Hey guys~its been a long time hasn't it? Well, heh, for those who still read this cobweb and dust covered story, thank you :]. BTW, this is not the official chapter, but I owe you guys, so I'll post this up. If you like it I'll try my hardestest to finish it.

Facing him was something she had always anticipated after she became a wanted ninja. Yet, as he stood in front of her right now, she had doubts. Was she really ready to fight him? Or was she afraid to lose? To die? These things used to seem so irrelevant. But, now, as she stood over her unconscious friend—and master—she felt very dubious. Not only did she have to protect herself, she had to save the person underneath her. She had to protect those precious to her; that was her ninja way, wanted nukein or not.

Like many times before, she was grateful she had a mask. Why? It helped to keep her away from those piercing crimson eyes. The black tomas spinning as if trying to hypnotize her. She bit her lip slightly.

Why!? Even after all these years, seeing him still made her react. After hiding her emotions for two years, he just conjures them up without her permission! It irked her to no end.

"OI…Sake…get your pretty ass outta my way."

Sasuke's ear twitched. His eyes narrowed.

"Bee?" she slid her eyes around in time to meet his, and her voice took on a mocking tone as he tried to stand, "Took you long enough you useless shit…"

Translation: I was worried dumbass!

He just chuckled at her words, already use to them.

She offered the hand tucked inside of her red cloak. A silver ring on her middle finger became visible as she stretched out her hand. As he grasped her hand, she pulled him up with a simple tug.

"Now lets get to business with these shitheads, huh?"

The group of four tensed visibly as Bee said those words. Suigetsu already had a hand on his gargantuan sword. Karin had a few shuriken in one hand and a kunai in the other. Juugo was tensed, but was holding back his curse mark—for the moment at least. And the Uchiha…being the passive and emotionally-retarded man he was, just shifted his feet by a miniscule centimeter.

Bee spoke, "You dare harm the mighty Bee-sama?! Get ready to feel the sting bitches!"

Bee turned around as he felt the rise in his drinking buddy's chakra. It flared around her like a shadow. Cold and menacing. Her chakra lashed out in barely visible whips of green.

She stretched out her hands, fingers apart, toward the Uchiha like a puppeteer. Said person just released his chakra in a glow of blue.

'Sake's serious huh?'

"Bee…go, I got the Uchiha, just take care of the others."

Bee just looked disappointed and pissed at the same time.

"But Sake—" he paused in mid-sentence as she glanced at him through the corner of her eyes.

"Go."

So this was the person she needed to face. Well then, there was no helping it since he knew her temper. So he'd just have to entertain himself with the small fries in front of him.

"Damnit Sake, you get all the fun ones huh!"

With that said, he lunged toward the five ninjas in front of him with a feral grin. His eight blades already flew in the air toward them as he surged forward.

Sasuke reached for the katana across his back, but his arm was jerked back by some force as he did. Bee flew passed him and clashed with a startled Karin, who yelped as he carved blade after blade into her skin. She just couldn't keep up with his pace.

Juugo and Suigetsu charged in to help her; Juugo in his curse form, and Suigetsu swinging his sword in a mad frenzy as he tried to find openings in Bee's stance. But it was to no avail as Bee slammed a blade into the hole in Suigetsu's sword. Successfully trapping him. Bee took the chance and kneed him in the abdomen, sending Suigetsu flying into the air. As Bee jumped up for another kick, Suigetsu only dissipated into a puddle of water as his kick connected.

---

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the person in front of him. Who had their head tilted slightly to the left. He could almost imagine the person smirking at him under their mask. The thought alone made him a bit annoyed.

Whoever he/she was, they didn't speak. 'Sake' just eyed him curiously with cold, jade eyes. He had expected them to brag or flaunt or boast at the position he was in.

With 'Sake' on the other hand, she was slightly surprised how much his chakra control had improved over the years. But, it was still nowhere—not even close—to perfect.

From there…it was just a staring contest with the occasional glare coming from the Uchiha.

Until Sakura suddenly felt something was wrong with the flow of his chakra. It flowed out of certain points…very concentrated chakra, almost as if he was performing a…jutsu!

She silently cursed herself for not noticing. She had been so focused on keeping him there, worrying that he would somehow just burst through with sheer chakra alone. Clearly, she had been training with Naruto too much in the old days.

She quickly released her chakra strings before his Raikiri shocked her into permanent oblivion.

How had he broken her chakra seals? Maybe she was out of practice. It's been a long time since she's fought a ninja of his caliber, and this was just the beginning.

Before this happened…

Sakura snarled under her breath as she lost the trace again. For Gods sake! How hard was tracking suppose to be? She had never been particularly good at tracking her targets. Maybe she had relied on Getsuei too much after all.

The thought alone made her depressed. How was Getsuei doing? Did he make it back? Was he attacked? What if the message was lost? Or worse, it could've fallen into the Akatsuki's hands!

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She should be concentrating on tracking; God knew she needed it.

Signed,
.

PS. BTW, I did notice that I kinda strayed from the "dark, hateful" Sakura, but please remember that even if she says she hates him, he stills affects her ok? I'm sure some of you guys have felt that with your ex's right?

ALSO! I'm probably gonna be more active…notice how I said "probably" so don't get your hopes up ^-^! But if I do become more active, I will be trying to update Tomboy VS. Playboy and Linking Chains. And maybe I'll post up some ideas that have been rotting on my hard-drive if you know what I mean ^^