Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Welcome to the new chapters of Ninja-! Well… it's not that title anymore, but you get the idea. Sorry for the late updates. My computer kept crashing and I lose data. So I forget what I wrote. Anyway, let's move on.

A figure silently walked on the dirt road and stopped to gaze up at the large gates of Konoha, not allowing anyone in or out. The figure, nonetheless, jumped high onto the top of Konoha's walls and stared down, slowly examining the ruins of the village. His mouth pull up into a grin.

"I found you… Kairen."

Kairen turned around at the call of her name. Mizu also stopped and glanced back to see Akio and Hiyony waving at them, calling out their names in order for them to wait.

"Kairen! Mizu! Tell Hiyony to make that damn squirrel give me back my fish!" Akio pointed angrily at Hiyony.

"…"

"Psh! You're just jealous because the squirrel has a cuter face than you do!" Hiyony pouted.

"THAT SQUIRREL WAS THE REASON YOU GOT LOST AND HAD ME GO LOOK FOR YOU TO HEAL KAIREN AND MIZU! BUT THEN I END UP GETTING CAUGHT BY MINAMOTO-SENSEI!"

"Are you fighting over me and Kairen's health, or are you fighting over the squirrel…" Mizu muttered.

"IT'S OVER THE FACT THAT I HAD TO SUFFER BATTLING ALL THOSE STUPID NINJAS! THEN MINAMOTO-SENSEI MADE ME SLEEP ON TREE BRANCHES INSTEAD OF MY BED!" Akio cried dramatically.

"Speaking of sensei," Hiyony completely ignored Akio's ramblings, "where's dull, boring, and late?"

"You mean Kakashi-sensei?" Mizu blinked. "I saw him with Michiko just this morning. Then the Emo King showed up, so I lost interest."

"Who cares about Butt Face! I haven't seen Naruto face anywhere!" Akio cried. "WHAT IF HE WAS ABANDONED SOMEWHERE IN THE FOREST, AWAITING A TERRIBLE FATE OF BUTT-!"

"Akio… if you say rape… I swear…" Mizu twitched.

"You know, you would think you would be more worried about Akamaru and Eskimo," Hiyony rolled her eyes. "Except for the fact that they actually managed to come out safe."

"The entire audience was safe…" Akio muttered.

"…Weird…" Hiyony blinked.

"I saw Naruto going somewhere with an old man with long hair," Kairen spoke up.

"Now you say something, Kairen?!" Akio grasped Kairen's shoulders. "DOES THIS MEAN HE'S BEEN ABDUCTED BY A PEDOFILE?!"

"Nope! I think the old man's name was Ero-senin," Kairen smiled happily.

Mizu stared.

"…Could Naruto really have been abducted by a pervert…?" she wondered.

"WE HAVE TO GO FIND HIM! NOW!" Akio panicked and ran off.

"Oi! Akio!" Mizu called her back.

Alas, Akio paid no mind to her and ran to everyone on the streets, wondering if they saw Naruto with and old man. Mizu sighed and turned over to Hiyony.

"Hiyony, go make sure Akio doesn't do anything stupid."

"Hai, hai…"

"And don't do anything stupid yourself," Mizu mumbled the last part.

"EH?! I'M OFFENDED! I'M NOT THE ONE THAT LET MYSELF GET KIDNAPPED BY A PEDOFILE!" Hiyony defended herself.

"Oh, scary. Be careful, Hiyony," Kairen waved.

Kairen and Mizu watched as Hiyony chased after Akio and waited until they were gone.

"So what's been bothering you?" Mizu spoke up without glancing at Kairen.

"Hmm? What do you mean, Mizu?" Kairen smiled at her.

"Don't give me that. Ever since the sudden war ended the Chuunin Exams, you've been more quiet than usual."

Kairen sighed.

"I just have this feeling. As if something else is going to happen."

"Something worse than the war?"

"I don't know. Maybe. The war was life changing for some, but… I just feel as if another life changing thing will occur."

Mizu stood there quietly.

"Kairen… did anything else happen in the Chuunin Exams that we don't know about?"

"Huh?" Kairen looked to Mizu suddenly.

"I remembered something strange happened to Sasuke. You said you would tell us about it, but it only seems like you're avoiding it. What was that? He didn't have it before."

Kairen hesitated. She knew that if she spoke about the Cursed Seal, she would have to talk about Orochimaru. And she knew how much Mizu hated the man.

"In the Forbidden Forest," Kairen began, "we met a ninja and it just got hard to defeat him and run away from him. Things happened so fast now that I think about it. It was a miracle that we got out alive. But that ninja left Sasuke something abnormal."

"This so called Curse Mark," Mizu concluded.

Kairen nodded.

"It… makes Sasuke act strange. It was like he turned evil. He acted almost like that ninja that attacked us."

"But during our fight with Gaara, Sasuke wasn't different at all. He seemed weak from it."

"That's because he was trying to suppress it. It sucks his Chakra like a leech. It's really creepy, Mizu… The way he acted. His Chakra was even purple looking."

"Who was the ninja that was capable of doing all that?" Mizu questioned.

"I don't know. He was an unknown shinobi," Kairen lied.

"Sounds like he has something he wants from Sasuke though. Kakashi-sensei might know who the ninja is. We should go ask him. Sasuke's with him too, so figuring things out might be easier." Mizu bought into the lie.

Kairen nodded her head slightly. She couldn't object to that because it would seem suspicious to not want to know who did it to Sasuke.

"We should try Kakashi's house first," Mizu began walking off to that direction. "If that ninja comes back for Sasuke, he might cause more chaos since no one would want to hand Sasuke over so easily."

But it's always about Sasuke, isn't it… Next thing you know, the whole ninja world would want Sasuke. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Mizu thought with a twitch.

Kairen laughed inwardly.

So she's still irritated with Sassycakes. But she's doing this because she worries about me.

Akio ran around the village, looking for Naruto. She even barged into the men's bathroom which earned a smack from Hiyony.

"It's not like they were attracted enough to stare at!" Akio slightly calmed down after searching half the village.

"That's not what I'm worried about from you. You would have probably started talking about stuff and scar them mentally for life," Hiyony answered.

"THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE OTHER SIDE OF LOVE, I TELL YOU! So clueless! So inexperienced!" she clutched her fist dramatically.

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT!"

"I know!" Akio instantly changed the subject. "Naruto face must be at Ichiraku Ramen! He's always there!"

Akio rushed off before Hiyony could reply.

"Ah… Hey, wait up!" she ran after Akio.

"JII-SAN!" Akio burst into the ramen shop.

"Ah, you're Naruto's friend! Oh? Both of you," he welcomed them with a smile.

"Hi, Jii-san," Hiyony greeted.

"WAH! HE'S NOT HERE!" Akio looked around rapidly.

"Who?"

"We're looking for Naruto," Hiyony answered. "He didn't come by, did he?"

"IT'S HOPELESS! HE REALLY HAS BEEN ABDUCTED BY A PEDOFILE!" Akio kneeled on the ground miserably.

"Oh, Naruto? He was here a while ago. He left with Jiraiya to do some training, I believe," the old man answered.

"Eh? Training?" Akio looked up.

"Baka! You overreacted for no reason!" Hiyony pointed at her.

"WELL ANYONE WILL ASSUME NARUTO GOT KIDNAPPED BY AN OLD MAN!"

"ONLY YOU WOULD ASSUME THAT!"

"That's where you're wrong, girls, Jiraiya may look like an old man, but he really is one of the three great legendary Sannin, one of the geniuses!" he chuckled.

"…That's nice. Jii-san, do you know where they went?"

"Hmm.. I think they were headed to a lodging town a little ways from the village," he thought.

"Right!" Akio ran off immediately.

"Ah.. Thank you, Jii-san!" Hiyony waved and ran after Akio again.

"Hey! Geez… Normally, you're supposed to eat a bowl of ramen to show your appreciation, you know!" he shouted after them.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Kairen was a little astonished to see him tiredly asleep on his bed.

"What's going on? What happened?" Mizu glanced over at Michiko.

"Nothing really," Gai lied.

"Don't worry about it," Michiko waved it off.

"But all the Jounins are gathered here, and Kakashi's completely out of it. Something is obviously going on here," Mizu persisted.

"Shh!" Gai shushed her.

Kairen and Mizu turned around to see Sasuke head through the door. He stared at them in wonder and looked over at Kakashi and all the Jounins.

"Kairen, Mizu. And all the Jounins? What happened to Kakashi-sensei?"

"Nothing much happened," Gai lied again.

"But-" Kairen began.

They were all interrupted by someone running up the stairs.

"Is it true that the Itachi came back?!" he blurted.

Gai scowled being that their cover was blown.

"And he's after Naruto?!" the ninja continued.

But he paused after finally noticing Sasuke standing in the room. Everyone went quiet.

"Baka…" Kurenai sighed.

"Itachi…?" Mizu murmured to herself, trying to remember that name.

But Sasuke remembered it perfectly. His face scrunched up in anger as he rushed out of the room.

"Sasuke?" Kairen muttered.

"Why did this have to happen?!" Gai whined.

"STUPID IDIOT!" Michiko threw her shoe at the ninja at the door.

"What's going on here? Who's Itachi?" Mizu asked.

"He's Sasuke's older brother," Kairen glanced at the door worriedly.

"Your power to mind read sure does come in handy, doesn't it?" Asuma shook his head.

"It has its disadvantages," Kairen shrugged.

"Sasuke's older brother… He's the one who killed his entire clan," Mizu recalled. "And he's after Naruto!?"

"Kakashi-sensei fought Itachi, didn't he," Kairen concluded.

"This is going to get out of hand!" Gai stood up from his seat. "I'm going to follow that boy!"

"What will you do if you're faced with Itachi and Kisame?" Kurenai asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gai looked at her seriously.

Kurenai waited with suspense, wondering what Gai would do. He suddenly moved into a position with his thumb facing her, grinning with shiny teeth.

"I'll use my Dynamic Entry!" he shouted proudly.

Everyone stared at him quietly as he ran out laughing.

"That weirdo. But we should follow him, too. Naruto might be there!" Mizu was about to run out.

"Mizu, wait," Kairen stopped her.

"What?"

"Let Sasuke handle this on his own. We shouldn't interfere."

"Are you crazy?! As much as I hate to admit it, but he's going to get himself killed!"

Kairen shook her head.

"Naruto is there with the old man, remember? And Gai already went after him. So they'll both be fine. Akio and Hiyony could help Naruto escape, too."

"If they find Naruto in the first place!" Mizu argued.

"You know Akio. She's stubborn until she knows where Naruto is." Kairen turned to all the Jounins. "We'll see all of you later. Maybe."

"If you happen to find Narutard anyway, give him a good whack for me," Michiko snickered mischievously.

"How can you joke at a time like this, Michiko…" Asuma sighed.

"Because I'm not old and smell like smoke!"

Something in Asuma broke as he sunk into momentary despair. Kurenai also sighed, but said nothing. Kairen and Mizu walked out, not wanting Michiko to say anything so harshly to them.

"How am I supposed to find Naruto face… IN SUCH A HUGE CROWD!" Akio yelled tearfully.

"URUSAI!" Hiyony shouted at her. "Naruto's probably staying in one of the inns! Let's just look around and ask people if they've seen him walking with an old guy."

"YOU WOULD THINK PEOPLE WOULD ASK QUESTIONS IF THEY SEE A KID WALKING AROUND WITH A PEDOFILE!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, THE MAN ISN'T A PEDOFILE!"

A figure ran past them, heading from one inn to another. Akio and Hiyony stopped to watch him.

"Hey… That looks a lot like…" Hiyony began.

"IT'S EMO PANTS! HAS HE COME TO RESCUE HIS BELOVED!?" Akio gasped.

"BAKA! NARUTO AND THE EMO KING ISN'T G-!" Hiyony paused. "NARUTO ISN'T GAY!"

They both noticed Sasuke panting heavily, a mixture of frustration and anxiety on his face. Sasuke stopped in front of an inn that had a mini water fountain with a red lantern flowing in the wind, causing the decorative face on it to twirl around. Akio and Hiyony glanced at each other, both gathering the same thoughts:

Sasuke was panicking while searching for Naruto.

They both ran in his direction as he headed inside the inn.

As they both walked down the streets, Mizu glanced over at Kairen, looking at her solemn face.

"Kairen…" Mizu spoke, startling Kairen.

"Y-yes?"

"Are you… You're not hiding anything else from me, are you?" Mizu asked.

"No, not at all, Mizu," Kairen smiled. "You're just being paranoid!"

"Yeah… I guess. The Chuunin Exams made a big impact after all."

"Everything will be fine, Mizu! I'm sure what I felt was just me being paranoid, too. So no worries!"

Mizu gave a small smile and nodded.

"Right…"

They both continued walking down the streets, not realizing an unfamiliar figure was following them both in the midst of the crowds.