I FINALLY COMPLETED THE SERIES! ... Just joking. Just chapter 7 ^^. Sorry it took so looooooooong, I'll try to be more speedy with the updates, but unfortunately, my mum has limited my internet time to TWO HOURS PER DAY. . Tis a tragedy indeed. I'll really try my best to be faster in updates xD

Thank you all in the reviews! 71 REVIEWS, I couldn't believe it ^^

Hope You Enjoy!

COMMENCE CHAPTER 7!!!! FINALLY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto ~weeps~ ... but I DO happen to own these chocolate seashells ~drool~ ...


~ChApTeR 7: ThE NeW DrUg~


Beep.

Beep.

I blearily opened my eyes before quickly shutting them again. Even the eerie light from the room gave me a raging headache. I desperately wanted to shut the stupid machine off. The sound echoed in the room, driving me crazy. On the bright side, there was sound. I sniffed. The unique smell of cherry blossoms had drafted into the room. I was definitely back in Konoha.

"Sakura-chan! You're awake!" Only Naruto would say something so blatantly obvious.

"Of course it's me," I croaked, trying to spread my lips into a smile. I slowly reopened my eyes, feeling a little more comfortable. Naruto's shape blurred before focusing.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" He leant over, blinking his large eyes, "Are you hurt?"

I lifted myself up, feeling a jolt of pain run through my heavily bandaged stomach. Ouch. "Baka," I said softly, wincing a little, "If I wasn't hurt, why the hell would I be in a hospital?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, running a calloused hand through his hair, "So, Sakura-chan," he leaned in close, a mischievous smile on his face, "No offense but you almost died." His eyes widened considerably, "Did you see your life flash before you? Did a shinigami visit you?"

I weakly whacked him on the head, grinning, "Baka. Just the usual faint and black out." Then, I suddenly remembered, "Uchiha." I looked at Naruto, feeling a little panicked, "Where is he?"

Before Naruto could answer, Kakashi wordlessly stepped in.

"Out." He said casually, "It's my shift."

"Aw, but –" Naruto pulled a face at him, "You owe me some ramen then sensei."

Kakashi shrugged, pulling out the ever-so-loved Icha Icha Paradise book and thumbing through the pages. It was quiet for a long time, hardly any movements – apart from my eye twitching and a perverted smile on his face from time to time.

"Where's Sasuke?" Well. I didn't care. Of course not, but surely it would suck if I almost lost a life to a guy who had skedaddled in the end.

"He's in Konoha," he said vaguely, eyes still glued to the book, "But under ANBU supervision again. But he's fine."

I scowled, bunching the sheets up in my hands, "ANBU supervision? Why?" I almost feared the answer.

It took a few minutes for him to reply, being distracted. "Well, let's just say, after you were taken back by Gai, things got a little hectic."

"How hectic?"

No answer. I drummed my fingers on the sheets, but it was as though he hadn't heard me, which could very well be the case.

"Don't ignore me damn it!" I screamed, swiping the offensive book from his hand and holding it out of reach, "I asked you a question!"

Kakashi pouted, folding his arms, "I'm not gonna say anything until you give me the book back."

I narrowed my eyes, making a show of bending my fingers. A slight crunching sound made him look around desperately.

"Okay!" He sighed, "Hey! Be gentle with that! That's a special edition!" He caught my glare before shrugging, "Well. For one, the water freak and the curse seal dude took an extremely hard beating. Which landed them straight back into prison under three times the security they were in last time. The medics were to visit them inside their cell. I believe it was multiple bone fractures, first degree burns and a few other things."

"And the girl?" I asked, lowering the book slightly because of the pain in my stomach. I saw Kakashi eyeing the book carefully.

"She lost her hearing."

My eyes widened. Lost her hearing? But then again, I did practically shatter everything inside her ear. A twinge of guilt must have shown on my face because Kakashi ruffled my hair in consolation.

"Don't worry," he drawled, quickly reaching an arm out to grab the book, "You've just eliminated a threat to Konoha, it's gonna take her a while to regain her balance. As a result, Tsunade sealed off all of their chakra's. Temporarily."

I flinched. I knew how much chakra that would eat up. No doubt Tsunade-sensei is like the living dead right now. "What of the Uchiha's sentence?" I asked grudgingly. Why I suddenly had so much interest, I don't know.

"Naruto was always watched, he's still quite unstable with his power. But it's not much to fret over. Sasuke's sentence won't be extended in anyway; it might even be shortened considering that he attacked a former teammate in the mission. Aw, poor Sakura, you sound so worried."

"I'm not worried about Sasuke," I scoffed, "He could jump into a ditch for all I care."

"Is that so? Then why did you take the sword? You could have let it plunge right through him. " Kakashi clearly enjoying this. No doubt, he thought that I was smitten with the Uchiha again. I racked my brains for something to make him think otherwise.

"Well, it would have been a pain trying to heal him," I replied, easing myself back onto the bed, "The sooner he's out of my house, the better."


"Enter."

I pushed open the doors, Sasuke, Sai and Naruto trailing after me. To my surprise, Kakashi was already present. Tsunade nodded at us, then at the seats in front. Naruto and I exchanged glances, what was it this time?

Tsunade glared at us all as we sat down. "Kami I hate it when I have to call on you guys in particular," She grumbled, "Always means more paperwork, less parties, more overtime, less gambling. Shizune breathing down my neck every second. The only good part is the sake to cover the damn grief and stress."

"We feel stressed and full of grief looking at your face baa-chan. You always lose at gambling anyway cause you're so unlucky." Naruto grinned cheekily.

"You better hope I don't seal your mouth shut one day. I want you out of my office as soon as I can," her tone changed, "Unfortunately; we have some very serious matters to discuss. The missing nins that were retrieved," she said, picking up a thick report, "they were of course sent back to prison, courtesy of you five. However, extensive medical were carried out. There seems to be a sort of chemical in their bodies which not only triples their chakra, but also seems to give them high pain tolerance as well as fast recovery times."

She paused briefly. I remembered how Karin seemed to be unaffected by a direct hit to the face.

"A new drug. So, what, you want us to find a cure?" Naruto asked.

"No, I do not Uzumaki. If you cared to shut that mouth for even five seconds, you would know exactly what I wanted." Tsunade glared at the said person, "What I want is for you to eliminate the source."

"Why not just find you a sample? Less hassle." Sai interjected.

"Every time I have to speak to you people, I always get an annoyingly painful headache. So many questions." Tsunade grumbled, and then sighed, "A counter drug, what use would it be? We cannot waste time in battle to inject every member with a counter drug, and then continue to beat the daylights out of them. That would waste time. It would be easier to just take out the roots from the beginning."

"Well, do we know who's responsible?" I asked, trying to squash a bad feeling that was starting to rise.

"Yes. We do as a matter of fact. One of the missing ninja's spoke the name under interrogation. Kabuto."

It should have come as a shock. But somehow, all of us were rather expecting it. With such an advanced chemical on our hands, he seemed to be the prime suspect.

"I want you to track him down. This mission is hard. And we cannot risk a large group going out a once. Kabuto is very cautious, almost paranoid. He will proceed to give out as much of the drug as he can. And if they reach the hands of the major members of Akatsuki. Things will get extremely ugly. So, I have chosen two members from your cell to take part in this mission. Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."

Great. All hail the bringer of the worst news in the century. I think in the future, I should keep away from these meetings as often as possible, since almost EVERYTIME I have entered this damn office, there's always been something thrown on me. The Uchiha comes in the package. No refunds. Cannot be returned.

"What?!" Naruto looked ready to leap out of his seat, "That is so unfair! Why not me? The teme is practically under house arrest!"

"Because Kabuto will definitely be looking for a useful subject who he can use to further his experiments! He is the perfect bait!" Tsunade snapped back, equally furious, "As a kyuubi container, sending you out there will end in a disaster! Akatsuki and other organisations will be involved and we cannot lose you. This mission will be discreet and as tactful as possible."

"Why Haruno?" The Uchiha spoke beside me, sending a course of anger down my spine, "Why not Uzumaki though? He is clearly strong enough, and Akatsuki will have no time to get involved if the job is completed quickly."

"The fight with Kabuto will be long and tiring. A medic is vital. Sakura is one of the best, unless you want to walk in there without comfort that someone might be able to bring you back to life from an inch within death." Tsunade pursed her lips, daring anyone else to comment.

"He might be hiding in a base." Naruto offered stubbornly, refusing to budge from his own argument, "You'll need more people if you want to infiltrate a base."

"Shut it Uzumaki," Tsunade glared, "Give me some credit. The ANBU have thoroughly scouted all the areas. Many of them have reported sightings of Kabuto in various villages. The times were sighted shows that Kabuto could not possibly have returned to a base and travel there straight after. No base will accept him."

I could only shake my head in disbelief. Why did she not send ANBU? Why us? I voiced my questions.

"ANBU? Kabuto knows every single ANBU in the book. Plus, it's easier to provide a cover for two people. Any more complaints before I kick you all out of my office?"

Silence.

"I thought as much." Tsunade leaned back, "Furthermore, the time limit for the mission is one week. After that, the chemical has to be removed from Kabuto's system and cleansed. By then, there is no doubt that Kabuto will have found a way to improve the chemical. And there will be no chance to extract it then."

"What are we here for?" Kakashi asked lazily, Sai looked like he was going to fall asleep, "If this only included Sakura and Sasuke, what were we called for?"

"To know, that if anything should go wrong, you three will be immediately called – regardless of what you're doing to provide reinforcements. In those situations, brute force can be used." She turned, "Sakura, make sure the Uchiha doesn't do anything stupid. Uchiha, you have to know we are trusting you big on this one. If you screw this up, I won't be able to protect you from anyone. But then again, most likely you'll be dead."

Such a pleasant thought, I'm a babysitter even on a mission. I nodded to Tsunade, who was still using her serious face. But as soon as the door shut I could hear her yelling at Shizune.

"Shizune! Give me some sake!"

"Hell no! Finish your paperwork first!"

"Damn it! Give me the key to my sake cabinet!!"

Shizune yelled back more profanities. Some things just never change.


"Well, good luck Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned, giving me an enthusiastic hug, "If Uchiha says anything you don't like, does anything you don't like, I'll personally tear him into little bits for you."

"Thanks Naruto." I laughed, glancing at the brooding Uchiha, "But why don't you do it now? Saves you the trouble later."

"Yeah, I really want to go," Naruto grumbled, before brightening up, "But guess what? I HAVE A DATE!!"

My eyes widened. There was someone who wanted to date this ramen crazy person? I tried to keep my voice level and not too excited, "So, who is it?"

"Hinata-chan!" He grinned, but looking a bit shy. I almost clapped with delight, thumping him on the back enthusiastically, feeling my face stretch to impossible limits as I grinned.

"Took you long enough!" I beamed, taking in his confused look, "Oh come on Naruto-kun, don't tell me that you actually haven't noticed all these years?"

He looked even more confused. I shook my head, amazed once again at Naruto's utter ignorance. Uchiha made an impatient sound, I turned to glare. Giving Naruto one final farewell hug, I followed Sasuke into the forests.


By the time we reached the town, it was just before sunset. Sasuke and I were disguised painfully as a newly wed couple. I swear that Tsunade sensei gets her kicks out of watching me twitch with embarrassment. Maybe it's her subtle way of telling me that I can actually beat some sense into the Uchiha? I might never know.

No one in the council knew we were here. It was too risky. Our cover story was an A rank mission recorded on the confidential record scrolls which we were sure Kabuto had access to. If we brought back nothing from this mission, Tsunade would be in a lot of trouble.

"Yes, we're new here," I smiled sweetly at the receptionist, trying to keep the brown strands of hair out of my face and awkwardly linking an arm through Sasuke's. The receptionist tried to take her eyes off my 'husband'.

"One room?"

I glanced at Sasuke. He hadn't bothered to disguise much. His features remained the same, just with a difference of reddish, sandy hair. He regrettably, still looked rather attractive. I looked at the doting receptionist, who was sure taking her time fishing out the keys.

She 'accidentally' brushed his hand while handing him the keys and fluttered her eyelashes at him. I almost laughed out loud. The Uchiha looked like he wanted to go disinfect the hand immediately.

"Between you and me," I leaned in, putting my elbows on the table in front, making her jump with surprise, "he's not your type."

She gave me an annoyed look, as if measuring up how to 'break us up'. Sasuke turned his focus to me. Oh, this was going to be good. I started twirling the key around my finger, smiling. If Naruto was here, he would have loved this.

"You see, he's not my type either. I was forced into this marriage in order to pay for my family's debts. But, no one ever told me that he wasn't into girls at all."

Her eyes widened, flickering towards Sasuke who had frozen with shock. "You mean?"

I nodded gleefully, yet tried to remain sombre. The girl looked extremely panicked now, staring at Sasuke with a wide open mouth. I had to work really hard to not laugh.

A hand grabbed me roughly around the arm, "Forgive her," Sasuke said smoothly, "She's had a little too much to drink. Leaving her hometown was hard on her."

And rapidly whisked me away to our room. As soon as the door closed, he turned to glare at me. I released my Henge jutsu and pretended not to notice.

"Why did you do that?" He growled. Since Tsunade and no one else were here, I decided it was the best time to give him a piece of my mind.

"I am sick of you trying to keep up your little image and worm your way back into Konoha." I was seriously tired of it. And now, I felt everything just spilling out. "I bet you were surprised weren't you? You thought I was really going to forget and forgive everything that you did in those years and become lovesick Sakura all over again." I stared right into his orbs, in a completely different way than how I would have done four years ago, "But you're wrong. I can never forgive or forget what you did."

He blinked once before turning away. I resumed packing my clothes.

"If we want to complete this mission, we have to work together. We're a team."

"I don't think you are in any place to tell me that!" I retorted, "I think that you need to know where you belong once and for all, Uchiha."


Night fell. The sky wasn't as beautiful as it was in Konoha, but it was still nice to look at. After our little 'conversation', Sasuke had said nothing.

He sat on the bed quietly, and I had the urge to kick him straight off and throw him out the window. We hadn't even discussed the sleeping arrangements, and I didn't want to talk to him at all.

But I couldn't fall asleep.

"I couldn't do anything."

I blinked, turning over to face Uchiha's back. "What?"

"I couldn't do anything." He repeated, his voice a little muffled, "Orochimaru had complete control of my curse seal and my mind then. It took me almost a year to break through mentally."

"Don't make excuses." I snapped, turning back.

"I'm not. I am merely clearing up a misunderstanding."

I didn't answer after that. But I didn't know what to do with his answer either.


"This is useless!" I slumped after our three hours of scouting. "We'll never find him!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but remained quiet. I could have just knelt and wilted and he wouldn't have cared. An ink bird floated out of the clouds and landed on my shoulder.

"Ugly. Ugly." It squawked, before disintegrating into a single strip of paper. Damn it Sai, but on the contrary, I couldn't help but smile.


"An ANBU has spotted Kabuto heading towards the borderline of Mist."


I gave an alarmed look to the Uchiha, who returned it. Immediately, we grabbed all items which may prove to be useful and took off. The Mist was about ten minutes off. If we didn't run fast enough, we wouldn't make it.

It was annoying, trying to keep my face still so the headband wouldn't fly off. Uchiha was calmly jogging alongside, looking as though it was no trouble at all. I gritted my teeth while trying to increase my speed. A small amount of chakra leaked into my eyes, around ten miles, straight ahead. Kabuto waited patiently beside a lone tree. This was the first time that he had been spotted, even though Sasuke and I had scouted the area for three days. Time was already running out. I was about to charge forward and give him a knock he would remember for the next three years. Sasuke immediately stopped me.

"No, it's too dangerous," he said, pulling me behind a conveniently massive rock – isn't it strange how some things are just there when you need them? Kind of freaky. – "We can handle Kabuto, but he is most likely here to meet someone, who we don't know anything about. He could be high on the drug, or an ANBU person. We cannot jump into a fight without knowing our opponents."

I hated it when he was right. I glanced past the rock, a Mist shinobi had just arrived. A male, with a large shadow shruiken strapped to his back, he definitely looked like he had had the drug before. I bet he was basking in his huge ego right now, being that if I had really charged ahead, I would be mince meat. I leaned into the rock, keeping myself hidden. It would be too risky at this point to stick my head out.

"Have you got what I asked for?" It was a gravelly voice, deep but with a dangerous edge. I wondered who this man really was.

"Yes, but I cannot extract it right now. My body has taken a toll over the last few days. Tomorrow night, meet me in the Sparrow's Nest restaurant, table four. I will give it to you then." It was Kabuto. There was a short moment of silence as the person pondered on the suggestion.

"You had better not make me wait."A disturbance in the wind, and he was gone.

I exchanged glances with Sasuke. We both shot out from behind the rock, but no one was left. After a quick eye scan over the area, the place was confirmed to be completely deserted. It took every ounce of my will to not swear. But I did smash the rock and kind of destroyed the whole area – you know, just for the heck of it.


"You're rampage was unnecessary." Uchiha said at dinner, "It could raise suspicions in Kabuto."

"Maybe it could serve as a warning to Kabuto." I fumed, stabbing my pork, Uchiha shook his head.

"Your temper is very similar to Tsunade's." He noted.

"Congratulations on noticing," I said acidly, "Anything else you might want to add?"

"No."

The dinner continued quietly for a minute. I mulled over our situation.

"It seems that Kabuto has not yet given the drug to any Akatsuki. He may want to test it out first before selling it to such a dangerous organisation. Who would probably kill him if anything wrong happened."

"Hn." He stared at his plate distastefully, only eating the tomato part. I found it strange how he had ordered a salad for dinner. No wonder he was so thin, what a waste of high metabolism.

"He said 'extract'." I realised with a shock, "And that his body was taking a toll. Does that mean the drug is stored in his body?"

Uchiha looked up from his meal for a second. "Is that possible?"

"Yes. But highly dangerous. Too much energy in one place. This man is crazy."

"Does that mean that he can draw on it when he wishes to?"

"He doesn't have to wish. It is already planted within him. I think we should call for reinforcements." I said, pushing around the remainders on my plate, "It's too dangerous. With the added risk of Kabuto, the Mist shinobi may also bring more people."

"We do not need reinforcements; we can handle this on our own."

I threw my fork onto the table, causing a large clatter, "Damn it Uchiha," I glared, ignoring looks from neighbouring tables, "Won't you just swallow your damn pride for just this once?! Or maybe our lives aren't worth keeping your ego in tact?"

All of a sudden, I felt myself turn red. I narrowed my eyes more, meeting his unemotional onyx ones.

"Aa."

I could have put the knife through his eye, I swear. But I doubt Tsunade put the medic on the team to kill her own teammate. I stood and left the restaurant in a huff. When I arrived in my room, I waited for Sai's ink bird to appear for its daily report. It came after about ten minutes, forming a blank scroll. I quickly wrote down the events and what would occur tomorrow. In big letters, I added that we would need reinforcements for tomorrow.

The bird squawked, "Ugly." One more time before flying off. I lay down on the bed, wrapped myself up in the blankets and turned out the light, not noticing the Uchiha walk in later at night.


"I see them." I said out of the corner of my mouth to the Uchiha. He nodded. We were both back into our Henge no Jutsu, just like usual. The waiter came up.

"Honey, what would you like?" I managed to choke out with a sweet smile. The waiter nodded, scribbling rapidly as Sasuke rambled off.

"Why aren't reinforcements here yet?" I hissed once the waiter was out of sight.

"This place is far from Konoha. No doubt the ink bird took hours to reach them as well." He showed no change of emotion. I flicked my eyes around the almost deserted restaurant. Apart from us, the staff and Kabuto and co, only three people were present. It was almost the perfect site. The restaurant itself was extremely spacious and dimly lit, making faces hard to see.

"What's he doing?" Sasuke asked quietly, holding my hand to give the illusion of a couple 'sweet talking'.

I smiled and fluttered my eyelashes, eyes quickly darting over for a look. "It's not good." I looked back at him, trying to keep the stupid grin on my face, "He's handing him the drug. We have to act –"

A shruiken whistled past and buried itself into the side of our table, cutting my sentence off. In a flash, I felt the cold steel of a kunai pressed to my throat.

"Now, now," Kabuto smiled, his hands clenching the kunai tighter, "Haruno Sakura, is it not?"

I tried for the stuttering act, "W-What are you talking about?" I shrieked, "He's got a weapon! H-Help!"

"Don't even attempt it." The mist shinobi grinned, "I can see right through your disguise."

Sasuke released the jutsu, looking all tense and ready to battle. I sighed, releasing my own. Kabuto's grin stretched even more. He must look like the Cheshire cat by now. "Uchiha Sasuke. What a prize to have the two of you here tonight. I am flattered that you would go through so much trouble."

It was then I felt something strange in my body. An ebbing feeling. He was absorbing my chakra! I squirmed and lashed out, trying to get away. The other guests and staff had left, screaming blue murder.

"I see you've discovered me Haruno." Kabuto shrugged, "Yes, your chakra will be depleted in a matter of seconds."

Time for another dirty girl tactic. I 'fainted'. You know, making the body limp and all that. Then, in a quick and definitely practiced movement, I kicked him in the guts. Well. Slightly lower than that, you know, the place where no man is immune. As his eyes widened, I managed to twist his arm and grab the kunai. Kabuto disappeared in a poof of smoke. Crap. It was a bunshin. Uchiha immediately turned on the Mist shinobi, executing a quick Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu. The flames enveloped the Mist shinobi and incinerated everything in its path. But when the smoke cleared, the shinobi was standing upright. A slight burn mark, but nothing which would slow him down.

Kabuto stepped forward from the shadows, shaking his head.

"Dear Sakura, what a filthy move to use. Un-ninja like." He sighed.

"You're one to talk." I snarled back, flinging as many shruiken as I could at him. Effortlessly, he dodged them all. In a second, he was literally at my face, throwing punches and kicks at an impossible speed. I had to remind myself that even one of those movements would knock me out, if not kill me. The many years of training with Neji and his Gentle Fist techniques saved me. I managed to dodge quite a few. As a mistake, I tried to block one, but my own strength without chakra was was not strong enough to match his attack. I was flung back, hitting a glass cabinet in the corner. Ouch. It hurt like a bitch.

I painfully got up, and prepared myself to launch another attack. A mist slowly drifted around me, before making it difficult to see anything. The Mist shinobi had executed a Kirigakure no Jutsu. Covering the entire area with mist. A kunai pierced my thigh, I charged towards that direction, only to find nothing there. Instinctively backing up, I bumped backs with someone. Almost whooping at my luck, I turned and placed a kunai at the said persons neck. Victory! I almost squealed.

"Other target, Haruno."

Damn it all. It was the Uchiha. What a mood killer.

"Focus on their chakra." And then he had jumped off to Kami knows where. I closed my eyes, a large chakra form was at the side of the room. Darting quickly around the room and throwing kunai. That must be Kabuto. Sasuke was in combat with the other shinobi. I had to time this correctly. A shuriken dug into my arm. Chakra into my feet and I was off. I finally found Kabuto.

"Aah, so you've found my hiding place after all."

I charged forward, only to narrowly avoid crashing into a dinner table. I noticed a shruiken, raising an arm, I batted it away. I almost smiled. I had noticed when I threw the shuriken, that Kabuto tended to avoid weapons by moving towards the left. I threw a kunai, watching him move just as expected. Then, using a chakra-full arm, I smashed it into his stomach. A splatter of blood landed on my face. The mist didn't seem as strong as before, meaning the Uchiha was also giving a fair fight.

"You bitch." The glasses on Kabuto were cracked, blood dripping down his face and out of his mouth. I reached in, to shatter the insides of his ear, as I had done with Karin. His hand stopped mine, fingers closing around my wrist before bending it back. I was suddenly seeing stars, I hurriedly sent chakra to repair the broken wrist. The rough healing was just as painful. I gritted my teeth. No way. I had fainted enough over the past month for a lifetime. I kicked Kabuto as hard as I could in the jaw, listening the sickening crack fill the room. I made the hand signs for a few bunshins to appear. One went towards Kabuto who was trying to click his jaw back in place and fend off the bunshin at the same time. I leapt onto him, tapping a small stream of chakra into his mind through the ear. He knelt down, eyes widened, trying to expel the headache. In a flick, I increased the chakra flow, making him drop to a dead faint. Eat that. I was just about ready to pat myself on the back, then the mist thickened. I looked around. The Uchiha was making his way to my side, meaning his opponent was either dead, or in a world of pain.

An explosion hit one of the walls, immediately causing it to crumble. There was a large group of Mist shinobis, about ten or eleven, glaring at Sasuke and me. Big and bulky. This was not my day. Really.

"Shit." I muttered. There was no way we were gonna make it out of this alive with these drug loaded shinobis.

One of them wielded a large scythe, a feral smile on his face. There was something amiss about these men. I kicked out, a hand grabbed my leg at breakneck speed and threw me back onto the ground. The impact left me lying there for a couple of seconds trying to compute what the hell had just happened. The man with the scythe mercilessly rammed the blunt end into my stomach, I spat out blood, feeling as though he had stabbed the thing right through my stomach to my spine. The Uchiha was faring no better, he had the starting signs of a black eye and a swollen cheek. There was no denying we were both depleted of chakra from our previous match.

A large wind filled the room, blowing away the mist, causing the Mist shinobi to turn.

"Now this is what a call a party."

"Shut it Kankuro. You just like to hear yourself talk." The large fan was swung back, Temari grinned at us, ignoring the curses of the Mist shinobis beside us.

"Geez, you two are a bloody mess."


~NeXt uP: ChApTeR 8: ThE UnfOrGeTtAbLe NiGhTmArE~


Phew! As fun as that was to write, it took me a long time ==. I actually finished a couple of days ago, but then I started mulling over the 'plot' which was utterly lost. So, I decided to tweak the chapter a little which caused yet more headache and sighs. I hope it was gud enough xD.

For once, I actually have a little of the next chapter written up -- Yayness! LOL.

Looking forward to your reviews as always -- criticism and compliments all welcome!

~CaNdY~