Lauren's POV

Sasuke took a step forward, eyes scanning over the field. He first took in the area's location before his onyx eyes turned to our group. I was in the dead front, frozen in shock, but Sasuke didn't seem to glance at me for more than a split second- he was more concerned with his brother.

I slowly turned my head to glance at Itachi. His Sharingan was unmoving in his slightly wide eyes. He was also frozen in shock.

Come to think of it, all of the Akatsuki were. No one had been expecting this. No one had expected Sasuke. Pein had said that Konoha were sending people, but Sasuke was a surprise.

I turned my head back forward looking over the rest of his team.

To Sasuke's right was Suigetsu and to his left was Karin. She was peeking out from the side of his arm, seemingly scared of the 10 powerful members of Akatsuki that were only a few hundred feet away from her. Suigetsu looked over the group with a grin, his hand grasping the hilt of Zabuza's (now his) Kubikiriboucho. His purple eyes paused on me for a second. He seemed slightly surprised to see me but quickly moved his gaze over to Kisame, catching the glimpse of Samehada over the sharks shoulder. Juugo was also a part of Sasuke's team now. He was standing a foot away from Karin, eyes brimming on the edge of insanity. He was itching to kill someone and I'm sure that in his head he was debating who.

The sound of metal clashing snapped me from my thoughts. I whipped my head over to where Itachi had been standing blinking when I found Sasuke there, sword unsheathed. Itachi had managed to deflect his blow with a kunai and had jumped, landing on the grass a few feet away from the group. Sasuke was persistent however and didn't give him a moment before clashing weapons with him again.

The rest of us still stood there, not knowing what to do. At the moment I honestly felt hopeless. I felt like crying…

Itachi and Sasuke were battling it out in front of me and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to stop them. Sasuke wanted Itachi dead, and at the moment I didn't know if Itachi still wanted to die by Sasuke's hands or not. I was praying for or not.

All I wanted was for Sasuke to know the real truth. I didn't want him to kill Itachi. I didn't want him to be influenced by Madara or to have his new goal be to destroy Konoha. I just wanted him and Itachi to be alive and to get along…

"Onna…"

My eyes flickered to Juugo. He was still standing next to Karin. The curse mark was slowly making its way across his skin.

"Onna!" He screamed wildly, cackling. "Onna o korosu zo!" (A woman! I'm going to kill a woman!)

His orange eyes darted around and stopped when they caught sight of what he had been searching for. Juugo leapt forward with incredible power, his now gray and spiky arm pulled back and ready to strike.

That's when I noticed that he wasn't looking at Konan or Tess or I. He was looking at Taylor. And she was too scared to do anything.

"Move!" I shouted, sprinting towards her. Taylor only stumbled back a step. Juugo was suddenly in front of her.

"Shine!" (Die!)

The ginger propelled his arm into Taylor and with a sickening crack she went flying back. I tackled Juugo away from the group a second later, smashing my chidori filled hand into chest.

"You fucking bastard!"

The two of us flew back and rolled onto the ground. I knelt over his body and shoved my hand further into his chest as the curse mark began spreading across my skin, reacting to my anger.

I took a second to glance back over my shoulder. Taylor had thankfully been caught by Pein but had still taken brunt of the damage. She was now lying flat on the ground jaw clenched and tears streaming from her closed eyes. Tess and Sasori were already at her side assessing and healing the damage that Juugo's outrageously strong punch had caused.

In the meanwhile Kisame and Hidan had engaged in battle with Suigetsu. They were going at it on the other end of the field. Karin was only standing on the sidelines, fist clenched in front of her chest as she watched the battles go on.

There was laughing from underneath me. I quickly remembered where I was and stood, hoping back a few feet. Juugo slowly stood and looked at me.

"Anata wa watashi no hitotsu to natte iru!"(You're just another one of me!) He shouted madly, waving his arms at my form. By now I had slipped into the curse marks final stage and had two black wings sprouting from my back.

Juugo charged and I hoped into the air as his fist smashed into the ground where I had been standing. I activated the Sharingan and flew through a set of hand signs.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

A flurry of fire balls shot down at the ginger but he only cackled madly and hopped right through them towards me. I cursed and flew farther back into the air. I made a move to use another jutsu but Juugo was too fast.

"Owatta!" (You're finished!)

His arm impacted the shoulder that I had already injured earlier and I went flying back through the air. I couldn't stop the cry that came from my mouth and tried to steady myself before I went flying back to the earth.

My wings flared out and stopped the air flow around me. I grasped my shoulder in pain and started panting, beginning to feel tired from lack of chakra after training for an hour and then having to do this.

I cursed when I saw that my shoulder had been broken again, this time even worse. The stitches that Kakuzu had placed were now ripped apart and had managed to make the wound even bigger. Blood was freely flowing down my arm and dripping off my finger tips.

Below me I heard Sasuke scream in anger and looked down. Apparently I had stopped directly over the area that Itachi and Sasuke were battling. Both were flying through handsigns. A second later they both sucked in a breath and held their hands to their mouth.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

At the exact moment Itachi and Sasuke's fireballs met with equal force.

I suddenly got the feeling of déjà vu as Itachi and Sasuke's battle scene at the Uchiha stronghold appeared in my mind. If it was like then Itachi would activate his Mangekyo Sharingan and overpower Sasuke's fire. And if things continued like that than Itachi would most likely di-

"Ha! Watashi no kachi! Orokana meinu!"(Ha! I got you! Stupid bitch!) Karin cheered happily from across the field. I looked down and felt my eyes begin to go blurry. Three kunai were lodged in my torso, pools of blood beginning to soak into my shirt around them.

"Dammit…," I cursed as I felt the curse mark retract across my skin and the wings disappear from my back. I was now falling freely through the air, heading towards the fire that Itachi and Sasuke continued to create.

There was nothing I could do. I was tired and bleeding out. My shoulder was now broken worse than before. I was in no fighting condition at the moment and the only thing that I could assure myself is that I did what I could.

A tired smirk made its way onto my face as the flames neared. When I had told Itachi that I'd die before he let Sasuke kill him I was joking. Too bad the joke was now coming back to haunt me…

I let out a sad chuckle and bit my lip. This might actually be it…I didn't want to die.

And with that though in mind I mustered up the strength to give one last cry as my body started to shut down.

"Nii-san!"

Normal POV

Tess and Sasori were healing Taylor while Pein, Kakuzu, Deidara, Konan, Tobi, and Zetsu all guarded the area. Hidan and Kisame were battling it out with Suigetsu and Itachi and Sasuke were fighting to the death. Everyone was so involved in what they were doing that no one had been watching Lauren and Juugo. No one knew what was going on until there was a loud cry.

"Nii-san!"

At that moment everyone stopped what they were doing to watch as Lauren went limp and plunged directly into Itachi and Sasuke's clashing attacks. The two brothers froze in shock.

"Nee-san!"

"Imouto!"

Sasuke and Itachi met each other's gaze. Their fight was over.

"Pein-sama!" Itachi called desperately over his shoulder. Sasuke blinked in confusion and surprise. He had never heard his brother sound so upset.

The Akatsuki leader nodded and flew through a set of hand signs, summoning his rain in an instant. The downpour quickly extinguished the two Uchiha's flames and both Sasuke and Itachi rushed over to where their sister was now lying.

There were burns lining her showing skin in places, and her hair and clothes were both singed. Three kunai were still lodged into her chest and blood was now trailing down her sides as well as her wounded arm. It was clear that her shoulder was broken as well.

Sasori and Deidara ran up beside the two, looking over the third member to their artist partnership. Sasori knelt down next to her across from Itachi and immediately started to heal her wounds. Deidara stood next to him, still staring down at his girlfriend in shock.

Hidan, Kisame and Suigetsu were the next ones to run up, also having mutually agreed that their battle was over. If Hidan wasn't immortal he would've been dead by the look of his multiple wounds. Kisame and Suigetsu were also battered and bloody but neither of them seemed to care.

"What the hell happened?" Kisame questioned angrily, looking from Lauren to the others that had gathered around her. At the exact moment Karin ran up and latched on to Sasuke's arm, snuggling it happily.

"Sasuke o mite! Watashi wa meinu o koroshita! Kono idaina arimasen ka?" (Sasuke look! I killed the bitch! Isn't this great?)

Sasuke's eyes widened and he angrily pulled his arm from her grasp. Karin stumbled back in shock.

"Sa-Sasuke," she staggered. "D-Daijoubu ka? Sore wa nan desu ka?" (A-Are you okay? What is it?)

"Anata wa kore o shita?" (You did this?) Sasuke snapped back, pointing a hand to Lauren who was on the ground beside him. Karin nodded unsurely.

"A-Aa…Kanojo wa Juugo to tatakatte ita. Watashi wa kanojo ni kite ita mono o ataeta." (Y-yeah…She was fighting with Juugo. I just gave her what was coming to her.)

Sasuke drew his sword his Sharingan spinning widely. "Anata ga tatte koko de watashi wa anata o korosubekidearu…" (I should kill you where you stand…)

Karin started shaking in fear. "N-Nani o itte iru no? R-Rikaidekinai…" (W-what are you saying? I-I don't understand…)

Sasuke let out a low growl but paused when he was suddenly poked in the head by Tess. Suigetsu blinked when he was suddenly poked in the forehead as well.

The red head and the rest of the Akatsuki had joined their group around Lauren. Taylor was currently being carried in Kakuzu's arms, her head using his chest as a pillow.

Tess glanced between them both. "If someone doesn't murder Karin then I will."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What did you just do?"

"You can understand me can't you? That's what I did," she replied bluntly. The two team Taka members realized that she was right. They could now understand what the others were saying.

"So," Hidan continued, pointing his scythe towards Karin. "Can I sacrifice this bitch to Jashin-sama?"

"Hold on, what about that guy?" Kisame question, pointing a finger over at Juugo who was now standing a few feet away from the group. By now he had calmed down and was gently petting a bird that had landed on his shoulder.

"Juugo is fine," Tess replied. "He can't control himself sometimes, but is pretty calm most of the time." She looked back over at Karin scowling. "Karin, however, is in complete control of her body. She probably threw those kunai at Lauren just to impress Sasuke."

"That's it," Hidan growled, taking a step forward. "I'm going to kill this fucking bitch for hurting Lauren just to impress that Uchiha fucker over there."

Tess held out her hand and stopped him, glancing over at Sasuke. Sasuke realized that she wanted his approval first and thought it over.

Karin was only there to help his find Itachi and heal him if needed. Itachi was sitting a foot behind him and he was sure that Tess would heal him if it was needed…Plus Karin had continually continued to disrespect his sister by calling her a bitch…

He nodded. There wasn't really a need for her. Tess released Hidan and the Jashinist happily bounded towards the Taka female. Karin paled, turned and ran.

Everyone's attention turned away from Hidan and Karin when Sasori suddenly spoke up.

"I've stopped the internal bleeding. The broken bones in Lauren's shoulder can be healed later, but all of her wounds will need to be stitched close." He sighed and ran a hand through his soaked red hair. Pein's rain was still pouring from the clouds. "I'm running low on chakra…"

Pein nodded in understanding. "That alright, Sasori. Lauren's life is no longer in danger. You've done what you can."

The puppet master nodded and stood. Kisame then walked over and gently curled Lauren into his arms, being sure to be careful of her wounds. Itachi stood along with him, not about to leave his sister's side.

Pein dipped his head when everyone was ready. "Let's head back to the house." He paused for a second and glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his ringed eyes. "You are welcome to come, however please keep your teammates under control. I will have my medics heal them later on."

Sasuke nodded and looked back at his companions. "Suigetsu, Juugo."

Suigetsu smirked and secured his sword on his back while Juugo calmly walked over. Sasuke nodded at Pein when they were ready and the group all began headed back towards their house.

"Yo Hidan!" Tess called over her shoulder. "When you're done make sure to dispose of the body and wash all the blood away."

"Aa!" He replied happily and continued to swing his scythe.

Lauren's POV

When I woke I was back in my bedroom. The room was dimly lit by the lamp in the corner and no one else was around.

I sighed and rolled to my right, immediately cursing when a sharp pain shot through my shoulder. It was heavily bandaged and had been placed in a sling. There were also three lines of stitches covering my stomach and another trail leading down my shoulder. A medical pad was taped to my right side and there was a second on my left thigh and a third on my left arm, a smaller one was taped to my right cheek. I could see burns peeking out from underneath them.

Sighing again I carefully scooted to the edge of the bed and placed my feet on the floor. My body felt heavy on my legs as I stood. I must've been lying in bed for a while because every inch of my body was stiff.

"Curse my tendency to get hurt," I mumbled and scooted towards my mirror. I blinked in surprise when I noticed that the only thing I was wearing was my bra and underwear. The second thing I noticed was that my hair now only reached down to my shoulders rather than mid-back. I stared at it considerably. The fire had probably burned part of my hair so I didn't really mind the fact that it had been cut, and in all truth I probably looked better with short hair. It was kinda cute…

I ran a hand over the stitches on my torso gingerly before gently touching the covered area of my skin where it had been burned. I got the feeling that I'd be having a talk with Itachi and Sasuke soon.

I headed over to a pile of clothes lying on a chair sitting in the corner and carefully maneuvered a baggy t-shirt over my head. Pants would be a hassle to get on with only one arm so I settled with the length of the shirt and made my way to the stairs. It took me a few seconds longer than usual to make my journey to the first floor and I looked around in surprise. No one was here.

Taylor's blond head suddenly popped over the divider wall between the family room and kitchen. She smiled at me happily. "Hey Lauren!"

I smiled back and headed towards the family room. "Hey Tay."

I stepped onto the carpeted floor and blinked when I noticed that Juugo was sitting next to Taylor. His chest was covered in thick white bandages. He looked up at me and I smiled at him lightly. "Hello there Juugo."

"Hello," he replied, staring at me. I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Is there something wrong?"

Juugo tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. "You remind me of Sasuke…I don't understand why…"

I laughed lightly. Taylor giggled and poked him in the arm. "That's because Lauren is Sasuke's sister, Juugo."

The ginger blinked in surprise and I laughed again. I loved Juugo honestly. I felt bad that he had been part of Orochimaru's experiments because most of the time he was calm and connected to nature. The only reason I had gotten pissed at him was because he hit Taylor, but since they seemed to be on good terms at this point I didn't really have anything against him.

"I was not aware Sasuke had any other living relatives besides Itachi…," he stated thoughtfully. I nodded, shooting him a wink.

"I'm just one of those long lost ones."

"I see," he nodded again and then sent me a light smile. "Then it is nice to meet you. I'm sorry that I caused you so much pain and injury…"

I made my way over to the couch and sat down on Taylor's other side. "Don't worry about it Juugo, stuff happens. I know that you probably didn't mean it."

He continued to smile. "Thank you."

"Not a problem."

Taylor then flipped towards me, a gentle smile still gracing her lips. "So how are you feeling?"

I shrugged my good shoulder and smirked. "I'm pretty good. My shoulder hurts a little and I'm kinda sore altogether but I'm not dead, so that's an upside."

She giggled. "Yeah, I think everyone is glad that you're not dead. Itachi and Sasuke seemed really beaten up about hurting you. Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, and Hidan were all freaking out."

I laughed lightly and ran a hand through my hair. "I love those guys…though I'm sure they were freaking out about you too."

Taylor tilted her head to the side innocently. "Yeah, I felt really bad that I worried them all. Itachi was either at my bedside or yours every minute of the day. Sasori and Tess healed me up though, I'm just kinda sore at this point."

I nodded and pulled her into a hug. She gladly returned it. After something like that had happened I think that we both needed a good hug.

After a minute I pulled back and looked around. "Where is everyone?"

Taylor stood from her spot next to me and headed into the kitchen, opening up the fridge. "Tess took them all shopping. Sasuke, Suigetsu and Juugo needed clothes and Pein was tired of everyone waiting over you every second in case you got up so they all left. Juugo and I stayed behind since were aren't really in the condition to be going to the mall and walking around."

"Ah, okay." I then realized something. "Wait, what about Karin?"

Taylor returned to the room and dropped a box of Cheez-It's and a can of Dr Pepper into my lap before heading over to the recliner, a bag of Fritos tucked in her arms.

"Hidan sacrificed her," she explained, popping a chip into her mouth. "Sasuke was getting fed up with her and everyone was pissed because she was happy that she thought she had killed you, so Sasuke said he didn't need her and Tess let Hidan do his thing."

I nodded a clicked my can of pop open. I never really liked Karin, she was obsessed more so than Sakura in my opinion and didn't do much beside swoon over Sasuke and make plans to have his babies. She pissed me off at times but I did pity her because of her past. I had to admit that I was kind of glad that I wouldn't have to deal with her though.

After a few minutes Taylor stood and walked over to the stereo system, flicking it to life. She picked up the iPod that was plugged into it and started scrolling through songs. While she was doing that Juugo stood and headed into the back yard. Birds and other animals immediately flocked to him.

"Put on Skrillex," I told her and reclined back onto the couch. Taylor nodded and a second later "Bangarang" came on. She returned to her seat on the recliner and I stared at her, suddenly remembering something.

"What time and day is it?"

The blonde pulled out her phone. "It is 4 PM on Sunday."

I blinked and sighed. "I slept through the weekend…"

She laughed. "Your weekend might be extended if Sasori doesn't let you go to school tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes. Such a protective puppet.

A few minutes rolled by and when "First of The Year" came on Taylor stood. I raised an eyebrow at her and stared at me blankly. A grin made its way onto her face and she then started to dance with the beat. I laughed at her randomness.

Taylor continued to move her hips with the music and I rolled my eyes. In reality Taylor was actually a very good dancer, she had taken many dance lessons when she was younger and had become skilled in the art.

And the moment she decided to start copying the Singles Ladies dance the front door opened. Tess popped through the doorway and Taylor was too immersed in her dancing to notice. The red head chuckled and made room for the others to come in.

To say the least the pervy boys seemed to be enjoying the show while the others seemed shocked.

"Damn," Hidan proclaimed. Taylor suddenly became aware of the ninja's that had flooded into the kitchen and froze in shock. They all chuckled at her obliviousness.

Since I was lying on the couch that was against the divider none of them could see me.

"So," I heard Sasori start. "Is the brat awake yet?"

I chuckled. "Yes Danna, I'm awake."

Before I even had the chance to blink Deidara had pounced on the couch and was now cupping my face gently as his lips molded with mine. I didn't get the chance to breathe until he was ripped off me by Sasori. The puppet master looked me over frantically for a moment before sighing and resting his forehead against mine.

"You're an idiot…"

I smiled. "I love you too, Danna."

Sasori smirked at me and then moved back as Itachi knelt next to the couch. He looked as if he hadn't slept in a few days.

I extended my good arm and rubbed my thumb over his cheek. "You worry too much."

He smirked bitterly and placed his hand on top of my own. "I can't help it."

I laughed lightly and blinked when I was suddenly engulfed by a pair of arms. Those arms belonged to Sasuke.

"I'm sorry…," he whispered. I smiled and wrapped my good arm around him in return.

"You're just like your brother. You both worry too much."

He pulled back and looked kind of shocked that I had just compared him to Itachi. I laughed at his face.

After Sasuke I received hugs from Kisame, Hidan, Tobi, Tess and Konan. I got a fist bump from Suigetsu and a head pat from Pein, Kakuzu and Zetsu. Once Tess and Sasori had checked me over again Pein announced that we needed to have a meeting.

Juugo returned inside and took a seat next to Suigetsu and Sasuke on the couch in the back of the room. Deidara occupied the seat to my left while Sasori occupied the one to the right, Kisame on his other side. Hidan plopped into the recliner and Tess situated herself on his lap. Itachi seated himself in the loveseat and made room for Taylor to squeeze in next to him when he saw that she didn't have a seat. Tobi, Konan and Kakuzu all settled for standing in the back of the room. When everyone was situated all attention turned to the Akatsuki leader who was standing at the head of the room.

"As you all know, for the time being we have made a truce with Sasuke Uchiha and his team," he started, looking around at us all. "However, we do not know of his purpose for being here."

All eyes turned to Sasuke, waiting to hear his answer. The teen sighed. "I am here because I found out about Konoha's plans."

Pein nodded. "So you came to protect Lauren, Tess and Taylor, is that correct?"

Sasuke dipped his head. "Yes, I do not want Konoha or anyone else to get to them."

Everyone narrowed there eyes. "What do you mean "anyone else"? Who else is there?"

Sasuke suddenly became very serious. "A few days before arriving I received intel from foreign ninja that had been in Konoha. They overheard the reason of why ninja are coming."

The silence urged him to continue. His eyes met mine.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse…

"Orochimaru isn't dead."

:O

Yeah, I've had this planned out for a while; I just had to put it in words.

Hopefully you all don't hate me for killing off Karin. I don't really like her and didn't want to try and include her in the story…so she got sacrificed to Jashin XD

The good news is that I love you. The bad news is that I only got to 10 reviews (which was my original goal in all honesty). So you should feel lucky that I'm updating. From now on it's a minimum of 10 or no new chappie :p just because I'm mean like that.

I'm actually updating because I'm heading to Cedar Point tomorrow and didn't want to make you all wait too long because I love you. :) "Ugh, Why Me" will be updated in the next few days. I'm going to be sure to get a chapter up on that before I start working on the next one for this.

I had a good time up north :D We went up to Caseville which is where we always go and the water was perfect. It was very refreshing and I had a great time :) For some magical reason my cousin's on my mom's side finally decided to talk to me so that was an upside.

On another note, from now on I'm going to ask a question in my authors note :) So yeah.

Ques: Have you seen the new Road to Ninja trailer yet? (If not go do it!) And if so what are you looking forward to the most?

XD I personally want to see the Akatsuki. But I am curious about the relationship that Sasuke and Sakura are going to have. O.O

It's like a fanfiction that's been made into a movie…

YES. OH MY GOD. YES.

Anyway, I'm going to go and take a long shower. I have to get up super early tomorrow to leave so I'm taking one tonight…BUT I DON'T CARE BECAUSE I GET TO GO ON FREAKING ROLLER COASTERS! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Hidan: You're a crazy bitch, you know that?

Me: But of course! Or else I wouldn't be writing this fanfiction!

Hidan: …

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHA

Itachi: Did you take your pills today?

Me: What chu talkin' 'bout? I DON'T GOT NO PILLS!

Kisame: I think you may need some then…

Me: NO! I ONLY EAT IMAGINARY PILLS THAT ARE MADE OF SUGER, SPICE, AND EVERYTHING NICE.

Hidan: So…crack, right?

Me: …

Deidara: You are joking, right yeah?

Sasori: She better be. Or else I will maim her.

Me: *gulps and runs* I'M NOT ON CRACK! I PROMISE!

Sasori: *runs after* Then come back here and prove it to me brat!

…I'm having a spaz moment.

HOORAY!

REMEMBER THE DEAL! AT LEAST 10!

REVIEW!