Nightfall By Freowin

Chapter 57 - The Akatsuki's Move

I don't own Naruto and I never have, probably never will. Can never tell for sure though.

Nightfall!

Chapter 57: The Akatsuki Move

"So do you know where have the others gone?" Itachi asked Jiraiya.

Both Yoinokuchi ninja were standing in the middle of the large mission briefing area. Jiraiya was flipping through the book with open missions that was kept so they could keep a track of where the others would be at any one time as well as letting the group brows the mercenary missions from their hideout without the need to visit the bounty office for any reason other than to collect their Ryo.

"Well from what I can make out, Gaara and Haku have gone west, close to the border getting rid of a small bandit problem for one of the villages out there. I don't have a direct location, but it shouldn't be too hard to find, just follow the sand" Jiraiya chuckled.

"And what about Fuu and Zabuza?" the stoic Uchiha queried.

"South of here, near the Land of Waves. There investigating the disappearance of several children from the area. Hm I think I will take that one" the Toad Sage replied darkly.

"It does sound somewhat familiar, but I doubt Orochimaru would be back operating in the Land of Fire. He is far smarter than that" Itachi said.

"You're right, HE is to smart to attempt to start experimenting in this country again. But that doesn't mean that people working for him aren't dumb enough to try" Jiraiya sighed.

"Alright, I'll go west and look for Gaara and Haku, and if I run into the Akatsuki? What should I do?" Itachi asked.

"Hm that is a tricky one to answer. On the one hand we don't want to start an open war with the Akatsuki, on the other hand however they are after the Bijuu which means they are targeting Naruto, Gaara, and Fuu. I would say do not engage if possible, but fight to kill if you must" Jiraiya said.

"Understood Jiraiya-sama" Itachi said and with a small bow left the room heading swiftly for the exit.

(Meanwhile)

Naruto, Akimi and the Team from Konoha were resting after their encounter with the Zombie Brothers. Asuma was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that he had been dead. In fact both Kakashi and Tenzo were marveling at the fact as well now that they had the time. "How did you do it?" Kakashi asked finally.

"Huh? Do what?" Naruto said scratching the back of his head in both confusion and embarrassment.

"Bring Asuma back, we saw him fall" Tenzo explained.

"Yes that is something I would like to know as well, one moment I'm in the after life. And the next back in my body and perfectly fine" Asuma added.

"Ah I summoned the King of Hell and grabbed your soul back before the Shinigami could judge you and allow your soul to move on. What you were experiencing was in effect a state of limbo. Some souls never move on, or are waiting for something and stay there for a long time.

"So you can just grab those souls and do what you please with them?" Kakashi asked.

"Sort of. There is a limit to what I can accomplish. I can't put a humans soul into an inanimate object for example" Naruto explained.

"That is incredible" Kakashi said in awe.

"I guess so, most souls move on pretty quickly, once they accept that they are dead. One, two hours tops" the blond said trying to play down just how impressive the jutsu really was.