thing could have done that without violence at all, but he needed to vent at least a little or he would do something stupid. Hell, he couldn't even really do it that way at all, he'd just dispelled it when his fist was about to hit.

[Shadow Clone Technique has gone up a level.]

'That's nice,' Eiji thought, although the words sounded hollow even in his own mind. He didn't have it in him to be happy like he usually was with such a screen.

[Shadow Clone Technique - Lvl 12

B-rank technique with which the user can create solid clones of themselves that dispel when damaged.

Maximum number of clones - 12

Hand Seal - 1

Consumption - Chakra divides equally between the user and all Clones.]

'I really need to max this,' He thought neutrally. 'Even if the backlash sucks.'

A second later, clones that he'd had guarding the surroundings dispelled too. Then came the aforementioned side-effect. The splitting headache hit him like an A rank technique, but he soldiered through it. He needed to process that information quickly.

"That was a bad idea," Hachi commented idly, but he could tell that she was already going over what they were learning too. Meanwhile, Kage grunted something that Eiji was sure meant 'You are an idiot' or something along those lines.

"Eiji-"

"Shut up," He told Temari. "Get ready," He said then, his mind still processing new memories that he had no business having. "One way or another, we are going after Akatsuki right fucking now. I've told you about them, you know what to do."

"Sir yes, sir," Tayuya replied mockingly, but she had actually listened and would do as she was told.

Eiji barely paid them any attention once they started moving.

[}-o-{]

"Thank you, young man," The old man told him kindly.

"No problem. Glad to help," The clone replied with a smile as he set the last box on the floor. It was almost like being back in Konoha, really. Actually, it was better. At least here, under a Transformation Technique, nobody could look at him and see the brother of the Demon. He liked to think that they wouldn't even react to his normal appearance if he didn't wear his headband.

Shame that he needed to remain hidden from Iwa's ninja.

Nobody but Onoki could know that he'd spread clones around. Not even the other clones were aware of who or where the others were. He could have passed one by in the street and not know. The only clues were the wires that sometimes would sense another.

The recognisance web had been cast.

One of them was bound to pick something up.

[}-o-{]

"Can you believe her?" A man complained loudly, his drink in hand. "I work all day and then she has the gall to ask me to make dinner. She works half a day, she could take care of that, couldn't she?"

"I mean, I'm sure she doesn't expect that everyday," The clone offered neutrally. "Just once in a while should keep her off your case, right?"

"Bah," The drunk dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I have better things to do. Like playing something. Did someone bring the cards?!" He called loudly. The rest of the people in the bar agreed just as loudly with the idea.

The clone simply sat there with an amused smile, witnessing the absolute chaos. Half the people in the establishment were idiots, but then again, they were inebriated. He supposed he could cut them some slack.

It was interesting though, because it was a very adult setting. A setting that should make him feel like he fit in. He was supposed to be an adult, after all. Right?

Truth was, he didn't feel like an adult anymore. He had the years, of course, even if he barely remembered his old life. Still, that didn't mean he'd suddenly turned into a child, even if his body did. Right?

Maybe he should think some more about that. It would give him something to do while the drunks played, at least. Maybe he could-

Then he blinked.

The Web Sense around one of his threads had picked up something.

[}-o-{]

"Woah," A kid breathed out while the rest gathered around him in awe. All of them stared at the drawing on the clone's notebook. He'd been making pictures of them all day. The children loved it, it seemed.

Granted, they were easily distracted, so he'd had to play around with them when that happened. The mothers were certainly happy that someone was taking the time to entertain them. More than one had offered him a job babysitting. He'd taken a few as the days passed. It gave him an excuse to move around the village, at least.

"Can you, hm, teach me?" A little girl asked, holding up a notebook of her own and a pencil. She reminded him of Hanabi, with the shy look but the great reluctance to actually show that. He smiled at her and signaled the place next to him.

"Of course," He replied. "Take a seat."

[}-o-{]

Eiji's red eyes opened once more, taking in his team. They were ready for a battle. If they were ready for this battle, he very much doubted it, honestly. That's partly why he hadn't rushed after Akatsuki yet. Unfortunately, they were running out of time faster and faster. They wouldn't get much further and Eiji didn't want to wait and let more lives be cut short. Not if they weren't that of Akatsuki members, at least.

'I'll have to take care of one on my own if I want to get us all through this. Yugito should be able to at least entertain the other with everyone's help,' He considered with a frown. It wasn't a plan he liked, really. Not only it relied completely on him being able to take on an S rank Missing Nin but it left him away from his team. They might be a bunch of little shits and previous enemies, but they'd grown on him, he guessed.

He almost chuckled when he felt Tsuchigumo sending him a message.

'There's Yuki too, we can't let anything happen to her,' Eiji corrected withholding a smile. The Chakra Beast's 'relationship' with the ninken was strange, he'd found. Sometimes she hated the dog, sometimes she loved her.

"Better to leave that as it is," Hachi suggested and he nodded. He had better things to focus on. Mainly the group of very powerful individuals intent on attacking all the Jinchuriki.

Then he cracked his neck, taking a deep breath in to calm himself before starting to think up a plan. He had some information now, little things his clones had picked up over time. It wasn't much, certainly not enough to go after Akatsuki on its own.

'It's a start though…' He mused before feeling another few clones dispelling, together with the subsequent input of information directly to his brain. He grimaced slightly as it hit him. Fortunately, it wasn't nearly as bad since there were fewer of them.

[Senjutsu of the Spiders has gone up a level.]

'Nice,' Eiji thought, closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh as he gathered his thoughts.

"I gave you all the information you need, Temari, Tayuya, Yugito, you know how it goes for you three," He told the team, making the females of the group nod. "Start going over how to deal with one of them with the whole team. I'll take the other one. Plan for both though, we have no guarantees we'll face who we want." The mentioned members nodded instantly.

They were the ones with the best strategic minds of them all, really. Kabuto could do it in a pinch, but those three were the best. Temari was the one with the highest rank though. Yugito would have contended for it, but she was the heavy hitter if he wasn't present, which was already enough to have her hands full. Tayuya could help the Sand ninja before the fight, but once she started playing her flute, stopping to give orders would do more damage than help, really.

Then, Eiji sat on the ground and started meditating. Not for his mindscape or to recover chakra though, but to gather Natural Energy.

[Senjutsu of the Spiders- Lvl 12

The user gathers and balances natural energy with their own chakra to increase Physical Stats and gain a sensing ability.

Physical Stat Increase - 120%

Sensing Range - 480 meters]

'Let's hope that's enough,' He thought, before calling another screen. It was a shame that Naruto's clone trick didn't work in this world. He'd tried, but since clones had half his chakra and he got both the chakra and the Natural Energy when they dispelled, he would always be short on the amount of the latter when he received them.

It was a good thing that the team needed more time to prepare and, more importantly, plan, because Senjutsu was nowhere near easy to get quickly. Maybe when he had more levels on it, but as it was, he couldn't do it fast, forget about doing it mid battle. He almost wished he had time to teach Tsuchigu… He paused.

That was a risky idea but then again…

"There's an idea," Kage commented and Eiji could almost hear the grin on his face.

Eventually, he opened his eyes, which were now a beady black, just like most of the spiders he'd seen. Black circles appeared on his skin around his eyes, which he was sure was supposed to symbolize the extra eyes of the arachnids. He quite liked the look, if he was honest. At least the ones on his left, since the others clashed quite badly with his scar.

[Eiji Satou

Main Title: Prodigy

Secondary Title: Aspiring Prodigy

Energy Points: 1100/1100

Chakra Points: 1375/1375

Natural Energy Points: 1374/1375

Beast Chakra Points: 0/0

Strength: 55

Dexterity: 58

Constitution: 55

Chakra: 55

Chakra control: A]

'Now, those titles just won't do here,' He decided, quickly swapping them for The Weaver and Wielder of Nuibari. His eyes darted between other screens too, just to make sure that he wasn't forgetting a skill that could help. Once that was done, he took a deep breath in once more.

Then, he focused on what his Senjutsu sense was telling him and he paused. 'Holy shit,' He thought, blinking. He'd noticed that something was up when he got the memories, but experiencing it in the moment was much more detailed. 'Is Senjutsu supposed to be this… detailed? I feel like I know everything that's going on around me.'

"Focus, Eiji," Hachi reminded him, making him shake his head.

"Right," He mumbled, trying to process the information overload that Senjutsu was giving him. A moment later, he managed to think something through the whole thing. "You've got everything ready?"

Everyone in the team nodded.

"Good," Eiji muttered. "Tsuchigumo, could you help me with some clones?" He asked, receiving a quick confirmation from the Beast. Then, he crossed his fingers and spawned as many Shadow Clones as he could. "Go," Was all he said and his lookalikes rushed out of the Training Grounds. "Thanks, girl," He thought to Tsuchigumo, who barked enthusiastically at him, eager to go hunting with her 'dad'. 'Wonder if that'll get less weird with time,' He mused before focusing back on the team. "You lot, follow me and tell me what you've thought of," Eiji ordered before moving.

Then he paused and turned his head.

Kurotsuki looked at him with the most innocent expression he'd seen her have so far. Too bad it was so extremely fake. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm part of the team, right?" Eiji had to give it to her, she tried.

"Yeah… no," He denied immediately, making her shoulders slump. When he saw her opening her mouth to protest. "I said no. Go and complain to your grandfather. Everyone else, let's go. I'll know if you try to follow us, Princess, so please don't. I'd like to avoid the trouble that knocking you out would bring."

The girl even had the gall to pout at him. Honestly, one would think that trained assassins would be less childish. Although, he supposed it wasn't so bad that they weren't all just killing machines.

'Focus,' He told himself.

"Now, let's go," Eiji said, immediately starting to move with the rest following. Thankfully, he avoided the possibility of an international incident since Kurotsuchi stayed back in the Training Grounds.

[}-o-{]

It took Eiji less than a minute to realize that Senjutsu was bullshit.

There was no other way to say it, really. How else was he to explain the level that the sensing ability reached? He could sense everything within its range. He could tell where everyone and everything was. He could tell anything that happened too. From the slightest twitch to knowing if that woman over there was feeling the hot weather worse than the people around her. From knowing that this person's heart was beating a little faster than it should to knowing that this kid's scraped knee was bleeding a bit because he felt the blood moving.

It was only through his clones' training that he wasn't completely overwhelmed by it, really. 'Mental Note: Train this in person, not only through clones.'

"Noted," Hachi replied with an amused tone, making him blink. No matter how much time passed, he still wasn't used to them picking at thoughts that he wasn't projecting. They were doing it more and more too, which was almost concerning. Just imagining the potential for blackmail… "You have no idea," She added then, clearly hearing that too and being highly amused.

Eiji decided that that can of worms was better off not being opened.

"Thanks for the distraction though," He told her with the tiniest of smiles.

"Don't mention it," She waved off.

He stopped his advance though, when he felt one of his clones go off. Apparently, he'd picked up on something before an explosion went off, almost taking the clone out. However, Eiji had to consider it before rushing in that direction. With the mockery Deidara had made of his last attempt at art, he had to wonder if they were baiting him to go somewhere.

"A clone was attacked over there," He informed his team. "Ideas?" He added, keeping it short. No need to waste time with unnecessary words at a moment like that.

"A trap," Temari said almost instantly.

"Duh." Tayuya rolled her eyes, making the blonde's eye twitch.

"It is rather convenient," Yugito commented diplomatically.

"I know that, I have several directions I wanted to check and that came from one of them. Problem is, is that a normal bluff or a double one?" He wondered out loud. To that, nobody had an answer. It was entirely possible, really, and they didn't have much information. Another clone in that area popped, this time before he could be taken out by a puppet.

It was too convenient…

"Tsuchigumo, if you would?" He was contradicting himself on the not wasting time front, he knew. It wasn't the first time but he had priorities, even if they didn't sound like good ones. Treating Tsuchigumo right was one of them. She might be a great fighting aid, but she was also a child. His child, in her mind if nothing else, and that meant something. One such meaning was that he needed to do his best to keep her happy and well.

The fact that she always agreed so readily didn't help at all, really. After all, she could be doing so because she wanted to please him, and that more often than not made him feel worse than he already did. She was more than a weapon, he knew that. The real question was, did she?

"I know how you feel, Eiji, but now's not the time," Kage told him with a soft tone that he wasn't sure he'd ever heard from him. The boy sighed and straightened as he formed the required hand seal. Then more copies of him appeared.

"You," He started pointing to one of his clones. "are on watch duty," He ordered, to which his lookalike nodded and left immediately. "And you, guide them," He said, nodding towards where he knew the clones had popped. "As for you," He continued, turning towards his group, who immediately straightened. "Go with the clone, see if you find anything. If you find only one of them, engage and entertain him. If you find both of them and my clone can't dispel itself, buy as much time as possible and send Yuki to get me."

"Are you sure, you could end up facing both of them," Yugito said, already seeing where Eiji was going with his plan. He wouldn't say he wasn't doubting it himself, but it was the best he'd been able to come up with.

"It is a sound plan. Risky, but likely about as good as it possibly can be in this situation," Hachi commented somberly.

"You aren't the only one that was holding back in training," Eiji pointed out. He'd had her raise how much she let loose while fighting the team or himself. He wasn't sure how much she could go over that, but he'd barely used Tsuchigumo's boost except to continue raising the skill.

He was surprised though, because Yuki and Yugito weren't the only ones that were reluctant to go. Temari could have understood, after all, they weren't real enemies even with the whole invasion thing. She'd been reluctant to be part of that after all, evidenced by her deserting the effort in the end.

The ex-Orochimaru followers were a surprise though. Granted, they didn't look particularly concerned, that much was true. However, just the fact that they weren't rushing to follow the order was a surprise. 'Wonder, are they just acting like that or am I overthinking it?'

"Kabuto could be, the other two though? I'm not sure they can act very well," Kage commented, not really helping Eiji decide how to feel about what he was seeing.

"Now, go," He repeated his order, nodding his head and waving his hand. 'Really, will I have to use Bloodlust?' He asked himself. Fortunately, it didn't come to that, but the fact that he had to even think about it spoke for itself.

"You've been giving them what they want, I guess," Hachi reasoned. "They would have followed Orochimaru to their deaths. Now that person is you. Or, at least, you are on your way to being that person."

"You need to be alive for that though," Kage pointed out. Eiji was pretty sure he wasn't the only one that rolled his eyes at that. It did have some effect though, because he felt determination flow through him. Tsuchigumo was having none of that, it seemed.

"We'll make it, girl," Eiji reassured before grinning as something occurred to him. "And then I'll introduce you to your aunts and uncles," He added, his smile widening as he felt the Chakra Beast's interest and excitement. "Now, let's do this, shall we?"

[Natural Energy Points: 1293/1375]

He wasn't losing Natural Energy too fast, at least. It made him doubt how much he'd have when it came the time to fight though. After all, he had no delusions about how fast he'd be able to find Akatsuki, if he did at all.

That was another thing, he was taking a risk trying to find them. Not only because they could be much stronger than he was, but also because I could fail to find them. That wasn't an option I could consider though, after all, there was too much at stake.

If they were sent away, chances were that Akatsuki would get to Han. If that happened, everything would go to shit. Iwa's people might even think that Konoha failed on purpose, or even worse, that we were colluding with Akatsuki. And that wasn't even getting into the mess it would make of the Elemental Nations power balance.

No, the mission needed to be a success.

[Natural Energy Points: 1204/1375]

'Was it a double bluff?' Eiji wondered with increasing nerves. Had he sent his team to a fight with two Akatsuki members? Would they actually be able to hold them off well and long enough for Yuki to get him? He was reasonably sure that they could pull that off, but…

'Focus,' He told himself, concentrating on the information his Senjutsu was giving him. However, he found nothing. The more distance he put between Iwagakure and himself, the less he felt. The rocky surroundings registered, but they were dull, barely a shadow on his senses. Occasionally, he would feel a bird in the sky or some small creature roaming the mountains, but nothing else.

'Where are they?!' Eiji all but shouted. He considered just turning around and going to find his team. Maybe they could come up with a different approach…

'No,' He decided, flashes of the dead bodies in the last piece of 'art' that Deidara had left for them appearing in his mind. They had to end it and do it quickly. If they didn't, even if they managed to stay long enough to complete the mission, whatever progress their help could manage to make in improving relations with Iwa would be ruined. After all, there were only so many deaths that the Stone could take before they started resenting them for taking too long.

[Natural Energy Points: 1089/1375]

"Come on," He mumbled to himself impatiently as he continued moving. "Come on," He repeated before freezing.

There, on the edge of his senses, he felt something. It was tiny, so very small that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to see it with his eyes. His Senjutsu senses picked it up though. A diminutive insect-like thing that looked almost white.

One that looked awfully similar to what he knew of Deidara's constructs.

Eiji wanted to think that he'd finally found them. After all, something so small couldn't be a bait, could it? Except that it could and he'd be taking absolutely no chances. There would be no underestimating any of the Akatsuki members that he promised.

Still, as he slowly approached the area where the living clay sculpture was, he started feeling more and more. Not all of them that small though. There were insect-sized ones, there were dog-sized ones, there were even some that were even bigger than a person.

Eiji was, once more, shocked by how much he could feel with Senjutsu though. He could feel the chakra in the constructs. Moreover, he could feel…

Someone Flickered to his side and in a split second Eiji was already positioned with Nuibari on his right hand and its wire on the other. His currently black eyes stared into Deidara's sole visible blue one.

"Finally here, huh? You took your time," The blonde commented with an amused smirk. On his other side, Eiji felt Sasori appear with his armor/puppet on.

A smile spread on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" Deidara asked, his grin widening. "We separated you from your team, you know? You'll be dead before they ever reach here."

"I thought you would go after them," Eiji commented. "But thanks for doing me the favor of coming after me. It's appreciated."