Guren leaned against the wall of the darkish cold cave watching Yuki sleep. He was such a sweet little boy, she had felt guilty for killing his mother when she had taken him, but she had thought it would be better for him if there was noone left to mourn him when he was gone. So she had killed his mother, and was almost sick when she found a small infant in it's crib, crying for the mother that would never return. She had been about to dispatch the adorable little bundle when she had frozen, as images of herself when she had gone into labor with her own child flashed through her mind. Her baby had been still born, but this baby and Yuki no longer had a mother.

Her first thought had been to pick up both children and run, as far and as fast as she could. Her second thought had been one child for the life of the other, in her mind it was an even trade though it still made her ill to know that Orochimaru planned to kill Yuki. The pills that Kabuto had been giving the boy to help him summon enough chakra to control the three tailed beast; was eating away at his body more and more. She saw it every time Yuki collapsed from exhaustion, he was recovering slower and slower, a sign that he wasn't long for this world. And deep down she was pretty sure that he knew it. If Kabuto gave him anymore pills he would die.

She had been blocking Kabuto from doing just that for days, but the incident with the blond nin yesterday had lit a fire under the grey haired teen. He had been trying to force the damn pills down Yuki's throat when she came back to check on him yesterday. After pulling him off of the boy she had decided to stay with him, and was very glad that she had. Kabuto was a sneaky bastard. She had caught him trying to slip Yuki the pills in his food and drink, and had even caught him hedged into her and trying to sweet talk the boy into taking them.

Yuki rolled over onto his back and whimpered in his sleep. "Mommy." It was enough to help Guren make up her mind. As far as she was concerned Yuki was her's and she wasn't giving him up. Ever.

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Uzu landed on the lake surface at the same time Kakashi did. The numbness was slipping away a bit slower than she would have liked, but she was returning to normal. Her actions were no longer automatic, but as animated as she always was. Her formerly blank face marred by a scowl, as she sent her senses out into the waters under her feet and 'saw' rather than felt the three tailed demon as it swam. It could only go so far though since the lake was not it's natural habitat, and not big, or deep enough for it to live in. There was little fish life in the pond, certainly not enough to feed it. That must have been why it had come out of the lake two days ago, it had been searching for food.

Sending her senses even deeper, she pushed her conscious mind inside of the demons and nearly fell to her knees screaming.

Hunger clawed at her insides, spreading like flames through her body, such searing agony! She gripped the sides of her head and tried to breath through it, but the demon sent a mental push back at her nearly driving her insane as blood started to trickle down the sides of her face, out of her nose, and she felt the faintest little stream slipping out of her ears before she sent a painful push back at the demon and then slammed up her mental blocks. Cutting it's retaliation off.

An angry roar could be heard from the dark depths below them as they looked around nervously before looking at Naruto and seeing the blood on his face, as he gasped and suddenly staggered where he stood.

"Naruto?!" Shino was beside the blond in an instant, grabbing him by the shoulders, and forced his head back. There was a look of agony on his face along with what looked like blood red tears slipping down his cheeks, his eyes were glazed over and vacant. Shit, what was wrong with him? Naruto opened his mouth as if to scream but only a strangled sob came out.

Kakashi pressed the button on his radio receiver and spoke quickly to Shizune, informing her and the others of what had just happened. He was shaking. He noticed but then he wasn't the only one shaking. Sai and Shino were too, though they hid it better than he did. Shizune barked some orders at him over the radio and told him how to treat the blond, and as he reached out to take Naru from Shino the glazed look vanished from her eyes, along with the look of pain and she blinked up at the three of them as if she was just waking up from a deep sleep and said, "Tell the sealing team to back off."

He blinked at her opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay, when she grabbed his wrist and squeezed until he was sure she would break the bones under his skin. Something was wrong. "Tell them to back off, Kakashi. They cant seal the three tails."

"Why?" Shino asked curiously as he reached out to brush away some of the blood on Naruto's cheek, and instantly wondered if he still had the kerchief Hinata had given him; when his finger came away from his friend's face stained crimson.

Naruto looked at him and said something that turned the blood in their veins to ice. "The demon is starving to death, and if they try to seal it, well; guess what'll be on the menu tonight."

Kakashi stared at his Naru with a stupefied expression on his face before he became suspicious of her and narrowed his dark blue eye at her. How the hell could she know that? They certainly hadn't known. And they had been watching the damn thing for two days strait. Had she done some sort of jutsu that allowed her to see or feel what it felt? And if so was she still connected to it mentally? Would they hurt her if they tried to seal it away? Would it kill her if they killed it? Would it? His mind cried hysterically as panic lodged itself firmly in his chest, like lead fingers wrapped around his heart before he squashed the feeling ruthlessly.

Oh hell no, nothing was happening to his Naru! Not ever. Wait, his Naru? When had she become his Naru? He wondered as a snide voice in his head answered him. Since you saw her as the vulnerable female in need of his protection as she had been last night. Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?

Yes. No? I think I'm going crazy. Well it wouldn't be the first time he jumped before taking the time to see where he would be landing.

Uzu felt the arms of her former sensei tighten around her to the point of pain, and was trying her best not to read too much into the man's sudden interest in her. After all his sudden interest in her could be from several different sources. Curiosity. Worry. Desire. Instinct could even be playing a part in the sudden changes in his personality. Still it was difficult to be so close to the one that she had secretly loved for so long and not want the changes in him to be something significant.

He angled one of his arms so that his hand was tangled in her hair, pressing her face against his chest. She could feel the unsteady rythem of his heart under her ear and felt her fangs elongate until she some what resembled a saber toothed tiger in human form. And had to fight herself to keep from touching him any more than she already was. But it was so fucking painful that she silently let herself cry, while her face was hidden from him, and the others.

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After safely whisking Yuki away out from under Kabuto's nose; Guren ran across the waters of the lake and nearly tripped over her own feet when she heard an angry roar coming from under the water. Faster, must run faster. She thought as she sent chakra to her feet and sped away leaving a long trail of parted water in her wake. She had to hurry, and kill the leaf nins, so that she could return to Yuki before Kabuto found out the boy was gone. She just hoped that Yuki had actually listened to what she had told him and would stay put until she returned. God knew the kid had ADD in a major way, which was common for a kid his age, but irritating never the less.

As soon as Uzu felt better and had regained control enough for her fangs to shrink back to normal; she pried Kakashi's hands off of her and moved away, her shoulder brushing Sai's as she moved past him. She didn't look at them. For now she didn't really care that they were worried. Nothing mattered but what had to be done. Saving her son, doing her part for the mission, and then she needed to get the hell out of dodge. She was overly emotional, which meant bad things were going to happen if she didn't leave.

"Naru, are you okay?" Kakashi whispered in her ear. Turning her head slightly so that she could answer him without Shino or Sai hearing her, she was more than a little shocked when her lips brushed his masked ones, and time seemed to stop as she froze, and Kakashi palmed the back of her head and crushed their mouths together and ran his tongue over her lower lip before abruptly letting her go and stepping away. Looking as bored as he stared at her.

He noticed the blush that worked it's way to her cheeks, and almost purred out loud. Naru on the other hand looked like she was going to faint, and he found himself wishing that she would so that he would have an excuse to touch her again.

Uzu ruthlessly stomped down her fight or flight instinct, she was a ninja goddamn it! So she had misjudged the distance and kissed Kakashi, it wasn't like the two of them were going at it doggy style with Sai and Shino watching. Although that thought was for some reason; obviously very appealing to her. Wait, appealing? She looked away from Kakashi, and closed her eyes and sent her senses seeking inside of her body, checking each organ and it's function from the brain down, and found what she was afraid of. Oh god, she needed to get the hell out of dodge now! Her body was altering itself internally, sending an over abundance of hormones and pheromones into her body. Prepairing her body for mating, and reproducing.

Looking back at Kakashi she narrowed her eyes at him, he was still watching her. Was he reacting to the little bit a pheromones her body was putting out? And he wasn't the only one responding from the looks she was getting from Sai and Shino were any indication at all. It seemed like the three were responding to her, on a subconscious level. All three would fight to the death just to be with her. This was bad, no scratch that this was a fucking nightmare.