Ch. IX Crisis

"Attention everybody!"

Everyone who was left at the "DreamDateDance" turned and looked up at Tsunade, waiting for her to begin the "Dance 'Till Midnight."

"Okay. I know all of you are very anxious to get to the main event of the 'DreamDateDance.'"

Someone whooped. (It was probably a drunken Lee.)

"So, I'll try and get through the rules quickly. The last couple still dancing will be crowned King and Queen of the 'DreamDateDance.' The dance lasts through the midnight hour. If there's more than one couple standing at the end…um…"

Tsunade scratched her head. Kakashi came up and stole the microphone from her.

"Then you can fight over the crown," he said.

Everyone cheered.

"Oh boy," Tsunade mumbled.

"Let the 'Dance 'Till Midnight'…begin!"

The crowd cheered and lights and music filled the ballroom.

"Lady Tsunade…you seem troubled," Shizune said to her Hokage.

"Something doesn't feel right," Tsunade whispered back.

"What do you mean?"

"I sense something…bad. I can't explain it."

"Do you think it might be…?"

…..

Even though the song was fast, a lot of people were dancing slowly, like Sasuke and Sakura.

"Is your night getting any better?" Sasuke asked Sakura.

"Mmhm," she replied, smiling.

"Good. I'm glad."

She sighed and rested her head on his chest. For once in a long time, Sasuke smiled, and rested his head on top of her's. Meanwhile, there was Naruto and Hinata, waltzing nearby.

"Thank you Hinata," Naruto whispered in her ear.

"F-For what?"

"For always believing in me. And for forgiving me for what I did before."

"I told you it was nothing."

"Well, it was something to me," he beamed.

Hinata smiled back. Everything was going great. Temari and Shikamaru were one of the few that were crazy dancing instead of waltzing. They didn't exchange many words because they were having too much fun. Ino and Kiba were fast dancing but not as fast as Temari and Shikamaru.

"Aren't you glad you're dancing with me instead of Hinata? Let's see her dish out these badass dance moves!"

Kiba laughed, especially when Ino did a crazy hair-flinging…thing…Anyway, Neji and Tenten were dancing slowly but not waltzing, too.

"How much you want to bet Shikamaru and Temari are going to win?"

"Who says we're not going to win?"

"I don't know. I'm already tired and don't think I'm able to dance four hours straight or whatever."

"That's not the spirit! Come on; get some confidence in your dance skills!"

"I don't wanna," he moaned, and Tenten started forcing him to hyper dance.

Back with Sasuke and Sakura, Sasuke felt his neck tingling. He stopped waltzing with Sakura and felt the dark mark on his neck.

"Sasuke? What's wrong?"

He didn't answer. The tingling turned into an itch. As he rubbed it, the itch only got worse. Soon, it turned into a burning feeling. His head started pounding and the room started spinning. The blasting music was making the floor under him rumble. No. That wasn't because of the music. Out of protective and survival instincts, Sasuke jumped forward and pushed Sakura out of the way and fell on top of her. The floor where they had been standing exploded. Floor tiles, cement, rocks, and dirt sprayed through the air, showering everyone in dust and pelting people with debris.

When the air was clear of projectile objects, Sasuke got off of Sakura and the both looked up. Out of the hole left by the explosion, protruded a giant, black cobra. It wore a red rag around its neck, bearing the Sound Village emblem. Atop the head of the snake, stood Orochimaru and his right hand man, Kabuto.

Orochimaru!? What the hell is he doing here!

"Sasuke! Sakura!"

It was the voice of Tsunade. They turned and saw her running towards them from the other side of the ballroom.

"Run! Get out of here! He's after you two!"

Before they had the chance to react the cobra hissed, making the whole room tremble. In the blink of an eye, a colossal, forked tongue was coming towards Sasuke and Sakura at an incredibly high speed. Automatically, Sasuke's sharingan activated and he could see where the giant tongue was heading. It was after Sakura! His body reacted on its own and he tried to push Sakura out of the way but he was to slow. The cobra's slippery tongue wrapped around both of them and they were dragged up to the head of the cobra.

…..

Naruto pushed through the crowd of kids running out of the ballroom. He'd been separated from Hinata and he was desperately trying to find her in the torrent of frantic teenagers.

"Hinata! Hinata!" he cried, helplessly.

He could barely hear himself over the screaming crowd and the stampeding thunder of their feet. Then he heard someone scream louder than the rest. He spun around and faced the scene of the giant black cobra in the hole. The snake's tongue was hovering above its own head and wrapped up in the hovering tongue was Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura!

Just as Naruto started to run towards the snake, he heard someone call his name. He spun back around and found Hinata pushing through the frantic crowd.

"Naruto!"

"Hinata!"

The stampede was crowded around the exit so it was a little easier to reach her. Naruto gripped her hand and led her out of the crowd and into a corner.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmhm."

"Okay. Good."

Naruto looked back at the snake and his captives.

"I've got to save them," he said to himself.

It wasn't meant for Hinata to hear but she did.

"Naruto you can't! It's too dangerous!"

"I have to do something!" he replied. "There my teammates! As much as I hate Sasuke and as much as Sakura's been a bitch to me…I still love them. They're my only family! I can't just run away!"

Hinata didn't argue. That was who Naruto was. He was a fighter. She nodded to him but before he went, she said, "I'll help you."

"No. I don't want you to get hurt."

"If you didn't listen to me, then what makes you think I'll listen to you? Believe it or not, Naruto, I'm a shinobi just like you. It's both our duties to protect Konoha and all its people."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. Then he smiled.

"You know something Hinata?"

"What?"

"You're my kind of girl."

…..

"Don't argue with me! Just bring my damn fan! And Gaara! Just bring anyone but we need back-up! So don't dilly-dally!"

Temari hung up the phone and growled in frustration. She and Shikamaru were hiding behind a fallen table as the snake flailed about. Tsunade, the Jonin, and security were battling the monster, trying to rescue Sasuke and Sakura, and failing.

"Brother giving you a hard time?"

"Yeah. I don't know why he bothers asking anything. Why can't he just sit down, shut up, and do what I tell him to do?"

"Men are stubborn like that."

"Oh so you admit it!"

"Well, you women aren't any better you know."

"Yeah. I know. And we're proud of it."

Shikamaru sighed in defeat. Ino, Kiba, Neji, and Tenten were hiding behind a different table farther away from Shikamaru and Temari.

"What do we do?" Kiba asked Neji. "I'm useless without Akamaru!"

"You may be but I'm not," Neji replied, receiving a glare from Kiba.

"Hey! Don't talk to him like that!" Ino defended.

"Neji, don't be a show-offy jerk," Tenten scolded.

"Okay. Stop picking on me," he whined.

"We need a strategy."

…..

While the snake battled the Konoha protectors, Orochimaru and his captives were in a "violent" conversation.

"We meet again my precious Sasuke-kun."

"Call me that again and I will kick your face so hard that it'll turn inside out!"

"Aw. There's no need to be angry about me not coming to see you earlier."

"I hate you! You sick bastard!" Sasuke yelled, trying to kick Orochimaru in between the legs.

That only seemed to amuse Orochimaru. An evil, sly grin crossed his face.

"Don't worry. Once I dispose of your little girlfriend, you won't have anywhere else to turn."

Fear filled Sasuke's eyes and Sakura's breath hitched. She remembered what Saske had told her. This was exactly why he had wanted to run away. Orochimaru turned his attention towards the battle but, Sasuke called him back.

"Orochimaru! If you let Sakura go without being harmed and if you promise to never touch her again…I…I'll go with you…t-to the Sound Village…willingly…"

"Sasuke! No!" Sakura protested.

"I have to Sakura," he whispered back to her. "This is exactly why I didn't want to get into a relationship with you."

"Sasuke…"

"Well, well Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru started. "You've peaked my interest."

"Just let her go okay? I'll go with you."

"Sasuke! You can't! Don't do it! Not for me!"

"The one rule I remember most about love is that you always have to put the person you love before your own well-being."

"That's what I'm trying to do for you!"

"Just let me do this Sakura! You'll be safer this way."

Sasuke didn't notice Orochimaru tap the head of the snake. The tongue they were wrapped up in loosened just enough for Sakura to slip out and fall off the head of the snake.'

"Sakura!"

…..

"Sakura!" Naruto screamed when he saw her falling.

Without thinking he ran to catch her as fast as he possibly could. He stretched his arms and at the last second caught her in his arms.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" he asked, frantically, setting her on her feet.

"Naruto! We need to go get him! We need to get him!"

Naruto tried to hold her back from the snake.

"No! Sakura! You can't!"

"I need to get him! I need to save him!"

"Sakura! Stop! Don't worry! We'll get him! I'll handle it!"

"Naruto…don't let Orochimaru take him away!"

"I won't. I promise. I'll save him. Sasuke's not going anywhere with that snake."

Sakura was hysterical and her eyes never left the head of the cobra.

"I'm glad you've finally seen things my way," Orochimaru said to Sasuke, running his fingers under the boy's chin like the sick pedophile her was.

"Back off!" Sasuke yelled, kicking him in the gut.

"Uff! You said you were coming willingly."

"I said I'd come but I didn't say I'd like it."

"Little brat."

"Sick bastard."

"Well, let's see how your attitude changes once I eliminate your precious girlfriend."

With a silent command, the snake turned away from his battle and lunged at Sakura, mouth wide open, fangs glinting.

"No! SAKURA!!"

Sakura heard her name and screamed when she saw the snake.

"SAKURA!!"

Many people were calling for her to move but she was frozen in fear. She threw her arms over head, waiting for impact…and death. But nothing happened. Did she dare look? Shaking in terror, Sakura lowered her arms and looked. The snake was only a few feet away from her but it was paralyzed. A giant fist, made of sand, was in its mouth.

Gaara?

"It's about time," she heard Temari say nearby.

She looked to the side and saw Gaara, holding out a fist of his own; controlling the sand.

"Brought your fan," Kankuro said.

He was standing behind Gaara, his puppet poised for battle. Temari and Shikamaru were beside the puppet master. Temari was bearing her giant fan, preparing for battle.

"Shikamaru!" Temari said to him. "I have a plan. Is your Shadow Possession Jutsu strong enough to pin this thing down?"

"Maybe. I'll try."

"Kankuro! Try and distract him. Where's that orange danger prone, hyper-attic?"

"You mean Naruto?"

"Yeah that kid."

"Naruto!"

"What!?"

Naruto came running with Hinata in tow and dragging Sakura along by the wrist. Just in time too. The snake bit through Gaara's sand fist. Sand exploded everywhere.

"Kankuro! You're up! Distract him!"

"I'm on it."

Kankuro sprang towards the snake. The cobra was immediately distracted by the spinning and twirling puppet.

"Foxboy. Use your Shadow Clones and help him out."

"Hey! I have a name ya'know!"

"Just do what you're told!"

"What are you? My mother?"

"Naruto. Please, just do what she says," Sakura pleaded.

"All right, all right."

Naruto followed after Kankuro and made the hand sign to perform the jutsu.

"Temari? Does your plan involve rescuing Sasuke?" Sakura asked, tears at the brim of her eyes.

"Hopefully. If everything goes right."

"What do you mean if 'everything goes right!?'"

"Just stay out of the way Sakura!"

Sakura shut her mouth and Temari ran past her. Hinata came over to her when she saw how upset Sakura was.

"Don't worry Sakura. Temari didn't mean that. She'll save Sasuke. She's just under a lot of pressure."

"She's right," Sakura sniffled. "I only get in the way…even when the one person I care about needs me."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Sakura. You've had a very rough night…"

The floor shook when the snake roared and the two girls stumbled to their knees, covering their ears from the harsh sound. They didn't notice the roof collapsing over their heads until the last seconds. But Kiba and Neji came to their rescue. They got them out of the way just in time.

"Kiba! Neji!"

"Hinata! You guys have to get out of here. It's to dangerous!" Kiba scolded.

"If it's safe enough for you to stay behind then it's safe enough for us," Hinata retorted.

"And I'm not leaving without Sasuke!"

"Rrr! Women are so stubborn!"

"If you want to stay behind then you have to make yourselves useful," Neji said.

Sakura averted her eyes. She was everything but useful! Meanwhile, Ino and Tenten were hiding behind a fallen table, trying to avoid the battle between snake and security.

"I can't stay hiding like this!" Ino wailed, pulling at her hair. "We should be out there fighting!"

"Well what can we do Ino? Our techniques are useless against that thing!"

"How do we know if we haven't tried anything!"

The floor started quaking again. The girls held onto each other to prevent themselves from falling. When the quake stopped, they let go of each other.

"What the hell are you still doing here!?"

They looked up and found Tsunade crouched beside them.

"We want to help!" Ino said confidently.

"Go home! Both of you! You're useless here!"

"I won't leave without Neji!"

"Ditto! Except I want to leave with Kiba…and Sasuke. But not as much."

"They'll be fine. Leave Sasuke and Orochimaru to us. Now go home!"

"No!" they replied in unison.

"I'm the Hokage and you will do as I say!"

The two girls were quiet for a moment. She was right. She was the Hokage. They were just little chunnin with no voice compared to her. But, Ino didn't let that fact dampen her determination. Clenching her fists, Ino looked straight into Tsunade's fiery and furious brown eyes.

"Hokage is just a title given to a powerful person. You may have been given that title but you're still just a person. You're just a person like us. So, why should I listen to you?"

"Ugh! Gen! Genma! Raido!"

"Yes Lady Hokage."

The three special jonin she'd called appeared behind her.

Oh boy.

Ino and Tenten rose, watching them warily.

"Gather up anyone who hasn't left yet and get them the hell out of here…including these two."

"Yes ma'am."

"What!? You can't be serious!" Ino protested.

"I'm dead serious. I can't risk you two getting into trouble."

"That's not fair!"

"Get these two out of here and round up any other stragglers."

Ino was red hot in fury. That wasn't fair. They were Konoha shinobi. It was their duty to protect the village…just like Tsunade. Why was she treating them like they were nothing?

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

They turned and saw Naruto's thousands of shadow doppelgangers surrounding the snake.

"That fool! What has he gotten himself into this time? Get these two outta here…"

But, when Tsunade next turned to Ino and Tenten, they were gone.

…..

"You lying bastard!"

"What good will name-calling do for you in your situation Sasuke?"

"You said you wouldn't hurt her!"

"And, when have I ever kept my word?"

"You snake."

"Why thank you Sasuke-kun."

"Stop calling me that! I'm not your pet!"

"Oh don't be silly. Of course you are."

Sasuke wished he could run a really big sword through his chest. He needed to escape. He needed to protect Sakura. He looked around, hoping Sakura had run away home. But she hadn't. She was still standing there staring up at him.

C'mon Sakura. Please…just go home already. There's nothing you can do for me.

"Sakura! Move it! Get out!"

Tsunade rushed over to Sakura and the other chunnin around her.

"All of you get lost!"

"Why?" Kiba asked.

"Don't argue! Just go home!"

"No!" they retorted.

"Where's Ino?"

"And Tenten?"

"I don't know. Security will find them. Oh, now what are they doing?"

"We're trying to help," Shikamaru told the angered Hokage.

She had been complaining about Naruto, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari attacking the snake. Naruto's doppelgangers weren't working very well. Just one sweep of the snake's head and half of the clones exploded in a big puff of smoke. The real Naruto fell from where he was in the air and crash landed on Shikamaru. The sand siblings appeared beside their two fallen comrades.

"Okay, all of you! I want you out of here! Now!"

"No! I have a plan!" Temari protested.

"I don't care! You're just a bunch of teenagers! Get out!"

"I don't answer to you!"

Tsunade shut her mouth. Temari was right. She wasn't a citizen of Konoha. She had no power over the sand siblings.

"Fine. What's your plan?"

…..

"Why are we still here? Shouldn't we be at your wimpy little village?"

"Aw. You're eager to see your new home. You don't know how happy that makes me."

"Can we just go already? I don't know what you feed this snake but its starting to reek"

The snake must have heard him because the tongue tightened around him.

"Once we get there, I'm sure your outlook on the Hidden Sound Village will change," Kabuto said.

It was the first time Sasuke actually noticed him.

"Indeed," Orochimaru added.

They both chuckled. Sasuke's heart was twisting up inside. For once in a long time, he was terrified out of his mind. He didn't want to go to the Sound Village. He didn't want to be near Orochimaru. He wanted to stay in Konoha with Sakura.

"Look out!"

Sasuke looked up and found Temari riding down to the snake's head on her giant fan. She was aiming to crash land on Orochimaru. The snake man dodged as Temari landed. She instantly took her fan in her hands and swung it around, trying to hit Orochimaru. He ducked and lunged at her with his sword. Sasuke glimpsed a flash out of the corner of his eye.

"Temari! Watch out for Kabuto!"

Kabuto lunged at Temari with a kunai. She jumped up so Kabuto clashed with Orochimaru instead. Temari landed in front of Sasuke.

"What are you doing? You're no match for them!" Sasuke scolded.

"I can handle it! Just shut up and go with the plan!"

"Plan?"

Temari returned to her fight. Sasuke wriggled around in the snake's tongue, trying to escape. He wanted to help. He knew that he could help. He didn't want to be the "damsel in distress." But it was impossible. He didn't have enough strength to escape. Then he heard something. It was a squeaky sound, sort of like rubber rubbing against rubber. He turned and saw a path of sand rising up to the snake's head. On the hardened path, he was Kankuro and Naruto running up it. Naruto's Rasengan was swirling in his palm, the source of the sound. Kankuro threw a kunai at the base of the snake's tongue, slicing it clear off.

The snake screamed in agony and swung its head about, throwing everyone off balance. Sasuke, still wrapped up in the severed tongue, fell out of the air.

"I got him!" Kankuro called, stopping in his tracks.

Sasuke toppled on top of Kankuro, and they both rolled down the path of sand. They landed on the floor at Gaara's feet.

"You're the worst catcher in the world," Sasuke mumbled through the floor.

"You're a ninja. Catch yourself next time."

"Fag it."

"Bastard."

On the head of the distressed snake, Naruto was still running towards Orochimaru, readying his Rasengan for impact on the unsuspecting villain.

"Temari! Move!" he called when he was ready to strike.

"Right!"

Temari jumped clear of the Rasengan. By the time Orochimaru realized Naruto was there, it was too late. The Rasengan collided with Orochimaru.

"Lord Orochimaru!" called Kabuto.

He headed towards him to try and stop Naruto. But Temari reappeared in his path. She swung her fan and a huge gust of wind blew the spy away. Naruto's Rasengan catapulted Orochimaru away as well. The two Sound Village traitors flew through the ballroom ceiling and kept flying away until Naruto and Temari couldn't see them anymore.

"Yeah!" they said, high-fiving one another.

But the joy of victory didn't last long because their footing fell out from under them. They had forgotten they were on the head of a giant, agonized cobra. The snake dove back into the hole it had emerged from, throwing Temari and Naruto into the air.

"Incoming!"

Shikamaru caught Temari and Naruto in the air out of the corner of his eye.

"Temari! Hold on!"

Shikamaru ran to catch Temari. Hinata heard Shikamaru call for Temari. She looked and saw Naruto falling through the air with no one coming to catch him.

"Naruto!"

Without considering her own safety, Hinata ran, with Naruto fixed in her silver eyes. Shikamaru stretched out his arms and Temari fell into them, safely. Naruto collapsed onto Hinata, the two of them tumbling to the floor.

"Thanks," Temari said to Shikamaru with a smile on her face.

"Uh…no problem," Shikamaru replied, setting her on the floor.

Then, unexpectedly, Temari leaned over and kissed Shikamaru on the cheek.

"I owe you one Slacker."

"Oh my god! Hinata! Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine Naruto. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. I'm worried about you."

"Sasuke!"

Sakura ran over to Sasuke, who was disentangling himself from the snake tongue. Once free of the tongue remnant, Sakura leaped into his arms, tears flooding her face.

"Sakura…I'm so sorry I put you through all of this."

"It doesn't matter anymore. You're safe. That's all I care about."

"Ino?"

"Tenten?'

"Guys? Where are you?"

Kiba and Neji were desperately searching for Ino and Tenten. They couldn't find them anywhere.

"Kiba? What if—"

"Don't start thinking like that! They've got to be around here somewhere! Ino! Tenten! Where are you?"

"Kiba?"

"Neji?"

The boys turned and saw Ino and Tenten running towards them. They leapt into the boys' arms.

"Where were you?" Kiba asked Ino.

"Hiding from security. We hid in a janitor's closet and we got stuck. Sorry to worry you."

"When don't you worry me?"

Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi came over to the group of lovers.

"You all okay?" the blonde asked.

She got murmurs of distracted replied.

"Okay good. The crisis is over."

A/N: One more chapter!! Whew glad that's over!! Do you people know how hard it is to cram all those pairings into one chapter!! Whew!! You better all like it!! JKJKJKJKJKJKJk