chapter 114

Eiji watched through his Web Sense as a team of Kumo nin made their way past the Iwa's border. He looked at them with his artificial sense and had to wonder what they thought. Did they think they would succeed? Or was this like a suicidal attempt? They had to know that their chances were slim at best. There was no way they were that stupid, after all.

Regardless, he sat where he was, back to back with Tayuya as she played her flute.

The rest of the team had it handled, after all.

Sure enough, when one of the Cloud agents stepped on the ground, it came alive under him. His foot first was trapped a second later, completely encased on earth and stone. The rest of his lower body and arms followed then.

"One down," Jirobo called from the side, where he'd been hidden by Tayuya's genjutsu until just then. As the team turned to look at him, one of them was hit right in the chest by a fist that was entirely too big and hard. The poor bastard was sent flying against a rock and knocked out on the spot.

"Two down," Fu announced, smirking where the Kumo nin had been standing as she held up her fist. She'd grown very fond of her Chitin Armor technique. Eiji wasn't about to tell her not to use it though, it was clearly a very powerful technique. Not only did it cover her in nigh indestructible armor, but it powered her up a great deal.

"Three down," Kabuto said, almost dismissively from where he sat on a nearby rock. Sure enough, a Cloud kunoichi dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Several senbon could be seen on her back.

The remaining members of the squad, obviously having realized what was happening as their team fell apart, quickly cast a Genjutsu Dissipation and proceeded to run away. It was the sensible thing to do, really, and Eiji praised them for it. It was also, however, rather naive of them to think they had a chance. Then again, there was no good option to take in the situation they were in.

Alas, they didn't manage to get away. What they did do was promptly get themselves trapped in Quicklime courtesy of the resident Princess. It'd taken a bit to set it up, but it'd been fine, since Kurotsuchi had been given the task of taking care of the runaways for just that reason.

"And that's a wrap," The Iwa nin commented.

"We won't talk," The first ninja to fall said immediately as the Suicide Squad approached.

"They always say that," Tayuya pointed out, clearly amused by the defiant statement. Eiji could see where she was coming from, really. However, it wasn't like he'd be interrogating them in the field. He'd leave that to Iwa's T&I department though. He rather doubted this guys would need Wit's End to crack.

"Now, this is how it's going to go, alright?" Eiji started speaking then, walking around as he looked at the fallen team. "I'm gonna have you all released and you are going to peacefully follow us to Iwa. First one to try to be smart or sneaky, I'll kill. Because I really want to do this the easy way. Follow, or don't, it's easy for me regardless."

"If you think that we-"

"Ryota," A woman from the people that Kurotsuchi trapped called, with a voice that made Eiji think she was the leader of the squad. "It's the Weaver."

That seemed to be enough to take the wind out of his sails. 'I'm still shocked that I'm so well known… Although maybe I shouldn't be,' Eiji thought to himself. Inside his mind, Kage chuckled and Hachi giggled. That was fair. It was just that he had a hard time acknowledging that he wasn't just the talented ninja that had graduated from the Academy. He was much more now, but his mind seemed to have a hard time accepting that fact.

"Hisoka-"

"Be silent," The Kumo woman interrupted her fellow ninja before turning towards Eiji. "We'll follow."

"It's always nice to meet smart people," He told her with a lazy grin. "Doesn't happen nearly as often as I hope it would."

"High praise coming from you," She replied but her responding smile was more bitter than anything. "Not sure it actually amounts to much considering what just happened."

"Smart you may be, but you aren't skilled or powerful enough, sadly," Eiji explained as he watched Kurotsuchi reluctantly letting go of the ninja. Almost immediately, one of the ninja that had been silent so far Flickered away. Or tried to, really.

Instead Nuibari pierced through his head, flying as the sword was manipulated through wire.

"Anyone else?" Eiji asked, grin having vanished. Instead, he just looked bored then. "I've had missions non-stop for a while and this whole mess interrupted what should have been a vacation. I don't have the patience right now, guys. Don't force my hand."

The leader of the squad closed her eyes for a moment, probably lamenting the loss of her teammate. Then, she visibly pulled herself together and opened them again. Her expression was grim, but otherwise she said and did nothing, only giving a look to her remaining comrades. Nobody said anything after that.

"You think they are properly cowed now, Fearless Leader?" Tayuya asked from next to him, giving him a slight grin.

"I can only hope so," He replied with a sigh as Nuibari flew back to him and settled on his back, held in place by its own wire. "Kabuto, make sure the rest of them follow that guy if they are stupid."

"Sure," The med nin nodded easily. Eiji felt the man's fingers twitch and the little puppet hands he had placed all over the place move accordingly, positioning themselves to better cover the Kumo squad's escape routes.

"Fu, Jirobo, be ready just in case they wanna fight instead of running," He ordered, receiving only nods from the two.

"What about me?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"You'll be practicing as we move, should be good for you," He said, receiving a groan in response.

"And what about Tayuya?"

"She'll be helping with your practice. You are on Genjutsu training duty," He explained, drawing an even louder complaint from the girl and a cackle from the redhead.

"Oh, Fearless Leader, you give the best of presents," Tayuya told him.

"Better than the flowers?" He asked with half-smile. The girl proceeded to glare at him, smile vanishing, even as her face went as red as her hair. The rest of the team did their best to hide their amusement. Last thing they wanted was to annoy her too much. Her Genjutsu was getting good enough that they didn't want to risk her being mad at them.

[}-o-{]

[Kurotsuchi]

"Things have been quieter than I expected," Kurotsuchi commented one day, during a break in everyone's training. The squad was sitting around a small clearing, Fu and Jirobo talking between themselves on one side. Although, maybe it was more accurate to say that the Jinchuriki was talking at the bigger boy, with him occasionally replying. Meanwhile, Kabuto was tinkering with his puppet projects. Personally, Kurotsuchi didn't much care for that, she didn't even like the idea after Sasori.

She couldn't very well order the second in command not to do it though.

Why Eiji had chosen him as his second in command was beyond her, but then again, none of the other members were very good options for the spot. Fu was new, so she was out almost immediately. That only left Jirobo and Tayuya. The boy was entirely too quiet to be a leader. And the girl…

Well, Kurotsuchi didn't even know why Eiji had decided to date her, if she were honest.

The Iwa ninja's eyes moved to the side, where the pair was sitting back to back. The redhead was, as usual, playing her flute while the leader of the squad idly drew on a notebook on his lap. It made for a peaceful sight, really, as did the rest of the clearing.

Kurotsuchi could almost forget that they were guarding the border of her nation and expecting ninja from Kumo to try to invade again. How they managed to be so calm, she could barely understand. They were ridiculously strong though and Eiji could keep an eye on things literally all the time with his clones and summons. It was honestly a little humbling. Not that she'd needed that, they'd left it clear, especially Eiji, that she was far from being in their league. She was getting closer to the team members though, if not their leader.

"Don't jinx us, Princess, or I swear to God you'll regret it," The team leader told her, not even looking up from whatever picture he was drawing. "I honestly expected this to be a lot messier, so I'll take this vacation if you don't mind. It's just a shame that there's not a city nearby, or even a town."

"To go on dates?" Kurotsuchi asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair. A slight smirk formed on her face as Tayuya messed up a note, twitching at her words. Ah, revenge was truly a very sweet thing.

"Yeah," Eiji replied with a nod, not even bothered by her words. That didn't really matter though, she was fine just bothering Tayuya. She was the one that was the most annoying, after all. "I've been doing a little scouting though, I might have found some nice places to visit."

"Fearless Leader," Tayuya grumbled, not even using Genjutsu to talk as she stopped playing for a moment. "We've talked about this."

"Hm, oh, I guess they could be date places too," Eiji said, looking up for a moment. "I meant as a team. You know, everyone could use some relaxation, I think."

"Well, I wouldn't say no to sightseeing a little," Fu pipped from where she sat, beaming at all of them as if she were the happiest person in the world. Kurotsuchi had learned that was her default look pretty quick. "Do you think we can race a bit?"

"Sure we can," Eiji readily agreed with a slight smile. With a hand sign, he popped a clone into existence before it immediately disappeared. "I'll have some clones look for somewhere we can go free run."

"You are the best, Eiji!"

"I sure am."

Kurotsuchi looked towards Tayuya, not because she thought the interaction should be worrying though. If anything, they looked more like brother and sister than any other thing at that moment. However, she was curious about how the girl took that. She seemed like the kind of girl that would get angry easily, especially with something like that.

"What are you looking at, Princess?" The redhead asked, narrowing her eyes at Kurotsuchi.

"It's just strange, whenever you stop playing," She replied, lying smoothly-

"She's probably wondering if you will get all jealous because of that interaction with Fu," Eiji explained with no hesitation whatsoever. That drew a snort from Tayuya, before the girl gave Kurotsuchi an amused expression.

"Ha!" She barked a laugh then, in the end not quite managing to keep it down. "Fearless Leader is too nice to do anything, honestly. And Skitter is too nice and shy to try anything either. I think I'm safe on that front," Tayuya told her. At her words, Eiji rolled his eyes while Fu looked away, her face beet red. The Jinchuriki seemed to want to protest those claims though, but there was no way of knowing what exactly she wanted to deny, really.

Kurotsuchi wasn't paying much attention to that either way. Instead, she focused on the look Tayuya was giving her, with a sharp smirk. Almost like she was challenging her.

"Tayuya," Eiji called then, without even elaborating afterwards, eyes back on his notebook once more.

"Oh, shut up, Fearless Leader," The redhead grumbled. "I didn't even do anything."

"Sure you didn't."

[}-o-{]

[Eiji Satou]

"Everything alright over there, Jirobo?" Eiji called from where he stood, unscrolling the message he'd just taken from a messenger bird that had promptly flown away. Although, the speed at which it did might have been because of the glaring Shirakumo on his shoulder.

"Just fine," The boy groaned, sighing resignedly as he saw the very amused expression on Tayuya's face. "Something we should know?" Jirobo asked then, turning towards him even as he continued massaging his sore body after the crash he went through while trying a new way of using his latest technique.

"Nothing important, really. More of the same things," Eiji told them as he read through the report he got from Iwagakure. They'd get one every few days, to ensure that they were up to date with the situation and what may happen. Konoha did the same really, but less frequently since they weren't in Land of Fire territory.

"So we can see the Fatass continue to smack against things?" Tayuya asked, almost giddy at the prospect. Eiji, meanwhile, simply looked towards the big guy.

"Depends, do you wanna keep trying or do you want to take a break?" He asked. Jirobo had been trying to get better at using his latest Earth Release technique, Rock Surfing. So far, he'd managed to get a handle on the roughest way to use it, which was to raise a platform from under him and shoot forward with it, leaving behind a wall of stone.

However, there was a more skill-demanding way to use the jutsu, which was to make a smaller surface to stand on and move around without leaving such an obvious trail behind. It'd probably always leave proof of Jirobo's presence, but so long as it wasn't a wall taller than a person, it was an improvement. That is, if he could manage to get it, because the boy seemed to have trouble splitting his attention between keeping his balance, moving and not leaving behind a wall.

"I'll keep on," Jirobo replied with a grimace that only grew worse when Tayuya cheered enthusiastically.

"Kabuto, is he fine?"

"Yeah, although, you have to be careful not to hit your head so much, Jirobo," The med nin said, receiving a nod in response. "So, what do we do while he's at that?" He asked, turning towards Eiji.

"You can continue tinkering and keep an eye on Kurotsuchi while she trains," The leader decided. "Tayuya can do some light sparring with Fu, you can use your Doki. It's been a while and they could come in handy." Both girls shrugged at that, turning to one another.

"What about you?" Kurotsuchi asked curiously.

"Eh, I'll see what I do," He said dismissively. "Might even get some training done myself. For the moment though. I'll be meditating."

And that's what he did, diving straight into his mindscape. Hachi and Kage were already waiting for him, since they knew he was on his way. As for, Tsuchigumo, the chakra beast promptly pressed her head against his chest. The poor thing was really missing him since he could visit less during missions.

"I missed you too, girl, have these two been behaving themselves?" He asked with a slight smile as he pet her between her wolf ears. She barked enthusiastically, almost preening. She was, evidently, very proud of having "kept the twins in line". He stifled a chuckle at that.

"So, I'm guessing you want to brainstorm regarding the current situation?" Hachi mused as a table appeared in between them with chairs and all.

"Yeah, things have been quiet and I really don't want to be caught off guard," He mused with a grimace as he took one seat, Tsuchigumo made herself smaller and smaller until she was puppy sized and jumped on his lap. "That's new," Eiji pointed out as he looked at the little chakra beast.

"She's been practicing that for a while," Kage told him with a slight smile. "As for what to talk about… Well, it's difficult to tell what the enemy will do. Especially since we have very little information. Taking into account what we have about our side of things though, With the Mist helping, Suna drawing into itself and Konoha and Iwa standing against Kumo…"

"We believe the Mist could be a target for Akatsuki. They've been weakened quite a bit. And while they have a strong home advantage, Akatsuki still has Kisame which basically negates that," Hachi took over then. "Suna should be relatively fine, with both Gaara and Naruto. They are stronger than one would think, definitely stronger than your knowledge says they should be from what we know. On top of that, Hiruzen has to have that extra covered. He knows what'll happen otherwise."

Meaning that Eiji would go ballistic. Everyone knew that, even the boy himself.

"Kumo itself has become a target due to their own actions. Having everyone against them has made it so that Akatsuki could attack them and they'd basically have an ally on everyone else," Kage mused, tapping on the table with his fingers. "That's really not good. Having Killer B active is a great boon for us. He's the strongest Jinchuriki around, so him being taken out of the board would be disastrous."

"We can only hope that Kumo will be able to keep him out of Akatsuki's hands," Eiji mused with a grim smile that turned amused when Tsuchigumo nipped at his fingers to get his attention back. As he started petting her again, he continued talking. "Yugito should be relatively safe in Konoha, no way Hiruzen's leaving that undefended. Onoki himself is guarding Han… And we have Fu with us."

"Again, the weakest is the Mist which… Is troublesome," Hachi said sighing tiredly. "The fact that Kagura isn't dead here is a problem. Especially because he's the only Jinchuriki the Mist has left. On top of that, nobody can really work with him in case of an attack. We still don't know how much of the Bloody Mist was Obito's doing and how much was himself."

"Hiruzen and everyone else has to know this too and we are far away from there," Eiji mused, looking up at the sky of his Mindscape. "We have to focus on what's close. Keep Fu out of trouble and be ready in case we have to help Onoki."

"True enough," Kage agreed with a shrug. "And keeping Kumo out of Iwa, since that's the main mission right now. However, that should be easy. Unless Killer B decides he wants round two, that is."

"So, how do we prepare for all that?"

[}-o-{]

Quicklime pooled under him in a small wave and Eiji had to jump to avoid being stuck in it. It was a great tactic, really, to make much of the surface around a no-no for him. Unfortunately for Kurotsuchi, she had teammates, which meant she couldn't very well cover as much ground as she would have. That was her undoing, really, which was precisely why he'd been trying to help her train to fight better with groups. It was a work in progress though.

As it was, Eiji's wires shot towards Jirobo and wrapped around him. It wasn't enough to restrict the bigger boy, but it was certainly enough for the team leader to pull himself away from the quicklime. 'Now I can continue fighting,' He thought with a smirk.

"Fuck," Kabuto cursed as he narrowly avoided Nuibari flying by from behind him while his eyes had been on Eiji. The leader, meanwhile, swung himself towards Fu, who received both of his feet right on the abdomen before she could react. Poor girl was sent flying against a nearby rock.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so much, she recovered instantly, rushing towards him with her Chitin Armor ready. Tayuya was evidently making sure she was in top condition even after being hit. Since she couldn't use Genjutsu on him due to Eternal Purge, she had to make do with helping her teammates instead.

Before his wires could reach the approaching Jinchuriki, they were intercepted by several clawed hands made of wood and metal. Evidently, Kabuto was playing interference with his "puppets" if the hands could be called that. The man seemed intent on working only with hands. He'd said a full body was a bit overkill for him and he was content having a few more hands at the ready in case he needed them.

Eiji could understand the logic there, really. As a medic, he supposed having a few more hands would be useful. Nevermind all he could do in the battlefield with those. It also had the added benefit of being stealthier than a full puppet. Still, he'd have to talk to him about maybe getting a few eyes and ears to see if he could do as Kankuro did and sense through them. That way he could also gain some help in regards to information gathering.

That was something for the future though, at the moment, Eiji was in the middle of a spar.

Dodging Fu, he proceeded to trade blows with her, carefully moving most of his wires to keep Jirobo contained. As for Kurotsuchi, he made sure to put Fu in between the Princess and himself. That way, she wouldn't be able to do much and would have to use her head in order to be useful. Kabuto, for his part, was too preoccupied trying to contain his remaining threads so that he couldn't inconvenience Fu.

Now he just needed to-

"Stop," He called and everyone froze where they were. Silence replaced the music and noise as Eiji closed his eyes. One of his clones had just popped and while that wasn't precisely concerning, this one had sent a distress signal of sorts.

He reviewed the memories instantly.

The clone had been just there, sitting with its eyes closed as it used Senjutsu to sense its surroundings. There were spider summons that he could sense, but most of them were outside of his range, acting as a net of sorts before they could reach its range or any of the other clones'. It was then, however, that one such spider came back inside and it wasn't alone.

The clone opened his eyes, sending another spider to communicate with the rest of the clones that it was going to break formation for a bit. Then it flickered towards the spider and what he soon found out was a Kumo nin. The man looked half panicked, and while that wasn't precisely surprising, the fact that he seemed more afraid of something behind him than he seemed to be about the spiders or the clone itself was telling.

"B-sama sent me," The man had said instantly once he noticed the clone.

"And what did he send you for?" It asked then, eyeing the Kumo nin suspiciously. That could very well be a trap, for all he knew. He wouldn't even be surprised.

"We are under attack. They were pushing him back."

Those were very concerning words, especially because Eiji could only think of a few people that could do that to Killer B himself. Most of them were nowhere close to Kumo though, so that left one particularly nasty group. 'Akatsuki' Eiji thought, his expression turning into a grimace.

"Fearless Leader?" Tayuya asked and he noticed that the rest of the squad had gathered around him. He still had memories to go through though.

"Oh? That's impressive," The clone had said, still distrustful. "Who could do such a thing?"

"I don't know who they were… They wore some kind of uniform, a black coat with red clouds on it," The ninja had said, half-panicked. "I-We could do nothing. When we tried to help we were slaughtered. B-sama said to come here, to look for you, Weaver. Please," The man said, kneeling to the ground and making the clone frown. "Please help, B-sama."

It could be a trap, yes…

But the clone had kept using Senjutsu through the whole thing with the remaining Natural Energy it had gathered. It knew, it sensed, that the man was being honest. That was bad, in numerous ways.

He had a mission, after all, and not following orders at such a tense moment was bad. It could work against Iwa. It could work against Konoha. And yet, when would he have the opportunity to take down another pair of Akatsuki with Killer B's help.

"Princess," He said, creating two clones. "You are going back home. Everyone else… Akatsuki is attacking Killer B," He said, making everyone stand straight. It was a good thing that they always held back when sparring for situations such as this. "You can come or you can go with Princess. Either way, decide fast."

"I'm going," Tayuya said instantly while Jirobo nodded immediately afterwards. Kabuto gave him a smirk without moving from where he stood and Fu chuckled.

"As if I'd miss this," The Jinchuriki said.

"Well, we don't call ourselves the Suicide Squad for nothing, I guess," Eiji replied with a wry smile. "Let's go."