Kakuzu was sitting in tavern of a small town while preoccupied with thoughts of future. Things were becoming complicated as he continued to come across one threat after another. Honestly, there was a lot going through his mind. There were many things that he didn’t know, and the lack of awareness bothered him. It could result in a mistake he couldn’t afford.

Exploring the world with its people and places was not a bad idea, but it was impossible to have a clear mind when a looming threat was always occupying his thoughts.

Looking at the festival that took place in a town helped to distract him from those thoughts, but that wasn’t why he came here for. His goal was to confirm something. Though, the festival did help to lighten the mood. Even though this wasn’t his real body, the feelings were real enough. After all, who could stay emotionless when people with bright smiles decorated their houses and streets, or when parents and kids went around through the town, enjoying the various events hosted by the vendors. Kakuzu thought that only heartless person could maintain the poker face. And Kakuzu was a man with a good heart. Five good hearts, to be specific.

Terrible jokes aside, Kakuzu returned his attention towards the local lord’s mansion. He was no sensor, but he was skilled enough to sense when someone entered and left the building.

The lord was a young boy who, rather than being an actual lord, was appointed for just sake of formalities after passing of his father. It was no secret that mist matters were handled by his mother.

The young lord was hosting a festival, celebrating the founding of the town, while also inviting representatives from nearby territories. However, the newly appointed lord’s influence was not strong, and it seemed that there were some complicated matters going on with succession issue. Not that Kakuzu cared about it much.

In order to make sure of his son’s safety, the lord's mother had hired guardians. And that’s where Kakuzu’s target came into play.

Inside the mansion, not far away from the mother and child were people who at one glance resembled their servants. But that was just a disguise. The true occupation for the four were of shinobi from Konoha, team guy to be specific.

He had some suspicions for a while now. A few months ago, things were going according to the original timeline. There were no major differences nor events that could cause massive consequences that he knew of. However suddenly changes began to occur around the time as he was dropped in here. It didn't take a genius to put a two and two together. The changes were too significant to just chalk it up to a butterfly effect. Either his arrival caused things beyond his comprehension to kick off, or there were others like him, who were not from this world.

Kakuzu observed the mansion while enjoying the booze. The alcohol was barely affecting him even with this body, but he enjoyed the feeling. He waited for several hours while the team organized matters and the plan of action in case of attack. Then, the kids exited the mansion while Guy stayed to keep the lord safe. The three had been given an assignment to scout out the area and familiarize themselves. They divided to cover more, each of them going in the different direction.

Kakuzu stood up while he kept his focus on Tenten walking towards the market area. He had to have a talk with her. His goal in coming here was to confirm her true identity, after all.

***

Her heart beat fast and her mind was hazy. The nervousness was to the point that she had to remind herself to breathe. Tenten forced her mind to calm down as she tried to not be affected by the aura that the man in front of him radiated. This person was dangerous, her enhanced sensed were sharp enough to catch that, even if the man tried to hide it. Fortunately, she hadn't sensed any killing intent, allowing her instincts to relax a bit.

So, there were others like her. It made sense. Tenten tightened her grip on the tool she was holding. She wasn't sure if that was good thing. That- that would change a lot of things. On the one hand, if they were willing to cooperate, they might avoid the crisis altogether. They could pin the threat before it grew out of the proportions

However, if those people lacked the common sense, if they tried to focus on their benefits without taking the consequences into the account… the potential threat would be larger than Akatsuki. If they all held knowledge that they could abuse… she didn't even want to imagine what kind of a mess the world might turn inti.

“Keep this in case you'll need me.” The man's word brought her from the stupor. “Just infuse chakra into it and it will establish a communication line.”

She nodded warily, taking small bird-like puppet from his hands, still unsure if she could trust him. She hoped her gut was right and the man meant no harm. Cooperation would make things much easier and more efficient, after all. And as the man seemed to be quite strong, maybe she could get his help to gather the weapons faster than she planned to. Though, revealing her ability like that was risky. Then again, the man seemed to be willing to help her out.

Her brain was going into an overload and she sighed internally. It was a bad habit of her. Most of the time she was calmest person in the room, but the moment something unexpected happened, her mind would go haywire, even if it was pointless endeavor. There was no use overthinking the situation when there was no decision to make. The man simply asked her some vague questions and then hinted at her about being an otherworlder, and it didn't take long to realize each other’s identity. After that, the conversation didn't last long. He simply explained few things to her and asked her for her situation. It… honestly seemed too good to be true, but she could only stay vigilant in case there was some hidden agenda that she was unaware of.

“Alright. I'll notify of if some change takes place.” She finally replied. “Though, as I said, I don't really remember details of the story, some things may have already flown under my radar.”

“That's fine.” The man simply nodded. “I have few things to take care of right now. Keep in touch, we might need each other's help faster than we expect.”

That… seemed ominous. She understood that there were other elements that complicated the situation, but was it that bad? A threat that required a shinobi at the level of Kage to solve… yeah, she should just train and get strong.

She stood there, buried into her thoughts as she watched the man leave. It took some time to remember that she had been on a mission here. She shook her head and hardened her resolve, just standing around would do her no good. There were lot of things she had to get done, and the deadline only kept being pushed forward.