Ahh… 10 reviews, see. And did it kill you to review?

Well, if it did, then sorry. Though if you're dead you can't really read this so… Anyways! I'd like to thank the following .-

Alita 'n' Emily, silverokami2009, , afrodude, 0.O, redfox-akatsuki, Lulusi227, Osiris Gainsborough, Bambi Birthday, sunshinelexi, XX Kaiko-Chan XX, Shizuka Taiyou, yuki973, Devil's Blade, MidnightNinja777, whatsername810, Animelover1112, lulla, Miss Peppy Red Head and OMG POOR ITACHI

And a special thanks goes to FlyPandaBear, KibaHinaLUV and their friends, for telling their friends about this story.

You guys are the best!

And now… what?... a disclaimer? What do I need a disclaimer for? If I owned Naruto then all the cute guys would always be shirtless and Sasuke would have run off with me instead of Oro… Serious? Ok, fine!

Disclaimer.- I don't, don't, don't own Naruto! You happy now?... Yeah, you too Glacia!

Chapter Seven

xX Game Master Xx

"Guys!" Came the sudden cry. "There's someone over there!"

'Oh, shit.' He gritted his teeth. 'That kid saw me.'

Forming the last seal for the Reanimation Jutsu, he turned on his heels and ran the opposite way.

"Hey, stop!"

'As if.' He smiled to himself.

If it were up to him, he'd stay… at least until the screaming began. But venturing out of the Master's chamber to set the reanimations in action was already risking too much and he had almost been seen, so staying there longer than necessary would have been like suicide.

But who was he afraid of? The players?

Of course not.

Even if they found him, they wouldn't stand a chance with their limited amounts of chakra. Besides, their destiny had already been set.

It was the Game Master he was afraid of. Him, and all those who had helped him build this place.

The perfect board for the "Game of Fear".

If he screwed up, if he changed the course of the game in any form, then the master would be displeased and upsetting the master was the last thing he wanted.

So he ran, as fast as he could. He ran through the darkness and beyond it, where the dim lights still shone awaiting the survivors of the dreaded third round.

The hallway went straight for the first two miles, then it took a turn to the left where, after running another mile, he found the giant metal doors that led to the fourth round.

He stopped before them and smiled to himself as he imagined what the loser would look like. Surely they wouldn't be prepared for what awaited behind those heavy gray doors.

But the fourth round could wait. Right now he had to go back as soon as possible or else he would completely miss the current round.

"One, two…" He counted as he stepped back from the door. "… five, six, seven!"

With this he slammed his shoulder against the wall to his right and the metal plates there crumbled like plaster, revealing a narrow, dirt-floored passage.

He stepped through the wall before it began repairing itself, then he sprinted through the twisting passage until he reached the high-ceiling cavern to which all the other secret paths were connected.

He walked to the far end of the cavern, where he found the stairs that led up to the Master's chamber. Here he was forced to slow down his pace since the uneven steps, carved on the rock wall itself, would not allow him to go any faster without stumbling and breaking his neck.

After climbing over 200 steps and losing his balance more than once, he finally reached the top and headed for the door to his left. He tried to go unnoticed, but even so all heads turned his way as soon as he had opened the door.

Six glaring pairs of eyes, all staring accusingly at him.

"What just happened back there?" She demanded instantly.

"I just…" He shrugged as he stepped inside the roughly-built, dungeon-like chamber.

"You were almost seen!" She said dramatically.

He couldn't see her face since she was just a dark silhouette casted by the dim light from the innumerable monitors set on the walls, but it wasn't hard to imagine what her expression might be at this time.

"Almost." He empathized the word. "Its not as if they'd actually seen me or any…"

"That's not the point!" She spat. "You could have ruined the game! If they had caught you then all our fun would have been over and…"

"Enough." Came a quiet voice from somewhere in the room. "I can't hear well with all this shouting."

The Master's voice, though it was not high or threatening, was enough to remind her that she was NOT the one in charge. Still, it was not enough to shut her up for good.

"Sorry Master." She apologized softly. "It's just that he screwed up real bad and almost ruined your game. You shouldn't have to put up with this, should you?" She walked behind his chair and lowered her head next to his. "Let's feed him to the beasts, why don't we? That way we won't have to worry about him screwing up any further."

The Master heard all of this and chuckled, which made his blood chill.

"My dear…" He blinked at her. "I decide who the players are, not you. Don't make me remind you this again."

"…" Quietly she went back to her chair and slumped there, staring bitterly at the cruel scene that played in one of the monitors.

Rule number one of this game.- All lives are in the Master's hands, not yours.

Rule number two of this game.- All lives are in the Master's hands, even yours.

Even though he was still a bit shaken, he couldn't help but to smirk. A smirk that, unfortunately for him, didn't last long.

"Ooooohhh!" Shouted one of his crew. "That's some bad shit!"

He turned his eyes towards the monitor they were all watching, just in time to see one of his "dolls" being partially beheaded.

"Ooowch!" Came the collective cry, as if they were watching a soccer game rather than human mutilation.

'Come on.' He mentally willed her to move since the second one was not responding, even though she was "supposed" to be more functional. 'Don't do this to me.'

When he finally got her to move, he dared think that it would turn out okay, but it only got worse.

He watched in horror as his creation was completely beheaded, then reduced to a pulp and then, when it all seemed to have finished, the worst happened.

His last reanimation got her memories back.

"Call her." The Master hissed as he got up to leave the rom. "And meet me at the lab once you get her back."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"I'm so sorry Master." He apologized as he kneeled on the floor next to his now-completely-useless doll. "I swear I used the normal procedure, I don't know what went wrong."

"Well, that's the problem with reanimations." The Master sighed. "Unless you completely destroy their memories, they always end up remembering who they were. I'm just surprised this one remembered so fast."

"Same I was thinking. I didn't have any trouble with the other one since she no longer had a brain, but this one seemed reluctant to forget. She put up quite a fight when I called her back, too."

"Well, it was a minor slip, so let's forget it for now."

"Thank you Master." He bowed his head gratefully. "I promise I won't fail again."

"Well… no one died in this round so I AM kind of disappointed." He knelt next to her and checked her hands. "But I did get something I wanted, so it wasn't a complete failure."

"Something you wanted?"

For all answers, the Master just smirked, then he walked to one of the experiment tables where a small body laid under a blood-stained white sheet.

"Tell me about the guide. Is she ready yet?"

"No, not yet." He got up and stood next to the table. "I've finished retrieving her old memories, but it's not easy to implant new ones and since she's meant to serve as a guide and answer questions, I still need to…"

"When will she be finished? Give me a date."

"Uh… two days Master." He gulped. "Three days tops. She'll be ready then."

"Hmm… sounds well. I'll need to do some changes in the game then." He turned around and headed for the door.

"Master?"

"Yes?"

"What should I do with her?" He looked over to the blond corpse that laid sprawled on the floor.

"Ugh." He wrinkled his nose at her. "Take anything you might need and feed the rest to the beasts. And make sure the guide is fun to watch and functional, I don't need any more mistakes."

"Yes Master." He bowed as the Game Master closed the lab door behind him.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Vianey.- Oh, that guide better not be who I think it is!

Ten.- Oh yes, she is. I asked her and she agreed right away. The conditions are that she won't have to send any more videos or write any dialogs, which is fine for me since that is mainly Fubuki's job.

Glacia.- My job, yes. But I could use some help too, you know?

Ten.- Oops, I'm not listening!

Vianey.- So, what ridiculous amount of reviews are you going to ask for this time?

Ten.- Well, this is chapter 7 and it was really short, so I guess 7 will be okay. I just need to buy some time to finish chapter 8, which I still need to start… heh,heh.

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