Disclaimer
Naruto belongs to moi!
-wakes up-
Crap, that was a dream…
No, Naruto doesn't belong to me. I wish it did though… But you guys don't care. So onwards to the story!

Dedication
Big time thankies to Jayme for helping me with my self-confidence.
I ROCK at action writing, eh girl! ;) lol!

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Chapter Eight: Deadly Explosion

Sasuke woke up with the morning sun blazing through the windows of his house. Groaning, he got up tiredly and pushed back his raven hair, looking at the time. It was 9:40, and he still had twenty minutes to burn before he was to meet Mitsumi for the day's training. His night job as an ANBU had drained him of every ounce of energy he possessed, and the shinobi knew that his patience would be very short with his student today.

After a long shower and a quick breakfast, Sasuke made his way to the training grounds, then looked at his watch. It was exactly ten.

Shifting his weight from one leg to the other in irritation, he waited for Mitsumi to show up. The seconds turned into minutes, and after half an hour his irritation turned into anger.

When the clock read eleven, his anger had now evolved into rage. Growling, the shinobi stormed towards her apartment, ready to burst down her door to drag her sorry ass to the training ground. Since he'd begun to have feelings for the girl, his training sessions had been short and intense so he could spend some time with her afterwards. But for her punishment, today's lesson would be long, tedious, and painful.

--Mitsumi's P.O.V--

The girl slowly drifted away from sleep, waking up to feel a burst of fresh air descending upon her and the noise of the trap door opening. She looked up weakly at the Sound Ninja looming above her, glad to finally be able to gulp down breaths of non-stale air.

"Who are you?" the man brutally asked, glaring down at her.

The girl resisted, not wanting him to know her name. He asked her a second time, but she still didn't answer. Finally, she felt the hard impact of his heavy work boot on the side of her head, sending her back down the stairs and into her prison.

"You want to be a bitch? Fine, then suffer like one!" the man roared, slamming the trap door shut again and plunging Mitsumi back in obscurity.

'Great,' she told herself with a groan as she rubbed her head and felt a warm liquid touching her fingers. 'This is not good. I have to get out of here!'

The skin was only split, but her head started to throb like it had never done before. "For Kami's sake, Sasuke, where are you!?" she suddenly snapped, sitting up painfully as tears of helplessness and fear filled her eyes.

--Sasuke's P.O.V--

"Mitsumi!" he shouted loudly, rapping on the door with his fist. He had been shouting at her to wake up and to open the door for a minute now, and he was beginning to feel uneasy.

'Where the hell is she?'
he asked himself, dropping to his knees. He gently ran his fingers on the carpeted floor until he found a small bump, then pulled out a kunai and made a slit in the fabric, uncovering a key. Smirking, he took the piece of metal and unlocked the door, letting himself in her apartment.

At first, Sasuke called out her name gently in case she was somehow still asleep. But no one answered, so he went forward and peeked in her bedroom. Empty. He stepped in her sleeping area, noticing absent-mindedly her pajamas lying on her bed. So she had gotten up this morning, and had gotten dressed as far as he knew.

His next stop was in the bathroom, which was also empty. But the first thing he did when he stepped in was to touch the lone towel on the rack. His face turned into a frown when he realized it was jet dry. Mitsumi hadn't slept there, or else she would've probably jumped in the shower upon getting up. It would still be slightly humid even if she would've taken her shower the night before. That all added up to the fact that she had probably not even been inside her apartment last night.

That worried him.

The powerful shinobi left her apartment and was careful to lock the door, keeping her key in his pocket. He made his way to the Academy, then looked down at the ground, trying to find her footprints. Thankfully, it hadn't rained and he could still make out the faint traces in the dust.

Sasuke followed them, and they eventually led him to a dark alley. He slipped through the alley, walking right in front of the concealed door before emerging on the other side, where he lost track of her footsteps. Swearing under his breath, he looked around himself like if there would be an evident clue to her whereabouts. Yet there were none.

- - -

Meanwhile, in a darker part of town, five Sound Ninjas, all Jounins, were crouched in a circle and talking out plans.

"I had to capture a girl, she had seen me on top of a house and could've reported us," Mitsumi's kidnapper muttered, frowning. "We trapped her in our old storage room in the alley between the two shops."

The leader nodded, and then said, "You all have explosion tags. You all know the plan. We shall see each other tonight."

With those words, all the ninjas dispersed with their designed destination in mind.

Mitsumi's kidnapper smirked; he had a plan of his own. He made his way to the building where his captive was trapped, then placed two explosion tags on the door and raced away. The Sound Ninja crouched and waited for the impact, smirking in anticipation.

-- Mitsumi's P.O.V --

"Yes!" the girl gasped as she pushed the trap door open. She had used the kunai to play around with the screws that held the trap door shut tight, and they had eventually fallen. She hiked out of the hole and let the trap door fall, but then her knees began to shake as she stood up painfully.

Mitsumi's face was bruised and the blood was now dried on the side of her face and on Sasuke's jacket. Groaning, she shrugged out of the extra useless fabric and placed it close to the door before trying to open it. Locked, of course.

There was a small, dusty window on the wall opposite from the door, and she was sure that she could pass through the opening. She found a piece of wood and threw it at the glass, shattering it. She quickly brushed away glass pieces, but then a noise at the door startled her. They were returning, she had to be quick and leave right away.

Mitsumi jumped up through the window, the remaining glass pieces catching on her bare arms and ripping small holes into her shirt. But with a final tug, she pulled herself out of the hole and crumbled down to the ground below.

Then the explosion tags went off.

--Sasuke's P.O.V--

The shinobi was standing a few feet from the building when the tags exploded. He covered his face quickly as debris sputtered down from the sky. He heard similar explosions in the distance, but his attention was directed to the one close to him. He quickly went forward to examine the damage. He was calm, yet at the same time angered. His current concern was Mitsumi, not some tags blowing up abandoned shops.

'Sound ninjas, probably,' he sighed in irritation as he looked at the two buildings.

But then Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. Lying in front of him were pieces of what once was a tattered black jacket. A jacket that he recognized. The jacket that he had given to… His thoughts stopped as he looked at the two crumbled houses. His heart stopped, then began to race wildly as he took a few steps forward and shouted as loud as he could,

"Mitsumi!"

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A/N: Yay, a second cliffy! Woot!

Thank you to my fellow reviewers! I'd like to mention two in particular:

1) nine-tails8! As if I'm the first anime fic you read on I feel so special! I hope you'll like the rest of this story!

2) uchiha hikari! Thank you for posting a review in every single chapter! I appreciate it!

More reviews! I love reviews! Next chapter will be fluffier, promise. And big time angsty! Big time angst! Just 'cause we all love angsty chapters!

Take care!