Title; Lucky

Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.

Okay so the pairing will be SasuHina in the end, but don't expect me to avoid muddying the waters a bit first. Just trust me, in the end SasuHina.

Beware the timeline, I never said all this was perfectly chronological…or that I wouldn't skip minor things.

Artemis Of The Golden Distaff- I agree too good. Neji's fate remains to be seen. Yep Prostitute and Client, not exactly important to the story it just sort of amused me. That and I like to have loose treads in my stories, things that aren't really explained in depth or effect the story but make the world around the story less empty and get readers minds wandering off in bizarre tangents.

FallingRaindrops- Haha Boycotting will likely lead to me being passive aggressive in the narrative. Sorry about Neji.

Justsomenobody- Thank you. Hate to say it but this chapter's unlikely to answer any questions…actually it'll probably just give you a whole new list worth but there are a few hints in there about what's to come.

Manga Aficionado- That's an interesting theory. Haha of course all the zombies and monsters and especially Orochimaru and Kabuto are sort of bummed out now…I can almost hear them resolving to be more evil.

Callat3am- Yeah I grew up on old Resi and I've always liked Silent hill. Not much of a fan of the Walking Dead though I'm afraid. Very glad to know you're enjoying.

Chapter 10-

I raked the back of my hand along my jaw enjoying the rough feel of the light stubble that had grown over the last few days. I was sure the sight of my reflection would inspire a need to shave but my unkempt state didn't bother me so much at the moment.

We'd taken to avoiding one another, or at least I'd taken to avoiding the other occupants of this floor for the morning. Something about a hangover always made me intensely antisocial and it seemed a good idea to avoid making any unnecessary attachments here. Hinata was still missing and Sakura captured, I would not be staying long.

The good Doctor's library had proved the ideal hideaway, I didn't doubt in large part thanks to the grotesque trophies being all the more plentiful here. On the stained study table alone were eyes, inflamed organs and a ghoulish; head mouth held open in a silent never ending scream and it brain's exposed to the open air. It was enough to make me physically ill if I paid it any real attention.

The books instead garnered my focus. Most of them were thick medical journals with obscure names that I could scarcely read let alone want to. Others though, hidden away in the far corner were much more interesting. These small books held no names and bore a rough human scrawl instead of the cleanly typed print of the medical volumes.

I picked up the first leafing through the rather bizarre story that filled it's pages. The narrative was that of a mad man's, at times the author would abandon the names and instead refer to characters entirely by only a prominent feature. 'Large nose has become hostile, this makes him the third.' 'Scar resists entering stage one, more observation required.'

They all featured a similar…rhythm I supposed was the only way to describe it. There were the stages, four of them sometimes referred to as phases. The first being hostility and the others more vague in nature. At a certain point in the diary the writer would claim to 'retire' from the others. Most of what he wrote would take some time to deceiver if I even could, he referred a lot to an 'original' work, one that I hadn't come across yet. There were other titles too besides 'original' and the stages. All featured a 'matriarch', a 'hunter', a 'lover', more than one 'pawn' and sometimes a 'virgin' which all seemed to describe different paths the people took within the experiment.

Just as I set a purple bound volume back in its place I heard a scuffled behind me and twisted to see the doctor Kabuto not far behind me. His hands were bunched in his lab coat's pockets and he wore a smile that was particularly unnerving.

"Can I help you there?" he asked his voice dripping with a poison politeness. That wasn't good.

"Got any James Lee Burke around here?" I asked my voice holding a false tone of boredom that I suspected did little to convince the creepy Doctor that I hadn't been snooping…I probably shouldn't have mentioned an Author that wrote detective stories in my cover, it would have been a clever cloaked reference if it were fucking stupid at the same time.

"Nothing like that I'm afraid little brother. But perhaps I can show you something much more interesting." He offered waving a hand over his collection of both books and dioramas with a sinister smile. Somehow it was the familiarity of the title 'little brother' that bothered me most. Family titles had been used in the journals, to highlight particularly interesting peoples or specimens as he'd called them.

"Actually I've got to speak with Tenten, thanks though." I didn't really care if he caught the lie. I was just now getting the feeling that this man couldn't be deceived in anything let alone by the likes of me.

"Another time little one then, another time."

Shino didn't really say what he planned, rather I was just given a time and a place to have Temari with me. Just after the food was dropped we needed to be in the 'hell' room as it was designated. It was just past the area and was the most decorative of the rooms in this entire pit.

Butchers hooks hung in crooked rows some taken up with fresh meat too hasty or too stupid to keep to this underworlds vague but rigidly enforced rules. In one corner lay a small platform connected to the room above by thick rust coated chains, it was how the creature holding us moved between levels.

Temari appeared shaky. It was hard to describe exactly but she was jittery beyond all sense. She'd lost her bout today as the ugly bruises on her cheeks and ribs proved and with the loss she was denied any access to the food drop. I wondered if it was the drugs. She'd been eating the tainted food for a while now she could very well be experiencing withdrawal.

I didn't help that Shino was late. I was still casting edgy looks into the next room as I felt a weight settle on my shoulder. I glanced back to the sweaty blonde surprised to see the mist in her eyes had cleared somewhat. I offered her a smile wondering if she'd regained her senses.

"I've been thinking about why you brought me here Sakura?" She spoke her stormy green eyes riveted on mine.

"You're such a tiny thing…" she muttered her eyes glassing up again and I wondered exactly what was going on inside the woman's tainted mind, her grip on my shoulder tightened as she swayed forward for a moment her eyes pained.

"But your eyes they…you're a cocky little bitch…" the last word was all but spat as she spun me into a tight grip. The facts all became too apparent as the larger well feed woman managed to hold me with a single arm her other hand ghosting over my stomach and my legs until she pulled free my hidden weapon.

"Gonna shoot me were you, gobble up the good bits but leave me alive. It's a good idea really. Gotta do what you gotta do huh? Yeah." She hissed in my ear, wrenching me hard against the wall. The air left me all in a painful rush as the woman's hand fell to my throat gripping my jugular painfully tight. I could feel my head growing light and saw my vision blur as the blonde leaned in her eyes wild and her lips smirking as her tongue slithered out to taste my cheek. My own gun pressed against my stomach as a warning.

Animal instinct came to life entwined with desperation. Something most forget about guns is that they are long distance weapons and within arm's reach a rather poor choice, if you add the handicap that the gun's bearer cannot under any circumstance kill the captive…

My knee crashed into her bruised rib cage as my hand swept aside the gun, it retorted angrily but too late as the woman hesitated in firing. I smashed my forehead into hers and rammed forward with my shoulder taking us both to the concrete floor and sending the gun skidding away noisily. Temari groaned in pain her injuries aggravated as I rolled off her and crawled to the fallen weapon. I felt a hand grab at my leg half way there and kicked back with the other ready to remove teeth.

"Have I missed something?" A dark voice rasped as Shino peered down at us. I used the distraction to snatch up my weapon and levelled it loosely at the blonde. My breath came out in rabid shaky gasps as a voice whispered to me to do something to the other woman, not kill…just something to slow her down. Like a muzzle on a rabid dog. The warning in the assassin's eyes hastened me back to my senses.

I lowered my weapon but didn't put it away.

"Tenten?" He called me twice more before I responded glancing at the young man in slight agitation that melted away at the sight of him looking so concerned. He really could be rather sweet if you were ready to read between the lines. I settled my pistol and cloth down gently and turned to face him fully.

"What's up school boy?" I asked cracking a smirk I wanted to come out as cocky…not exhausted as it felt.

"You look almost as bad as the bloody things out there. Haven't you slept?" So maybe you had to read between the lines pretty damn hard. I laughed a little drily.

"Couldn't." I started to say why, to try to articulate what kept me up at night but it all felt so damn awkward. Like I was trying to spit up a melon or something solid and massive and fucking painful the words just got clogged in my throat. Even as I ran it through my mind I couldn't seem to finish my statements.

That I was afraid I wouln't wake up, that's the kind of thing a toddler says to you. That the last bloody time I woke up I was pinned by a fucking rapist. No I wouldn't say that, I didn't want to bloody say it and even if I did I always hated people who threw their pain around to justify their nonsense or insanity. I refused to play the wailing flailing fucking victim. I would never be the damn victim.

"I just couldn't drift off, you snore to damn loud." I offered with a smile I was sure was much more like my natural one.

The Uchiha looked to be between two minds as he glanced away, a moment later his hand found mine and he began to pull me toward the couch. I didn't protest but allowed a lewd smile to colour my features.

"Aw I thought you said I looked bad today?" I teased as he pulled me onto the beat up sofa.

"That's not…Look I don't want to spend any longer here than we need to but there's no way you can leave like this." I realised his actual intentions as he gentle forced me to lay down cradling my head in his lap, an arm lay protectively over my stomach and the other rested on the armrest with his revolver.

"You've got nothing to worry about now Ten." I considered protesting being treated like a child suffering from nightmares but a more persuasive voice brought to life by the illusion of security that Sasuke offered quickly coaxed me to slumber.

I think I may have been going mad.

The heat kept me in a constant state of drowsiness as I willed myself through the featureless orange tunnels. Every now and again there would come a wail, the chirping of my hunter- I was sure he was hunting me- but worse than that was the echoing silence where I couldn't estimate where the thing was and all I could hear were my own steps, my wheezing breaths and the deafening thump of my heart.

My eyes had begun to sting and I blinked back tears as I passed through another arch the stone cut with marking of some strange language that didn't even remotely look like anything from the human world. More and more I seemed to find evidence that I'd fallen into hell at some point.

I found a door after the sixteenth cry. Without natural light or any kind of mental composer I was forced to judge the time by the only constant recognisable thing I had down here, my pursuer's war cry.

The rooms walls were a deep charcoal and it seemed devoid of enemies as I flipped the light switch. I moved into the room machine pistol raised clumsily but at the ready as I fought not to drop my guard, the air in here was noticeably cooler and the urge to sag with relief or search for the window I imagined was almost overwhelming.

Cages, animal cages, ran in rows throughout the room and left much of the shadows a mystery to me as I pushed on into the room shutting the door behind me softly. Most of the iron boxes were empty but not all as I took in the sight of different breeds of dogs in different states of decomposition. Some were more alive than others perking up as I passed where their cellmate barely reacted. It was a testing area I knew, perhaps even the birthing ground of the disease that had infected the 'locals'.

I heard a whimpering as I neared the end of the first row of cages. A messy theatre was set up in the back, blood smeared and stinking of a whole arsenal of smells I didn't care to distinguish. Beneath the flicking lamps a hound lay strapped to the surgery table, unlike his brothers however there was no decomposition…or none yet anyway. Behind the table a white clothed man stood with his back to me a needle hanging in one hand, at least I thought it was a man I didn't particularly care.

"P-put your hands up!" It sounded stupid to say, like I was playing cops and robs with my cousin again but what else was there to be said. I could have shot him but on top of lacking the cold blooded ruthlessness to do such a thing there was the matter of answers. This man could have them.

I undid the binds on the dog single handed and waited as the collie bound off the table but the man didn't lift his arms, he hadn't even seemed to have heard me.

"I-I said put your ha-" The lights flickered off again and he spun before I could repeat myself completely the needle in his hand flashing threateningly as he launched himself at me over the steel table. The table though wasn't bolted down and as he collided with it he brought the table with him. I got shots off, the handful of bullets punching into his torso but it was useless. I felt his hands on my shoulders as his weight and the table both came down on me biting painfully into my hips hard enough I feared for a moment I'd be cut in two. The fear was replaced a moment later by disappointment as the light flickered on and I saw the man's blood soaked jaw and dead dolls eyes looming over me.

He snarled and snapped forward.

I shifted to the side feeling pain tear its way along my side as I just about dodged the blow. With a manic desperation I slammed my free hand into his chest and pushed hard my other hand jerking on my pistol franticly trying to pull it through the gap between the table and the floor.

I heard another snarl and a crunch, my finger or my wrist being tore open I was sure and yet I was unable to feel the pain my adrenaline so high as I desperately tried to get to my weapon. The weight shifted for a moment and I got the pistol free. My arm was untouched and I took in the sight of the growling hound over the ghoul's shoulder snarling as it wrenched the creature back and away from me. I wasted no time as I woodenly twisted and pushed the weapon's muzzle to the monster's temple pulling the trigger.

Brain matter splattered over the floor to my left and the collie finally succeeded in wrestling the now truly dead man off the table. As I pushed the table off me grimacing at the red and purple discolouring of my stomach the hound returned to my side nudging my shoulder and glancing at me almost expectantly.

"Always wanted a dog." I'd never thought of highlighting a canines ability to save me from an assault by the Undead to my father, wonder if it would have helped my case or gotten me institutionalised?

"How do we do this?" I asked swallowing what I could of my anger, of my indignation and of my completely rational horror that after having missed just one god damn meal this woman was ready to cannibalise me. Shino at least had the decency to look halfway apologetic, Temari though…she just looked pissed, pissed and still fucking hungry.

"I'm sure you realise that this elevator is your only way out. The creature uses his tremendous weight to activate a switch beneath the platform, an impossible thing to replicate." Spoke the tall man disrobing from the waist up. I blushed but didn't look away- mostly due to the fact that I still shared breathing space with the twisted blonde. His torso seemed to be a living t-shirt of flesh, frightening fucking flesh at that. Insects most of which I couldn't even guess at a name from crawled in vivid dark purple, gold and black and iron chains were wrapped tight around his forearms.

"So we climb…how are you going to distract it?" I was expecting a rational well thought out strategy from the cold man, a professional killer put to good use. Instead he didn't answer me, rather he stepped in front of the nearest dying murderer speared on a meat hook slowly blessed himself, then the other man and broke his neck with a terrible wet crack. I swallowed hard the lump rising in my chest as noise echoed from above and Shino moved onto the next hook repeating his ritual.

"Y-y-you're going t-to…shit you'll feed yourself to it!" I was stuttering, a too familiar habit of someone I knew but never something I'd related to myself. Shino was still all silence as he moved onto a woman who'd begun to weep, realising what exactly was happening around her. She called him an angel just before he snapped her neck impassive. Impassive as if he weren't killing people with the indifference one would flick through a magazine, as if he wasn't inviting the monstrosity above to tear him apart…slowly.

"I'm going to fight it miss Sakura…My father, he was a collector and above all else he despised the spiders that ate his precious insects, with the exception of the assassin spider. One that hunted its own kind and only them." He spoke turning away from his last victim now limp and growing cold. He began to walk to the door passing a more than startled looking Temari and reached me. Gently he laid a hand on my shoulder.

"If I had to be a monster then I should hunt other monsters, he said once." He wore an expression of indifference and I didn't fail to make the connection.

"Good luck." I spoke woodenly as a tremble in the very earth alerted us to the arrival of our Jailor, infuriated beyond any form of human measure. Shino pushed me away roughly and sprinted away as the creature threw itself into a lunge its knife flashing dangerously as it tore against the chains above where I'd fallen.

Temari was already halfway up the rusted chains before the first human cry broke the air and I came to my senses scrambling after her. The battered girl moved fast but somehow I kept pace racing after her through the showers and the white room where we'd been stripped bare. She reached the elevator first smacking the lever and diving onto the platform, I barely made it on time jumping and climbing onto the slowly raising metal and rolling to barely avoid being cut in two as it entered the stone shaft.

Gasping and breathing hard I grasped my pistol in a sweaty grip siting in the furthest corner from the savage looking blonde. She glared at me with enough force to peel the bark from a tree.

We came to a noisy jolting stop and together stared out momentarily overcome at the sight of genuine moonlight and starlight filtering through the still open shed door. And together we scrambled though the tight passage pushing at one another in our haste to be in the open air.

More than the open air greeted us. I thought my heart might have fallen clean of my chest as a scream threatened to work itself free from my cracked lips.

Appearing almost curious at us the massive leather clad figure's attention flickered between us in indecision. He couldn't give chase, or I didn't think so, not with the unconscious captives he held. But would he even attempt to re-imprison us? There was a scuffle as Temari began to run at breakneck speed for the forests protection. I bolted to in a second as the creature's focus shifted entirely onto me the still immobile prey.

My blood flared in my ears as I ran and my vision was no more than a tunnel. As I hit the tree line I thought I heard the bizarre sounds of a helicopter taking off, a slow whistle of something twirling incredibly fast, then came the sound of breaking branches and a horrible cruel empty laugh that rang though the night.

And then pain, nothing but pain as something hard and dark tore my legs out from beneath me with a terrible crack.

The darkness swallowed me.

"Are you coming, school boy?" I asked almost cheerfully to the now brooding Uchiha. I'd elected not to tell B or his gang we were leaving. No if he wanted to play spy with the freak upstairs then that was his business, all I wanted to do was get Sasuke and I out of this damned hellhole.

I wanted to say it was entirely due to the younger man's paranoia that we were leaving. But more and more I was becoming unnerved by that doctor's condescending smile, as if he knew some secret answer to something we hadn't even figure out the question to yet. And then there was the way he watched my partner, somewhere between the way a scientist watched a prized specimen and a jerk off watched a cheerleader…I didn't like it.

"You got enough rest then?" he asked and I wondered if I should start calling him mother instead of school boy…nah that would probably make me a bit creepy.

"Of course my oh so daring protector, not even any bad dreams got past you." I teased him with a wink. I expected him to blush at the over the top praise coming from such a beautiful woman, instead he only looked all the more concerned, almost frightened even. I had to remind myself of his age, that he'd fall that more deeper in love in his innocence. I pressed a soft kiss to his dry lips.

"I'm fine okay, we gotta focus more on getting out of here okay." I offered him with a reassuring smile, it seemed to have the desired effect as he nodded and shook his mind free of pointless concerns and theories. I'd never seen anyone else quite so adept at tying himself in mental knots.

"And finding Hinata and Sakura." He added and I blinked back for a second suddenly aware for a moment that I'd…sort of forgotten that little detail. Or maybe I was losing hope, we hadn't heard a peep from Hinata in the higher levels and Sakura…she'd been taken by that thing, how could she…

"Greedy, you'd think one woman would be enough?" If that had been meant as a joke, and I honestly had meant it as one…then you wouldn't have been able to tell from my tone.

"What?" He asked as if he'd misunderstood. I mimicked, pretending I hadn't heard his simple question at all.

"Hey school boy, give me a hand down here would you?" I asked drawing him away from the potentially very awkward conversation. I'd barely glanced at the floor below before having the Uchiha lower me down too intent on escaping a bad topic. I hit the floor in a crouch with a shaky groan and raised myself glancing around for something to aid in the Uchiha's own decent.

Instead I found asymmetrical hair and empty dark eyes behind thick glasses, a familiar looking face from a really old dream. The woman had me before my mind could even process a defence and her teeth sank deep into my collar bone…it was only by share luck alone I didn't stumble out into view of Sasuke. Instead I pushed back hard thrusting a knee up hard into the dead woman's solar plexus forcing her off me.

I had my gun drawn in a second and a bullet tore through the bitch's head in even less time…but there was still blood dripping down my chest and my mind was all in panic and I could hear Sasuke calling to me ready to risk the fall to get down to me…to save me.

He wanted to save me.

Numb fingers moved as I tore the hem of my shirt wrapping a too tight and painful bandage over my visible wound. Then I untied my jersey from my waist, my good flesh hiding baggy jersey and pulled it over my head. The Uchiha hit the ground with a grunt, a roll and then a shaky curse, but he hadn't broken any bones in the head strong move to reach me.

"I'm fine school boy, just a single ghoul." I threw towards him relishing the concern in his eyes. And the trust. He trusted me, and he loved me, and he wanted to be with me, and we were going to leave this place together. Both of us together, we'd be fine as long as we were together. I couldn't hurt him, and losing me like this…that would hurt him a lot. So…

"I missed you. Missed me?" I asked in a jovial tune. He smiled his shaky little smile, the one I recognised as just for me when I made jokes he couldn't laugh at cause he was still too shaken, too worried.

I was Teagan Ten for ten Williams, I'd never been sick a damned day of my life. I'd be fine. We'd be fine.

Pov's- Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Sakura, Tenten.

Yay so Hinata made a new not dying friend. Everyone else…they were less lucky.

I figured I've been going too slow on the story so here's a chapter that firmly fucks the status quo of the last few, let me know what you think.

Also just as a small question as I'm reflecting in the new year on just how I write. What scene in any of my stories ever is your favourite and why exactly? I've been experimenting with different genres I'm sure you've noticed and I wanted to know with personally you think I hit my stride with best. If it's not too much trouble, I don't mind how you let me know pm or review I'd just appreciate it. If you don't, well thanks for reading anyways .

Happy new year, if you haven't already check out some of my other stuff…it ain't that terrible.

R&R