Mayu's shoulders slumped as her eyes closed. Itachi smirked and then turned the girl around. "Did he just put her to sleep?" Sasuke thought, staring at Mayu's closed eyes. The girl did appear to be sleeping peacefully; Itachi held her up, using his hand.

"What did you to her?" Naruto asked, but Itachi ignored him and looked at his little brother.

"Let her go, so there won't be any distractions when I kill you!" Sasuke yelled.

"Foolish little brother," Itachi said, touching Mayu's neck; her eyes opened slowly and she stood up straight. "You're far too weak. I won't waste my time killing you." Sasuke glared at his older brother. Itachi placed two kunai in Mayu's hands. She held no emotion on her face as she held up the kunai, ready to attack. "Instead... she will be the one to kill you."

"What?" Naruto shouted as Sasuke's eyes widen. "She wouldn't!"

"Do you really think she can stop me?" Sasuke asked with a smirk. "You must be going insane."

"You really have no idea what this girl is capable of," Itachi remarked. He touched Mayu's shoulder and as if that was some kind of signal, she threw one of the kunai at Sasuke.

"How predictable," Sasuke thought, smirking. He was about to just dodge the attack when the second kunai was thrown. It hit the first, causing both weapons to fall to the ground. What...?" he said. Sasuke looked to where Mayu was only she wasn't there. "Oh-no!" Suddenly, he felt an arm wrap around his neck. Sasuke instinctively grabbed the arm with one hand to throw the attacker, but he stopped.

"How stupid you are, Uchiha Sasuke..." Mayu whispered softly. "Being distracted by such a simple weapon when I am the weapon..." Impassively, Itachi watched his younger brother struggle against the girl's iron grip.

"Mayu, stop! You're going to kill him!" Naruto shouted.

"No, not like this." She released the young Uchiha and pushed him away.

"So, you're not going to kill him...?" Naruto questioned in confusion. Mayu turned her head slightly to look back at Naruto.

"I didn't say that, did I?"

Sasuke stared intensively at the girl in front of him. There was not a splash of emotion on her face. "I have to knock her out... that's the only way," he thought, frowning. "Itachi will pay for what he's done!"

"Itachi-san, are you sure this girl can handle him?" Kisame asked. "I mean, your brother is an Uchiha." Itachi didn't say a word nor did he move.

"Mayu... I'll only say this once... move and stay out of this," Sasuke said. "You will only get hurt." She didn't respond. Without warning, she ran at Sasuke. "Then that's how it will be," he muttered as Mayu got closer. When she was close enough, he knocked her into the wall. Mayu yelled out on impact. The wind had been knocked out of her. "I'm sorry..." Sasuke whispered as Mayu slid down to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

"Mayu!" Naruto yelled. "SASUKE! You didn't have to do that!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke said, and then turn his attention back to Itachi. The oldest of the Uchihas only stared at his younger brother. "Now, that there's no distraction, I'll-" he was interrupted by someone laughing. It wasn't playful laughter. It was more of a taunt. He turned and saw that it was Mayu.

"Mayu...?" Naruto muttered. "How can she...?"

"Did you really think that I would just play dead?" she asked. "What a fool you are..."

"What...? That should have knocked her out completely!" Sasuke thought, watching the girl stand.

"Mayu, you're okay!" Naruto shouted, making Jiraiya hit him in the head.

"Be quiet, fool! That girl is still under Itachi's genjutsu," he said. "But it makes no sense... That Uchiha kid is strong. The force of that impact should have knocked her unconscious or at least snapped her out of the jutsu..." Jiraiya thought. Sasuke stepped back from Mayu; he didn't like the look in the girl's eyes.

"It's... not natural for her to look like this," he thought. No emotion was on the girl's face. "Itachi will pay!" Sasuke turned to his older brother with a glare on his face. "Release her!" he ordered. Itachi merely stared. The young shinobi's face hardened, and then he ran at his brother, fully intending to go right through him. However, Mayu suddenly appeared in front of Itachi, making Sasuke stop just a few feet away. The girl did a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him airborne! The youngest Uchiha was sent across the hallway and finally stopped when his back hit the back wall.

"Wow... so the girl does have power," Kisame said as Sasuke slid down the wall, groaning.

"Don't forget, Uchiha Sasuke, I'm your opponent!" Mayu called to him. Sasuke sat up with a cough.

"What is this...?" Sasuke thought. "Shit—for some reason I keep forgetting that she's a fighter, too."

"Get up..." Mayu said, slowly walking to him. "Come on... I thought you were a ninja."

Sasuke stood up slowly and frowned holding his cheek. He spit out a little blood on the floor. He felt the inside of his mouth... good. Nothing was broken... yet. If this continue, anything and everything could be broken. "It must be done..." Sasuke thought, narrowing his eyes. Mayu was slowly, as if taunting him more, making her way over to him. "I have to send her to Hinata..." he took out a kunai and held it up. "Or send her from here... permanently."

Sasuke ran towards Mayu with the kunai out ready to slash at her. She anticipated this and also ran at Sasuke, intending to knock the kunai from his hand. She attack almost hit Sasuke, but he disappeared, causing Mayu stop running; a log had appeared where Sasuke was before. "Substitution jutsu...!" Naruto muttered. Sasuke appeared behind Mayu with his hand up, his intention was to hit Mayu at the right place to knock her unconscious.

"You really think I was going to let you attack me again?" he asked, bringing his hand to Mayu neck, but his attack hit nothing because Mayu had moved her upper body forward and down. Her left leg shot up, catching Sasuke's jaw. She followed up by twirling on her right foot and delivering a right hook to his face. Shouting in pain, the Uchiha stumbled back. She had hit him right between the eyes, which temporarily disoriented him. "Damn it, she's way stronger than before…" Sasuke thought. "And it doesn't help that I used most of my energy earlier." Be that as it may, Sasuke dashed towards the girl again. Instead of using potentially deadly weapons, he would just his hands. He began rapidly trying to punch Mayu, but she dodged and held off all of his punches. This could have been because he was only using one arm. However, his onslaught did succeed in pushing her back. "That jutsu he used on her... it must be making her this way. There's no way Mayu can be this strong... She can't be stronger than me right now!" Finally, he stopped his attack. His hunched over, panting. His eyes squeezed shut.

"Oh... so soon?" Mayu asked, feigning concern. "Then I guess it's my turn." Suddenly, she disappeared from his sight. Eyes expanding, the young shinobi turned around. Mayu's face was mere centimeters away from his own. She was at such close proximity that he could feel her breath on his chin. Sasuke swallowed hard. That moment seemed to last forever, never ending. However, it did, and quite painfully, too. Mayu had rammed her fist against his stomach.

Blood shot out of Sasuke's mouth. "This strength…" He fell to his knees, holding his stomach. He coughed violently, but it was ignored. Mayu lifted him in the air by his collar. She tilted her head to the side as she stared up at him. Sasuke glared down at her. The girl straightened her neck, and then smirked. The Uchiha grabbed the arm that was holding him up. "Wh-What is this?" he rasped out. "Yo-You sh-shouldn't be able to-"

"How quick you are to assume that you're stronger than you really are," Mayu said.

"You...!" Sasuke croaked.

"Hey, Mayu, put Sasuke down!" Naruto shouted. To his utter surprise, she did. Sasuke dropped to the floor, too weakened to move. The girl turned to the blond.

"Uzumaki Naruto..." Her tone was abnormally calm. "Do you... wish to take his place?"

"Uhh... Can I think about it?" he asked. "I'd probably end up like Sasuke," he thought. "I'll hold back just like Sasuke and get pummeled just like him, too!"

Mayu took a step towards Naruto, Jiraiya, and Kisame. The blond flinched. "Though it's none of your business, I suppose I'll have to keep your mouth shut." She took another step. However, before she could get further, the girl was suddenly sent flying towards the three due to the kick to her back. She went past Kisame and straight into Naruto! Both fell with surprised yelps of pain. Mayu's head had collided with Naruto's forehead protector. She stood up with a hand on her head; Naruto was still on the ground with swirly eyes. She glared at the person who hit her. Uchiha Sasuke.

"Idiot...! Didn't anyone tell you not to turn your back on your opponent?" he panted. "Even in your current state... you're still an idiot!" Mayu's right eye twitched. Without much of a warning, she Naruto with both hands and raised him above her head. By this time, he had snapped out of his stupor.

"Hey, what are you doing? Put me down!" Naruto shouted; his voice was not heard.

"Is she planning on throwing him?" Sasuke thought. "She really is an idiot!" Mayu actually did through Naruto, launching him like a torpedo! "I'll just dodge him..."

"Why am I always treated like this?" Naruto screamed as he soared through the air. Sasuke grimaced. In this state, he wouldn't be able to dodge his teammate.

"Naruto, get out of the way!" Sasuke shouted.

"And how the heck do I do th-" Naruto began to shout, but his voice was lost once he collided with the young shinobi. The two were sent into the wall at the end of the hall. And the release of gas came. Three pairs of eyes blinked... almost in confusion. Just what was that noise? It sounded like a high pressured hiss.

"D-Don't tell me Naruto just-" Jiraiya muttered.

"NARUTO, YOU FREAK!" Sasuke hollered, confirming the old ninja's suspicions.

"Heh... Sorry," Naruto said, getting up. He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "It just... slipped..." Sasuke glared at his teammate until he heard something that made his heart stop for a second. It was laughter. The sound of that familiar laughter made him slowly turn his head. As he thought, Mayu was laughing her head off. Her hands gripped the nearby wall for support. Her foot stomped several times against the floor.

"Oh God… Oh God, no!" She was near hysterics and seemed to be ignoring everyone else in the hall. She also seemed to ignore the fact that all eyes were on her. The girl seemed much more worried about being able to breathe. "I tried! I tried!" Mayu cried out, tears in her eyes. "B-Bu-But th-that?" She sputtered while pointed. "That has got to be the funniest thing I have ever seen!"

"M-Mayu!" Naruto exclaimed, running over to the girl and ignoring Kisame. "Are you insane? Why did you throw me?"

The girl tried to hold back another fit of giggles by covering her mouth. "How was I supposed to know you were going to fart?" She could no longer keep it in. She roared with laughter while Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "Ahh! Laughing like that hurts my stomach!" Mayu patted her chest several times whilst shaking her head side to side.

"Wait, wait… So… you weren't under a genjutsu?" Naruto questioned. The girl scoffed.

"No way!" She swatted at the air. Mayu pointed at her eyes. "Despite the color, these are Hyuga eyes. Besides, Hinata's sensei is a genjutsu specialist, so of course she knows how to get out of one, and so she taught me." Her shoulders shrugged. "It was a pretty low level genjutsu he tried to use on me at that."

"Wh-What…?" Jiraiya murmured. Mayu only grinned. "What the heck is with this little girl?" he thought.

"Why the hell did you attack me then?" Sasuke, having heard the conversation, shouted from down the hall. Naruto nodded his head. He was curious, too. Mayu shifted a glare in the Uchiha's direction.

"Because you insulted my warrior's pride!" she nearly snarled. Sasuke reared back in shock. "A distraction…?" Her lip twitched. "Did you really think I was going to let that comment slide? Huh, Sasuke?" She had screamed her last sentence out. "How dare you discard me like that? You deserved every hit I gave you!"

"Mayu…" Guilt welled up inside Sasuke as he continued to stare at the hurt look that the girl wore.

"And yeah, I might have used your already tired body to my advantage, but I had to show you are not ready! You're not! I'm more ready than you at this point!" Her palm slapped her chest. "I am, not you! And why? Because I don't have a strong emotional attachment to him!" Her finger pointed to the older Uchiha. "Look at yourself! You can't use your bloodline. You can't even perform hand signs because your wrist is broken! You're just a brat in his eyes, Sasuke—a whiny little brat that doesn't know when he's fighting a losing battle! Your anger and hatred towards him does nothing—it has no purpose in a fight!" Mayu licked her lips. She spoke harsh words, but they were completely necessary. "You are not… At this point, Sasuke, you are not ready or fit to fight him."

The younger Uchiha blinked rapidly. His eyes stung, almost painfully. He knew that there was a difference in strength between his brother and himself. He knew, yet… he had kept going. The rage had taken over and he had become blinded. Sasuke released a ragged breath. Why? Why was Mayu being like this? How could she speak so unsympathetically to him? This was partly his fault. He had caused this change in her by 'insulting' her. He hadn't meant to. Those words spewed from his mouth almost unknowingly. He dropped down to his knees, squeezing his eyes shut. Mayu's words, though, were purely intentional meant to cause an impact. Her words, however callous, were true. Right now, he didn't have it what it takes to face his brother. Sasuke bit his lip.

Mayu's face softened once Sasuke's knees hit the floor. Admittedly, she had wanted to hurt him—in the same way he had hurt her. However, her words seemed to shake him to his core. His change in demeanor was unexpected. If anything, she thought he would become even angrier than before. Instead, he had crumbled. In his already vulnerable state, he had crumbled. "Sasuke…" Mayu murmured. She took several steps forward before quickening her pace towards the fallen Uchiha. However, before she could reach him, the oldest Uchiha stopped her. His arm had shot out, hand grabbing her shoulder. Tensely, she turned to him. "Can I help you?" she nearly hissed. His eyes narrowed. Sweat dripped from her chip, but she did not turn her eyes away.

"It's you," he said.

"Well, look who's a genius?"

The girl suddenly found herself slammed against the wall. Naruto shouted her name. However, her back was in pain so that forced her to worry about the one causing the pain instead of the one just standing there, watching it happen. Mayu would have scoffed if it not have been for the hand on her throat squeezing just a bit tighter. "It's you," Itachi repeated. She glared at him. However, the missing ninja merely closed his eyes. "It would seem, though, you have forgotten me—forgotten about your suffering." Mayu clenched her teeth. She had no idea what he was going on about. "Then… I will remind you." Slowly, his eyes were revealed again. A surge of chakra shot through her, causing her eyes to widen. "Can you escape this level of genjutsu?" His voice echoed in her mind.

Itachi had sent her to another place, another time—perhaps even another dimension. The colors of this creepy world were inverted to either black or wide. There was no in between. She seemed to be in some type of traditional room. In front of her, there was a woman and child. However, their eyes were focused elsewhere. Mayu turned her head. Itachi was who their eyes were on. It was a younger version of him, though, yet he still wore that impassive face. "What the hell?" Mayu thought.

"For twenty-four hours, you will relive that moment," Itachi spoke up.

"Itachi… Why did you kill them?" The woman's voice echoed. It sounded as though she was keeping herself from crying. "Why did you kill Haruka?" She sounded hysterical. Without a word, Itachi removed his katana from its sheath. He had moved so fast. Mayu's eyes expanded seeing the deadly weapon protrude from the woman's chest. For some reason, Mayu had cried out as if she felt the same pain. Then the scene changed. All around her, people were dropping to the floor, covered in what she assumed was blood. She didn't understand. She couldn't understand why inside her chest, her heart felt as though it was being compressed like a stress ball.

She fell to her knees, clutching her shirt and shutting her eyes. The sound of screaming did not go away. Mayu panted hard. She tried to stop and get her breathing under control, but her efforts only seemed to increase her labored breaths. The girl heard a voice, which caused her eyes to snap open. She no longer seemed to be kneeling on solid ground. Instead, she seemed to be in the air, watching the scene below. There was a man and the younger Itachi. She couldn't hear the conversation, but without warning slid his katana across the man's neck. Again, she screamed out. She felt stinging in the corner of her eyes, and then wetness down her cheeks. Why was this affecting her so much? Once again, Mayu shut her eyes. However, the images of death would not leave her mind.

She had experienced this mental torture for twenty-four hours.

0-0

Unable to handle Mayu's screaming anymore, Naruto rushed forward. "Knock it off, you bastard!" he shouted, dashing down the hall. Sasuke, too, removed himself from the floor and headed towards his brother. Broken wrist be damned! He wasn't about to let Mayu suffer because of his brother. However, before he could get close enough towards his brother, the surroundings suddenly changed. A thick slimy substance covered the entire hallway. His dark eyes shifted to Jiraiya, the Sanin. He had been the one to do this, judging from the position of his hands and that smirk.

The jutsu caused the material to wrap around the enemy's foot. Sasuke blinked, and then turned back to Itachi. He had pulled away from Mayu, leaving her stuck to the wall thanks to the substance. Mayu—what had Itachi done to her to leave her in such a state? "Hey, you two don't move!" Jiraiya's command was directed at Sasuke and Naruto. "I summoned the esophagus of a gigantic frog from the Myouboku Mountain's rock inn," the old ninja explained. "You two are wanted criminals anyway. I'll turn you two into food for this rock frog." Naruto furrowed his brow, giving a worried glance in his teammate's direction. "Don't worry. This is my jutsu."

"Kisame, come." Itachi took off down the hall, completely disregarding his younger sibling. However, Sasuke paid no mind to his departure either. Not even when his brother's partner ran pass him as well did he turn his eyes away from the stuck Mayu. He barely heard Jiraiya taunting the two ninja. After a few seconds, he did hear an explosion, though. The Sanin ran past him with Naruto following after.

Finally, Sasuke moved. He swallowed hard as he moved towards the wall. "Mayu…" He tried pulling, but she would budge. Fortunately, the fleshy walls seemed to retract, leaving the girl to fall in his arms. Because of the sudden weight, Sasuke fell to the ground, hissing because his wrist had felt the strain. Still, his eyes focused on Mayu's empty ones. The life had seemed to be sucked right out of them. "Mayu…? Get up." She didn't move or even acknowledge that he had spoken. "Mayu…! Get up!" Sasuke slapped her cheek. Still, there was no sign of life. "MAYU!" He was about to hit her again, but the girl disappeared, popping out of existence like a shadow clone. The Uchiha sat there, frozen with his hand poised to slap. That is how Naruto found him.

"What happened? Where is she?" the blond hollered.

"Hinata…!" Sasuke breathed out.

"What? What about Hinata?"

0-0

The heiress of the Hyuga clan shot up from the grass. Eyes wide, her steady breaths had turned labored and frantic almost as if she couldn't breathe. "Hinata?" Her teammate, Kiba, ran over. "What's wrong with you?" Not answering, the kunoichi gripped her jacket with both hands. Her eyes narrowed. It had suddenly felt so painful. Mayu returning to her body had never felt like this before. "Hinata, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fi-" As not to make her teammates worried, she was going to say that she was fine. However, before she could finish, her pale eyes rolled. Then she collapsed, falling forward. The fading, frantic voices of her teammates faded until she could hear nothing anymore. The blinding white light also faded into black.

"What the hell?" Kiba yelled. Akamaru yipped in worry about his partner lifted the girl from the ground. They had been in the middle of a break when this suddenly happens. "We've got to get to the hospital." Behind his sunglasses, Shino's eyes narrowed.

"You go. I will inform Kurenai-sensei."

Quickly nodding, Kiba ran with Hinata in his arms. Shino went in the opposite direction. His teammate couldn't have fainted from exhaustion. Nowadays, she was the last one to call for rest. Her stamina and endurance had greatly increased since the end of the chuunin exam, so her falling out like that was definitely worrisome.

Upon reaching the hospital, Kiba demanded immediate attention. Since it was Hyuga Hinata, and not some ordinary kunoichi, the attention was given right away. Nurses took her away, whisking her on a stretcher. The Inuzuka didn't know how long he paced in the waiting room, but finally a doctor came out, asking if he was the one to bring her here. "Yes! Is she going to be alright? What happened to her?" Kiba asked.

"We cannot be sure, but it would seem that Hyuga-sama has become unconscious because of a genjutsu."

"What?" Kiba shouted in disbelief. "We were resting from our training, and our training doesn't involve genjutsu!"

"Be that as it may, young man, she is unconscious." The doctor calmly repeated himself. "We do not know when or if she'll wake up."

"That's bullshit!"

"She is not the first to come here with these symptoms. Earlier today, another patient was brought in. As soon as we can fix the damage done to him, we will alert you. What I ask of you is to alert her father right now. Good day." Before Kiba could protest and shout, the doctor walked away, leaving him standing there. He bared his teeth at the doctor's retreating back. That was it? That was all he was saying?

But what could he do? He was merely a lowly genin. His clan was as influential as the Hyuga clan. It wasn't like he could demand some answers. Kiba narrowed his eyes. Akamaru whimpered on top of his head. "I know, buddy, I know," he muttered, and then turned away. The least he could do was tell Shino and Kurenai about this. Maybe later, they could all barge in demanding to see her.

As he left the hospital, Kiba did not realize they he was being watched. However, once he was out of sight, dark eyes stopped following. Hurriedly, the shinobi scaled the building, looking into each room. Finally, he came to a stop, finding what he had been searching for. Quietly, he opened the window, and then moved inside.

Gulping, Uchiha Sasuke moved over the side of the bed. Hinata's eyes were closed. It only appeared that she was sleeping. The shinobi clenched his hand. "Mayu… You're still there, aren't you?" he asked. He grimaced because he didn't receive a response. He knew he wasn't going to, but he had hoped a smartass retort would follow. "If you are… I just wanted to let you know how stupid you were! Why couldn't you have just yelled empty words and that's it? Why couldn't you have just let me fight him?" Swallowing hard, Sasuke grabbed the unconscious girl's hand. "Idiot," he murmured. "You stupid idiot." He frowned as squeezed her hand. "If you don't wake up with Hinata, I'm going to kill you. You hear me? I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke breathed deeply, blinking his eyelids rapidly. Finally, he stopped, swallowing hard again. "We… We still haven't fought properly, so… You have to come back. Naruto's going to bring back an expert healer, so you'll be up in no time." For a moment, he was silent. The Uchiha released the girl's hand. He backed away as if the girl had just grown some deformed appendage. For just a moment, he had imagined Mayu's grin. And because of that…

His heart raced.

0-0