A confidential scroll was held in the Anbu's hand. It was a seasoned ninja, one that had been Anbu for years, and they looked shaken. Hiruzen could only imagine what would be written inside. He held out his hand for the Anbu to drop the scroll into his palm.

The report was light. The information limited. Only a small sheet of parchment with a few words written inside.

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame have defected from Akatsuki.

Hiruzen's eyes snapped back to the Anbu, shock evident on his face. 'What ' how? '

'We began hearing rumors. People were seeing them in their villages or known hideouts. We were getting simultaneous reports of the two hiding out, but the places were too far away from each other for it to be possible. The one hideout we did manage to get to was destroyed. Crows were everywhere. '