Jon and Sasuke were shaded from the falling sun by the branches of a small tree. They had found a quiet, relatively open place near a river. Sasuke was cuddled up against Jon's chest. She looked up at him, and asked, "you don't really believe that, do you, Jon-kun?" Jon brought a hand to Sasuke's cheek and leaned close, looking into her eyes. They shared a soft kiss.

"Of course not, Sasuke-chan. It's strange that our magic is powered by contemporary political irony, but I love both our heterosexual, and homosexual relationship," Jon told her. Sasuke smiled. She wrapped her arms around him, and placed her head against his chest. Though, when it comes to your personality, it is for very different reasons, Jon thought.

"Shouldn't we be getting back to the others?" she asked. "They must be worried."

"I don't think so. They're probably on their way to us, and this area is plentiful with fish," Jon replied. He placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the green leaves, and the pink shining through them.

"How are they going to find us? Hinata's Byakugan isn't infinite."

"Shino bugged us all. If what I know about the Aburame clan is true, they should be here soon enough."

"He did that?"

"I'd of thought, as his teammate, you'd of already realized that." A breeze rustled the leaves, and Jon glanced down at the top of Sasuke's head. He gently ran a hand through her hair, then grazed down one of the long tails with his fingertips.

"No, I haven't. I guess I've been distracted. Why wouldn't he just tell us?"

"I can't really say, but their techniques are pretty secretive, so as a ninja, and a teammate, he probably didn't see the need to. Your sharingan should be able to detect them, now that you're aware."

Sasuke's breathing had changed, and Jon realized she had fallen asleep. He shut his eyes, too.

Jon opened his eyes to darkness and the sound of a scream. "What the hell was that?" Sasuke asked. He felt her get up, and he stood, then shot a chidori blade at a couple tree branches. There was a second cry. "Was that Hinata?" Sasuke caught the branches and lit them using a fire jutsu. She handed one to Jon and began to walk towards the noise. Jon followed.

"I hope not," he uttered, thinking about her early release from the hospital.

As they grew closer to where the sound came from, they heard another cry. "That's definitely Hinata," Sasuke said. Jon didn't want to believe it. Finally, their makeshift torches revealed Sakura, Hinata, Naruto, and Shino. Sakura helping Hinata walk, but when she saw Jon, she glared and gently gave Hinata to Shino and Naruto.

"Jon!" she screached, trudging her way over to him. She slapped him across the face. "Where were you all this time?! Having fun with Sasuke?!"

"W-what happened to Hinata?" he asked.

"We were ambushed. She could barley defend herself!" Sakura explained.

"I-I..."

"Sakura, please stop. It wasn't his fault," Hinata said, her voice shaking. She was bruised and swollen, and there was blood stains in her clothes and hair.

"Like hell it wasn't!" Sakura raised her voice, but then looked at Hinata. Sadness filled her eyes. "This is the second time he abandoned his team, and the second time something terrible happened to you."

"I'm sorry Sakura, Hinata, I won't let it happen again."

"I didn't blame you last time, because that was different, but this time...where did you go? Why did you leave us? What was even going on with those Sand and Rain ninja?" Sakura asked.

"Are they okay?"

"We did what we could for those two Rain ninja, but we had to leave them when we were attacked," Sakura replied. "Now answer my questions!"

"He was helping Anko-sensei," Sasuke said. Sakura turned to her.

"And just how did he know Anko-sensei needed help?" Sakura asked. Sasuke had no answer to that. "Jon?" Sakura got up in her face.

"I can't say," Jon said, glancing away.

"Tell me, now! Hianta almost died!"

"I can't!" Jon yelled.

"Why the hell was Hinata even allowed out of the hospital if she wasn't healed?!" Sakura yelled. "Don't think we're so stupid that we're unaware that something strange is going on around you!"

"Stop it! Just stop it!" he shouted, activating his mangekyou sharingan. Everyone went still, and silent. After a moment, Sakura looked relaxed. "We have enough scrolls for both of ours teams, don't we? We should head to the destination as soon as possible and get Hinata treatment."

"Yeah," Sakura said. She looked a little confused.