Me: Hey people! I'm still alive!

…

It's suddenly very chilly… As if a lot of people are glaring me to death.

Look at it from the bright side! At least it hasn't been a month! It's been only 15 days.

…

Okay! I'm sorry it took me so long to update! Next chapter will be soon! And long!

Kate: Pathetic…

Me: Hey! You're insulting yourself, you know! I am you! I created you! I am God! I'M ALMIGHTY! MWOEAHAHAHAHAA!

Kate: *sweatdrop* Oh dear… I am so definitely not created by… her!

Me: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, un. (Guess whom I just imitated! It's really, really difficult to guess! And shut up, Starwatcher-schadow, you'll give away the answer!)

Kate: Like I said, Oh dear…

Me: Aaaaaaaannnnyway, let's get up with the chapter.

Kriss' POV

It's strange how the knowledge that a person is dead can change so much.

I couldn't bring myself to be angry with Kate.

It's impossible to blame the dead.

I couldn't even think clearly. It was as if my brain couldn't find words anymore and my head was filled with silence.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know what to think.

I mean, my sister had just been killed. My twin sister. The one I'd known for like my whole life.

Worst enemy, best friend. Though we'd been more enemies than friends.

Killed by the Akatsuki.

Still, I hadn't cried even one time.

Guess my mind just labeled the whole happening here as 'unreal'.

And yet, one small part of me knew it was real. That this was all real, except for the fact Kate was dead.

Because Kate couldn't be dead. It was simply impossible.

You know those things people call 'twin intuition'? I kind of had a feeling Kate was still out there, somewhere. Maybe half dead, but still alive. But maybe it was just my hope for her not being dead.

So pathetic.

When you really want something, you sometimes get yourself to believe it, right?

And how could I possibly make out what was reality and what was an illusion in this world?

Everything upside down. Unclear.

Vague memories, unimportant. Impossible to see what was real and what wasn't.

And the sharp memories. The ones I could see very clearly. The ones that mattered.

Getting sucked into the television, seeing the Naruto world for the first time.

Kate's sly expression as she proposed me her deal.

Her angered face as we were fighting for the biggest room in Kakashi's house.

Itachi and Kisame standing in the hallway of the hotel, both seeming bored.

Kate clinging to Itachi's feet, which suddenly wasn't funny at all anymore.

The sea of black flames. And the shoe drifting in it.

I clang to the shoe, the messenger of Kate's death. I hadn't let go of it since I'd found it.

All the fault of the shoe.

If I hadn't seen it, if I'd missed it, it wouldn't have existed. I'd never have concluded Kate was dead.

If the shoe hadn't existed, Kate would still have been alive.

Jiraiya and Naruto had left. They'd proposed to stay a while longer, but I couldn't make them miss Tsunade.

Before they'd left, Naruto had come to my spot at the side of the river.

"Uh, Kriss…" he'd said. "You okay?"

My old self would have replied something like: "My sister has just been killed and the only thing left of her is her shoe! So yeah! Of course, why wouldn't I be okay?"

But I was drained of energy. All that was left was that overpowering sadness, and, too tired to use my usual sarcasm, too empty to scream, I'd simply answered I was all right.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I murmured, to fill the heavy silence with my voice.

"I'm fine…" One of the most used lies in history. Lies. Kate. A twitch in my stomach made me sigh deeply.

Then, I finally started to cry.

Kate's POV

Now okay, I was being kidnapped by two criminals, both member of some assassination group.

That's fine by me.

At the moment, they were jumping from tree to tree at an incredible speed.

That's less fine, but I can live with it.

In the time they were running and jumping in the trees like only ninja and monkeys could do, nothing had happened.

And that wasn't fine at all.

I'd have thought Kriss would have alarmed someone by now, but no. Not a single ninja crossed our path. What the heck is Kriss doing? She must know where their hideout is, right? Then why the heck isn't she helping me? Does she want me to die?

"Hey, Blues, when are we going to stop? My stomach is beginning to hurt because of your bony shoulders."

The shark-man brusquely stopped to face me.

"The colour of my skin's natural, okay. And my name's Kisame."

"Ah… I'd forgotten your name."

For once, I was telling the truth. I mean, how was it possible for them to all have those unpronounceable names? Even if Kriss had told me them all, I tended to forget them.

"And, um, what's your last name?" I asked.

I was so not going to call him by his name. One: it was unpronounceable and two: if I called him by his last name, it would be more formal.

Blues grunted.

"Hoshigaki. My name's Kisame Hoshigaki."

…

I think I'm going to call him Kisame, after all…

Kisame swung me over his bony shoulder again and continued running – well, if you can call it running, that is.

When you'd be in my situation, what would be the cool thing to do? What would be the brave thing to do?

I'd thought about that.

I supposed it would be to get on their nerves as good as I could.

To turn their life into a living hell.

To give them a headache every day.

To make sure they got no sleep at night.

To try to escape again and again, even if I had no chance.

Well, that was not me.

Having nothing else to do but think, I had, of course, thought of all the possibilities, but I considered them pointless.

The only thing that would happen if I did one of those, was that I got on their bad side, they'd most likely kill me, of at least injure me, and I'd tire myself.

So I was the totally uncool girl that barely talked at all and that remained entirely calm.

But that, of course, was on the outside.

In the inside, I was planning, plotting about ways to escape or to send a coded message.

And I was worried.

Having had time to think, I had quickly found two things to worry about.

And no, they weren't that I risked to be killed or that they'd torture me.

In fact, I'm pretty sure other people would find them rather small and unimportant, but anyway.

Number one on my worry list: Having to stay calm all the day and having problems to sleep the night, I was going to be hyperactive in the evening.

Number two on my worry list: I was bound to sleep sometime, and I talk in my sleep. I didn't want to sleep at all, because when I slept I had no control. I just said the thing that popped into my head or the thing that happened in my dreams. And when I had nightmares, which I had pretty often, I would move around a lot and kick in the air. But the main point was that I talked, and it would be extremely unfortunate if I said something they shouldn't know I knew in my sleep.

Kisame continued running on the tree branches, Itachi running before him, and me being carried, my stomach aching and fearing the moment it would become evening.

Jane's POV

"I'm sorry to interrupt your training, Hinata-san," I said, hoping not to sound too formal. "But could you please look at me with the byakugan?"

With hopeful eyes, I saw how she stopped fighting and turned to me.

"Can you see my chakra?"

Please let me have chakra, please let me have chakra!

Hinata's teacher was looking at me as well, but he didn't have his byakugan activated.

Hinata frowned, surprised, as she looked at me with her byakugan.

"Th-th-this is… I-impossible…" she murmured.

Doesn't she see any chakra? Nooooooooo! Let me have chakra!

"What? Do I have chakra? Please tell me I have chakra!"

Hinata's teacher seemed to be interested, now.

"What do you mean? Everybody has chakra! Hinata, what's wrong?" he asked.

"H-her chakra…"

My chakra? I'VE GOT CHAKRA! YAY!

"I-i-it's green and it d-doesn't move the way it should. I-it's as if she's c-converting it in energy a-a-all the time."

Maybe I shouldn't have asked after all… I'm in for a long interrogation…

"What do you mean?" the teacher asked, activating his byakugan.

I'm beginning to feel uncomfortable…

"Hey! Wh-what's that?" The scream came from behind me, and I saw that the Hyuga's had entered the training grounds, their byakugan activated. Of course, they were both staring at me.

One of them ran back to the compound, while the other one kept staring at me.

Hinata's teacher grabbed my hand, as if to prevent me to run.

Apparently, I was considered a spy again.

Great.

Then, the Hyuga who'd returned to the compound came back, followed by a small crowd of Hyuga's, inclusive Hiashi, Hanabi and Neji.

As of them had their bloodline limit activated.

"H-hey, stop staring at me." I said.

Everyone ignored me.

It probably was because I was encircled by pairs of staring eyes that could see through anything. I mean, it hadn't been that bad when Hinata was looking at me with her byakugan, but now, there was a whole crowd staring at me as if I was a spectacle in a circus.

Anyway, I don't even feel as if I have to explain it. I lost my calm.

"FOR THE LOVE OF RAMEN, STOP STARING AT ME, PERVERTS!"

…

Yeah, what would you have said in this situation?

But at least some of them had the courtesy of deactivating their byakugan and looking away, some even with a slight blush.

I became red from a combination of anger and embarrassment.

"Let go of me," I said, on a calmer tone, to Hinata's teacher, who followed my command quickly, but didn't move an inch.

Out of precaution, I supposed. They probably all were thinking I was now going to show them some amazing ninja skills and escape.

Jeez, I wish I could.

"Why do you have such an abnormal chakra?" Hiashi asked.

Well what did I say? There we go with the interrogation…

Me: I know the chapter was short. Normally, there would have been two parts for everyone, but with my sister saying: "Hurry up, hurry up, when are you going to update? You have to update now!" I just updated. Next chapter will, of course, be longer.

Kriss: How long am I going to have to think Kate's dead while she's wondered if I want her dead?

Me: Not too long…

Kate: And why the heck am I being kidnapped by a weasel and a fish?

Me: You already know why, so I'll just ignore you.

Jane: I suppose I'll learn more about my chakra next chapter? And I have to be able to use it, of course, it'd be a pity if I knew I had chakra and I couldn't use it!

Me: Well, yeah, you're going to learn more about it.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that. Morgan, are you there?

Morgan: *suddenly pops out of nowhere* Yes.

Me: Good, get ready; you're in the next chapter.

And people, I like reviews and Jane, Kate and Kriss like reviews, so, in fact, you'll make 4 people happy if you review!

Greenpeace: Yes! To make 4 people happy! Let's get up to 10.000 signatures!

Me: *sweatdrop* Greenpeace, seriously? Where do you come from? No, forget that, I don't even wanna know. And it's reviews I want, not signatures! And 10.000 is a bit much… Thought it would be nice to actually get 10.000 reviews...

Kriss, Kate and Jane: Keep on dreaming, Silverschine! For the sake of wishful thinking!