"Cameron! Cameron, are you all right?" Chase shook her gently. Her eyes were as blank as Wilson's had been, but she was quickly coming back to her senses as Itachi's jutsu faded away.

"What the hell is going on in there?"

"Sounds like fun, that's what." Kisame beamed as one loud crash followed another just like it. "Too bad I'm stuck on guard duty."

"I think she was under a genjutsu too." Gai added.

"Cameron, are you all right?" Chase repeated. This time, he got a response.

"I think so…" she blinked hesitantly as mad laughter echoed from behind the door.

Cameron gasped, spinning around. The doctors' chakra surged as they clenched their fists. But before they could even shift their weight, Kisame had his sword drawn.

"I told you already. Don't interfere." He grinned menacingly as he held it between them and the door. The blade exuded almost as much chakra as he did. "Or you're going to spend the rest of the day stitching each others arms and legs back on."

"You have to stop this!"

"Sasuke's going to die…" Chase stammered.

"Good riddance." Kisame countered with a grin.

"He's not the only one who's going to die, though. This is just like back in the ICU!" Cameron shouted up at the Akatsuki. "If you don't let at least one of us through those doors, your partner's going to die first! What's more important, his orders or his life?"

"Don't make me laugh." he smirked. The rest of the team glanced nervously between her, Kisame and the door. "Trust me, this won't take long. If there's one thing Itachi's known for, it's finishing a fight quickly."

Gai's eyes narrowed.

"Why you…"

"We obviously don't have time for this!" Foreman shouted, seizing the other ninja by the wrist before he could attack. He shot a glance at Chase and Cameron and they immediately understood. "Come on!"

Foreman led them down the hallway and into the stairwell. He didn't speak again until he was certain the Akatsuki was well out of range.

"We can get in through the observation room on the next floor. Break the glass…" he suggested. "Hopefully, we're not too late."

"Brilliant." Chase added, right on his heels.

They burst through the door, just in time to see one of the fighters collapse. Blood squirted from Itachi's wound as his head slammed against the floor. It bubbled in his mouth as he clasped a hand over his neck, struggling to breathe. Sasuke, chakra still blazing uncontrollably, stood over him, victorious.

"I knew it…" she gasped.

"This time, it's my turn to say good riddance." Gai muttered, cracking a small smile.

"Come on!" Foreman readied an elbow. "We're not too late to save Sasuke!"

"Cuddy'll throw a fit about the broken glass." The special jonin's voice shot out of nowhere.

"House?"

Caught completely by surprise, Foreman jumped, his strike sliding across the glass instead of through it.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Wondering how long it was going to take for you all to get here. What does it look like?" he smirked, popping the last of Wilson's dango into his mouth.

"But if you've been here the whole time, why haven't you done anything?"

"I did do something." House answered matter-of-factly. His cell stared at him with natural skepticism. "I got more dango."

Foreman groaned.

"All right, House. You win. You got Itachi to find Sasuke instead of us. That's what you wanted, right? So why are you letting them fight?"

"Because it's interesting."

"Interesting?" Chase exclaimed. He shook his head in disgust, grabbing a fistful of his own hair. "Sasuke's curse mark is out of control! They're both dying! And you find it interesting?"

"That's precisely why it's interesting." House replied. "Because neither of them is actually dying yet. Well, not from the battle, anyway..."