[We should transport Isobu to his own temple. If we were to be caught then at least he would be safe.]-Matatabi
Veronica agreed with the suggestion. Not only was she, a missing nin now, and Matatabi already big targets for bounty hunters, Akatsuki and the hidden villages, there were also Shisui and Chomei with them. If something were to happen then it was likely that all of them would fall at the enemy's hands.
'I'll visit his temple and leave a mark there to teleport to.'
Matatabi created a shadow clone and confirmed the decision with her brother, who seemed excited to go back to his temple but also saddened at leaving 'his little humans'.
"You could take Pradhi and Taku with you actually. Whatever we'll be doing from now onwards will probably be too dangerous for them."-Matatabi
Chomei's tails flickered with happiness at that. The bugs also seemed to buzz with happiness and Veronica couldn't help but be curious as to how Chomei always managed to do that. It was as though the bugs thought of him as their parent, or perhaps a kind of deity.
"Oh I can?!! I just adore you Matatabi. Maybe I should get Shi-chan to tell me how he takes care of the children then. I wouldn't want them to be all sad because their parent can't take care of them after all!"-Chomei
Creating a clone to fetch Shisui from his expedition out in the forest, Chomei happily chatted with Matatabi's clone.
Veronica smiled at them once before moving towards wherever the children were. She knew that she had to be the one to tell them of the news.
It was easy to find them and even write down what they needed to see. It was not easy to see her family being sad over her leaving them again though. She did not like to make her family cry yet, in this world it seemed to be a curse following her.
She hugged them tight that day, and they also held her close. She did not when Shisui also came in to join the hug, along with Chomei and Matatabi but it felt nice to be surrounded by them all.
The next day, she set out to find Chomei's temple while sending a clone to Amegakure.
Chomei had said it was in the land of Bears, which was near Hot water and the Land of Lightning. She could teleport straight to Kumogakure however, that would require her to escape the newly enforced protection squads roaming around the village. So, she decided to make her way through Otogakure and then to Hot water.
If she was lucky then she would even be able to gather information from Orochimaru's hideout.
Crossing the Land of Fang to make it to the Land of Sound did not take much time and she decided to rest the night on the borders of the two countries before using the next day to cross Otogakure. It would have been her first time coming that close to a sanin so she decided to rest, instead of risking her life and using the night to make it to her destination.
[Apparently Shisui is also going somewhere, with his younger cousin.]-Matatabi
Veronica paused for a second before slightly sighing.
'Is there a shadow clone of yours left there?'
[Two more.]-Matatabi
Veronica closed her eyes for a second and thought of their future actions. If she could co-operate with Itachi then she would have a source of information from within the Akatsuki. Although she doubted she would particularly need it since she already knew quite a lot, but the 'when' and 'how' of their plans would always be nice to know.
'Make sure one survives there for now, we'll relay to them information on Otogakure.'
She decided to think about working with Itachi after she had reached Hot Water, for she knew it was better to focus on the danger in front of her.
--- --- --- --- ---
"So you found ******* nothing?!"-Nita
"Yes. Now I will be going to work on my puppets."-Sasori
Nita groaned and took the box left by Sasori on his table to Konan. They had started to make a good reputation and well paying jobs had soon found their way. It was not as though they particularly needed money but, to create an army of White Zetsu and make sure they come out good quality one needed a lot of chakra and materials.
They also needed to enhance their security in Rain as with the growing amount of Zetsu, and Pains, the stronger their presence to sensing ninja would be. Which could ultimately lead to an army of ninja attacking them and reducing their plans to dust.
"Have you seen Zetsu?"-Nita
Obito looked at Nita for a bit before shaking his head to indicate a 'no'.
"Where is that sh**ty Aloe-Vera sentient plant when you ******* need him?!"-Nita
Obito was sure Nita was comparable to Hidan at this point. He slightly wondered how the quiet and calculating child he had met that day turned out to be someone like him before shrugging it off. Kakashi had always been very dutiful and obedient as a child and now he was almost completely opposite.
Obito lightly smiled at that, before a sharp intake of memories flooded him.
Rin. He killed Rin. He does not deserve to be that happy. He deserves to suffer. He does not deserve the carefree life he has. He wants his Rin back.
The memories were always present with a voice. A voice not his own but he had long come to accept it as the screams of his heart.
He could still vividly remember how he held her cold and numb body.
"We need that girl alive. She's important."-Nita
Obito did not understand why exactly Nita had said that. Zetsu had enough knowledge to create his clones and it was all they needed to fight against an army. The Gedo Mazo was already unsealed by Madara with his Rinnegan and Pain would soon learn to use his eyes to have the statue and the Akatsuki members seal the tailed beasts inside it. So there was no use for a seal master.
Besides, with only limited knowledge of seals Nita himself had been able to create a splendid seal. He would likely qualify as a seal master himself.
"No, we need her eyes."-Nita
"Tobi doesn't understand Senpai~! What does Tobi need to do?!"-Tobi
Nita took in a deep breath and noticed Deidara coming in. He decided to explain things to him later on. It was better for only a limited number of people to know the totality of their plans. After all, people talk. They always talk.
"Nothing you ******* turd, just take these and give them to leader-sama. You can do that, can't you?"-Nita
Tobi salutes and runs off. Nita doesn't bother acknowledging Deidara and neither does the boy acknowledge Nita.