Hey, people! I found an AWESOME riddle! Remember, looking it up is considered cheating!

With pointed fangs it sits in wait,
With piercing force its doles out fate,
Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might,
Eternally joining in a single bite.
What am I?

So, any ideas? You know the drill (at least, by now, I hope you do).

In the meantime, we shall get on with the story.

I don't own any Naruto characters that may appear with or without my noticing.

Also, this little idea was given to me back when I was writing Quiet on the Golf Course by JLWafflezMan, so you've got him to thank for this!

Cin had been looking forward to sleeping in the next day. Yeah, she was usually a morning person, but having stayed up late the night before wandering around with her hallmates, she was feeling happy that the next day was a Saturday, and as such, she could sleep in as late as she wanted.

As you can probably guess, this was not to be.

Knocking on the door woke her from a light sleep (her consciousness was very close to the surface at this time as now was when she usually was waking up at). A look at her roommate told her that Akiko was nowhere near being awake, and that she was completely swaddled in blankets to the point that all Cin could see was the tip of a tanned nose and a bit of a shock of bright blonde hair.

So much for hoping to pretend she was asleep and let the roomie take care of it.

But she wasn't giving up just yet.

Maybe if she didn't answer they'd go away.

Yes, they, she had no doubt in her mind who was waiting at the door.

Everyone had been out last night, so everyone would be sleeping in, and any administration people would know this and so not bother to contact the college students.

So it had to be the Akatsuki.

Just what she needed to start off her morning.

The knocking was getting louder.

At this rate, they'd wake up everyone around them; she could even hear them calling her name through the door.

Well, she should probably answer before they broke the door down.

Sighing, she reached her arms above her head to stretch, before groaning as her feet touched the ice-cold floor.

This had better be important.

Kisame groaned as he pressed her head against the cool wall.

Maybe he shouldn't have had those last ten drinks.

His only consolation was that he wasn't the only one in this situation, though it irritated him that Itachi and Sasori were seemingly unaffected by their pain.

Only one thought was in their heads as they all woke up.

"What was I thinking?"

Cin opened the door to see bedraggled Akatsuki members with bloodshot eyes, looking like they had been…actually, there's no metaphor that can accurately describe how bad they looked.

Before they could open their mouths, Cin made her choice.

"No."

She shut the door quickly before it sunk in to their shrieking brains.

A cacophony of noise started up, making her wince and pray that her new friends were all heavy sleepers.

Wishful thinking.

Akiko snapped awake when the noise got louder, tried to get up and ended falling out of her bed onto the floor with her sheets tangled around her legs.

Now her cell phone was ringing persistently.

Quickly, she switched it to vibrate.

But it didn't seem to deter them.

Akiko didn't seem too happy, her blue eyes flashing angrily.

Cin sighed, looks like she'd have to face the music.

Pulling the door open a bit, she hissed at them, "Is there a particular reason you insist on waking everyone up?"

"Our heads expletiving hurt!"

"Expletive," she hissed, "And whose fault is that?"

"You shouldn't have gone to that party, un!"

"You didn't have to follow me! And you certainly didn't have to drink yourself into a hangover! And why are you even coming to me?"

"You obviously know why, or you wouldn't have slammed the door so quickly."

Normally, Kakuzu would be sober, but the booze was free, so he indulged.

His stitches were now aching.

Perhaps I should mention that some of the…odder appearing Akatsuki were in their henges for appearing at college, something like they wore for going to Disney World and Sea World in the previous series.

So therefore, girls peering from their rooms just saw a bunch of good-looking college boys and not monsters…except for the bloodshot eyes, those were kind of scary.

So therefore, Kakuzu's stitches, while aching, were nowhere in sight.

Just saying.

"Will you quit blabbing?"

[Hey, I'm just setting the mood. I thought you were sleeping in.]

"I was trying to; however, Kisame with a hangover is like a bull elephant let loose in a china shop. Just tell Cin to fix them up so we can go back to sleep."

[Um…well, about that…]

By this point, she had grabbed Hidan by the ear and was leading the Akatsuki to the woods behind the dorm, not even thinking about the fact that they were all clad only in pajamas, nor the fact that she wasn't wearing shoes.

She was just too angry; otherwise she might've picked a different target, knowing all too well that Hidan's head has come off numerous times before.

"And what pray tell, makes you think that I can get rid of your hangovers?" she hissed angrily, reminding them all of a cat that had been splashed by a deluge of water.

"Uh, healer?" Kisame thought it was quite obvious, and Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, and Zetsu (Itachi was trying to go back to sleep and was too cool to get drunk, Sasori's got a puppet body, he couldn't get drunk if he tried, and who knew where Tobi was?) nodded, backing him up, before wincing in the pain that such a simple gesture caused.

"From what I understand," her frigid tone could make even Hell freeze over (Ow!), "Tsunade, a healer of great renown, can't make a hangover go away, so what gives you the slightest thought that I, an untrained beginner can accomplish that?"

"Because you have the potential to be better than Tsunade, un?" Deidara hoped that appealing to her vanity would work.

She turned her amber glare on him.

Guess that plan failed.

"Do you even think this stuff through?" her voice was starting to rise again, and the Akatsuki flinched away, holding their poor abused craniums tenderly, "Did you even consider the consequences of what might happen if I mess around with your heads? I'm not brain surgeon! If something goes wrong, I could completely end up frying what's left of your brains!"

They tried to think about what she was saying, they really did, but it was kind of difficult when it felt like the whole college marching band was playing on the inside of their heads.

Kakuzu was astonished to feel himself on the verge of begging her to try; at least if his brain was fried the pain would stop.

Usually, he'd be the person on the sidelines, quietly snickering at the others' misfortune and taking pictures of the groveling that would occur for peace and quiet or (as in this case only) for relief from the dreaded pain.

He decided that he didn't like having the shoe on the other foot.

Curse you, free beer!

But no, he'd stay strong…

"Please! I'm begging you! Fix this mess! At least if you fry our brains we won't be able to feel the pain!" a whining voice rang out.

It took the ragdoll a while to realize that it was he that spoke, and was currently on his knees begging.

All he knew what that if he heard the slightest snippet of a laugh from the immortal, he would tear him apart and bury him again, and this time, he most certainly would not dig him up again.

Luckily, he seemed too engaged in his own problems to notice his partner's extreme pansy behavior.

Fortunately, it seemed to be the case for all of them.

Small blessings, hey?

Cin seemed a little taken aback by that "Is it really that bad?"

If the pain was so terrible that he was practically asking her to fry his brain, then she planned on staying far away from being intoxicated.

It didn't sound like the aftereffects were worth it at all.

"I think I can numb the pain, at least," she couldn't believe she was even considering how to do this.

She got their attention immediately with those few words, and she quickly backtracked.

"I'm not saying I can get rid of it, or that I would be able to numb the pain. I think I could at least try though, and have a…reasonable chance of success."

They were looking at her with such hope in their eyes that she had to stop for a second to recall that these were trained assassins.

Note to self, stay far far far away from the liquor.

"The thing is," she spoke, trying to calm them down, "I've been studying the scrolls and books Itachi found about my family, and it seems that every time I use my power on a person, they become more immune to it, so I don't know how many times I'll be able to do it. But on the bright side, since I won't be fixing the problem, I should be able to avoid the side-effects that come with healing."

The Akatsuki suddenly felt embarrassed.

They hadn't even thought about the effects healing hangovers would have on the girl. Add the effects of just using her power to the sheer force of the hangovers and she'd possibly pass out from the sheer pain of it all.

They didn't mean to not consider the downsides for her; they just wanted the pain to go away.

Was this so bad?

She saw their embarrassment turn back to hope, and knew that she couldn't refuse them.

"Sit down," she sighed, rolling up the sleeves of her long-sleeved T-shirt, "Let's get started."

It was a good thing there were no classes that day.

She felt like she could sleep the day away, but also there was a gnawing hunger that was driving her insane.

Before she'd be able to sleep, she'd have to head over to the cafeteria and demolish a few plates of breakfast. Fortunately not nearly as much as she would if she had to actually heal someone, but enough that it would seem more like the breakfast of a football player mid-season.

Sighing, she sat back on her heals, surveying the peace her efforts had brought.

She had taken a thin layer of her chakra and partially blocked the pain receptors in their heads. The film would deteriorate throughout the day, but hopefully before it was gone, the hangovers would be all but gone.

She cracked her neck once before drawing the boys' attention to her.

"Okay, listen up boys. This isn't permanent, and it's slightly messy. With your pain receptors partially blocked, you'll need to be more aware of your surroundings. It'll be easier for you to get hurt and not realize it. For example, if you were to accidentally put your hand on a hot stove, you'd not be able to feel it."

They nodded, recognizing the danger of such a jutsu.

"I've only got one set of those in me for a day, and any attempt to redo it on your receptors without giving them a good rest could end up destroying them for good. Stay away from loud noises; they could destroy the whole thing. It's very fragile."

The Akatsuki nodded gratefully and turned to head back to the dorms, only to see a perky boy running towards them.

"TOBI'S COMING!" he screamed, and the Akatsuki nearly cried as the pain came rushing back.

She almost laughed at their expressions, but that could be considered cruel, so she simply hurried back to the dorm, allowing the Akatsuki to beat up their fellow member in peace.

"What was that all about?" Akiko asked from where she was reading a textbook over behind the bed. She insisted on being far away and blocked from the other when either was changing, so she also had her blanket up as a sort-of tent over her head.

"Oh," Cin realized that she'd have to make a good excuse for this.

Well, the best lies have some grain of truth in them, after all.

"My friends went out and got wasted last night. I've got a pretty good recipe that helps relieve hangovers so long as the victims are kept in quiet areas, so they wanted me to make it for them. Unfortunately, Tobi came along and ruined all my hard work."

The other girl snickered under the covers, "That stinks!"

"Yeah, it does," Cin responded, "You ready for breakfast? I'm starving!"

"Me too!" Akiko cheered, leaping up from under her make-shift fort, "Let's eat!"

I hope this helped satisfy everyone who was asking for longer chapters. Like you, I wish every chapter could be this long, but sometimes the reasonable end to the chapter isn't as far along as this one was.

Also, sorry if I got the descriptions of the hangovers wrong. Having never had one myself before (or been around someone having one before), I am forced to rely on stuff I've read/heard.

Knock on wood that I avoid that pain.

Hope everyone enjoyed the hung-over Akatsuki.

Remember! RER!