Geez...yet another pathetic update... My computer's been giving me a headache lately, and now it seems like my cat is sick.

What a pain...I hope you guys can excuse Shino and Kiba's OOCness. I tried my best but I'm not very familiar with them, my beta did give me a hand though...*dies*


"I don't know what happened! She just said her stomach hurt! Then...Madara-sama are you listening!" Sakura stamped her foot, it was like he wasn't even looking at her, he was looking though her. Didn't he care?

A low growl erupted from his throat and Sakura jumped. He could feel it watching him. She took a step back, wondering if she'd angered him. She didn't think she'd said anything too rude. She watched nervously as Madara's eyes flicked back and forth.

Is someone here? Sakura could feel a shiver running up her spine. She couldn't see anyone! But it had to be bad if Madara-sama was upset! She was beginning to to feel useless again...like when Hinata's little sister... she swallowed. It must not be too bad since Madara-sama wasn't saying anything. Maybe he was just upset he couldn't help that little girl.

Sakura nodded to herself. That was it. He was upset with himself. That made sense. Looking up she noticed Madara was no longer there. She turned and caught sight of his back as he went down the hall. With a sigh she decided Hinata would be alright. Madara-sama would heal her and it would be fine. It was all just stress anyway, right?

She went to follow him but stopped. Something was off...something was...

Her eyes widened suddenly, "What- when did it get so dark?"

She heard a shallow breathing behind her, "You're such a nuisance."

She shook her head and it was gone. Looking behind herself she saw nothing. She was shaking slightly. Without giving it much thought she sprinted down the hall.


Kiba was getting antsy. And not just because Shino had dropped some ants on him earlier. He noticed one and flicked it off, ignoring the death glare he could feel burning into his back. He stood up and stretched, squinting in the bright sunlight.

"Doesn't it bother you?" he said turning, "Everything's gone weird...and where the hell is Hinata?"

Shino bent down and after a second of sifting though dirt he picked up a beetle. He ran his finger gently over the back of the smooth black wing casing, "We still don't know what Kurunai's final decision was."

Kiba snorted, "Uh huh...what else is new? We don't even know where Kurunai went."

Shino watched the little insect nibble the tip of finger with its tiny mandibles, " Besides those two, where's the Lady Hokage?"

"Tanzaku Town maybe? She could be in any number of those little gambling villages."

"I've heard Asuma-sensei already checked it out. She wasn't there," the beetle gave buzz and flew off toward the trees.

"You know what?"

"Hm?"

"Everyone who is here has gone back to normal."

"Normal?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice. But for the past few days, no one's been acting like themselves. I mean, didn't you see Naruto? That sure wasn't our regular idiot. Or a few days ago I ran into Sakura. Total bitch for no reason."

"Maybe she'd had a bad day? The Hokage's been putting a lot of stress on her lately."

"No, that's not it...I ran into Ino too. She'd been bawling her eyes out. Apparently Sakura said something. I know those two fight and all, but I've never seen it get to the point of tears unless Sasuke had been involved."

"That might have been it too. You know how Sakura is about Sasuke's departure Naruto too. You know, it might have been because of what happened in the forest. Did Sai tell you?"

"I don't talk that guy, he's creepy."

"Well, regardless, they'd gone to go train in the forest and they found this little girl there and apparently they couldn't help her."

"I don't get it. What was wrong with her? Was she stuck in a tree or something?"

"I'm not sure. He was being very vague. He did say Sakura and Naruto didn't take it very well."

"Eh...I don't know...I'm just worried about Hinata right now. Let's go over to her house and see where she's been. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but..."

"No, I agree. It would be good to check up on her. You know that what Kuranai-sensei had to say wasn't pleasant."

Akamaru lifted his head up and sniffed the air. Kiba turned and put a hand on the dog's head, "What's wrong?"

Akamaru's nose twitched, the hackles on his neck and rear bristled. Kiba sniffed the air too, then frowned.

Shino could feel his insects on him, scurrying up and down his body in panic.

Kiba growled, "What it is? Akamaru?"

"Something is wrong." Shino stated quietly, "Even my insects are reacting to it as well."

"But what the hell is it? I can't smell anything!"

Akamaru turned toward Shino and barked. Shino moved toward Kiba but the dog kept barking at where he'd had been. He could feel his bugs on his skin, all of them moving about restlessly.

Neither of them could sense anything, let alone see. Finally after a long minute Akamaru stopped barking and Shino's bugs settled down.

"...Shino...did you...?"

"Hn?"

"Did you feel that...? Just now..."

"..."

"It felt like something...something was..."

"Scrutinizing us?"


Feels like everyone's lost interest in this story...even me... Or maybe I have yet to recover from my finals? Well I hope you enjoyed that chap...I'm so tired right now...night peeps...or morning...depends on when you read this I guess...*re-dies*