So, here's our New-year mass update!

Also...

NEW INFO STORY AT THE BOTTOM!

Chapter TWENTY TWO

Shikamaru trotted into the T&I building, a bag of dango in one hand and a bag of clothes in the other. He entered the lobby and was greeted by the sight of the three males on Team Seven standing there awkwardly.

He had passed his Jounin-set test but he had a feeling Sakura hadn't even attended.

Of course, who was he kidding?

Naruto was the first to notice his presence. Well, call out on it. "Shikamaru! What are you doing here?"

The Nara sighed as he suddenly felt three heavy gazes boring into him. "Delivery." He said, raising the things in his hands.

"For your father?" Kakashi asked.

Shikamaru shook his head, recognizing this man. "Sakura."

Naruto opened his mouth to no doubt make a loud comment, but Izumo finally took pity on him. "Shikamaru-kun, how was your Genin team?"

Naruto's eyes widened as though he had remembered something and Sasuke grunted in annoyance, confirming Shikamaru's thoughts.

"It was okay." He said. "We passed." He added, just to rub it in. "When will Sakura be done?"

"She said soon." Izumo said cheerily. "She said she wanted to empty her bag of salt."

Sakura prodded her prisoner in a wound on his side with her salt soaked hand one last time for the sake of it.

Touji, the man who had been supervising, congratulated her before he sent her on her merry way. With no Izumo or Kotetsu to nag her, she made her way directly up the stairs. She hadn't brought a spare set of clothes because she had thought she would have time to fetch some, but that didn't matter, really, because blood felt nice on her.

Until it hardened, anyways.

She weaved through the corridors and finally popped out in the lobby. Izumo, who had some sort of 'Blood Sakura!' sensor was the first to notice. "Kura-chan! You can't-How many times have we-ARG!" he darted over and shoved her around the corner and out of sight.

Too late, though, because Sakura had seen Shikamaru. Carrying a brown bag.

Using the slipperiness of the blood, she slipped past the man. "Shikamaru!"

The Nara accepted the bloody hug without complaint. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Naruto and Sasuke's horrified expression and Kakashi's blank one and he sighed and closed his eyes.

"How was your meeting?" She asked. "Mine was great! The guy was so stubborn, though, so I got to take my-gyah!"

Izumo yanked Sakura back by her collar. "Change first, Sakura-chan." He said, a frightening grin on his face. "The only people who appreciate your blood-covered self is Ibiki-san." He glanced over at the exasperated Nara. "And Shikamaru-kun."

"Only when she cleans up by herself." Shikamaru offered. "Do you know how difficult it is to clean blood out of tatami?" He clearly remembered the time they had to replace the tatami in the living room because it stank too much of human intestines. It was not a pleasant occurrence.

Kakashi watched the three interact. He could feel a headache already.

And of course, things got worse. For him, that is.

There was a loud crash and a few fearful screams that quickly died off into whimpers.

"And me!" Someone screamed. "I like it too!"

Anko tossed the door, which she had pulled off its hinges upon her entry, pointedly across the room. Without even looking to see where it had landed, she turned around, arms on her hips and a smirk on her face. "Yo, fancy seeing you here, Bakashi!"

"Anko." Kakashi nodded in greeting, mind already plotting ways to excuse himself.

Anko seemed satisfied with the greeting for now and she turned to Sakura. "Immortal cult girl! Nice fashion sense."

"Thank you, Apprentice in the making." Sakura replied, flipping the hair. Shikamaru didn't even flinch when blood splattered onto his clothes. He wiped at a particular splotch on his face and sighed, reaching out to wipe his hand on Sakura's shirt.

Anko grinned psychotically. "I heard from Iruka that you guys got Bakakshi as your teacher and that you left so I thought you'd be here and what better time to walk in than when all of your are gathered?" She huffed. "Pity Ibiki isn't here."

"The old man is writing a report in his office." Sakura said. "I didn't even know he did things like that."

"T&I isn't all fun and games." Anko agreed. "Stay part time and you won't get the boring half."

Sakura nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." She glanced around at her frozen maybe-to-be teammates. "Bakashi seems to be a fitting name." She said thoughtfully. "I'll borrow it."

At this, Anko's grin widened. "Sure."

The two women, both a few screws loose, cackled at each other.

Izumo, who was used to this, sighed and wandered off to find a bucket and a mop. Sakura never cleaned up after herself.

Shikamaru, who was also used to this, purposefully shook his bag of dango. "Aren't you hungry?" He asked.

Sakura turned away from Anko and lunged at him again. "I am, Shika. How did you know?"

The Nara stepped out of the way with more grace than he had ever displayed at the Academy spars. "Change first." He said. "Chinatsu-san might slip again."

"Chinatsu-san looks ince in red." Still, Sakura obediently took the bag of clothes first. "I'll be back in a jiffy." She skipped off, leaving bloody footprints behind. The moment she was gone Izumo appeared, fully armed, with a clean mop. He trailed after her, wiping away the red marks.

Anko laughed. "This is going to be interesting." She said. "I wonder how many fingers you'll be missing by the time she's done with you." She leaned in dangerously close to Naruto, who jumped back in panic.

"None." Shikamaru said. "Filling for death is troublesome." He rolled his eyes when Anko sent him what was probably a out and turned to Team Seven. "I'll give you taming tips." He said. "Nothing much because most of it comes with experience but it'll help."

ANd he had learnt, some time ago, that what worked with one psycho tended to work with another.

Most of the time, anyways.

Soon, Sakura darted over to them again, looking as good as new. "Dango, Shika, dango!" Shikamaru handed over the other bag and she tore into. "You're a god, Shikamaru."

"Of dango?" The Nara asked. "No thanks."

Sakura wandered off, no doubt to find a place to sit, and once she was out of earshot, Shikamaru sighed and turned to Kakashi. "What happens now?" He asked. "She didn't take your graduation test but it is true that she had an official Interrogator job in her schedule and you were late." He fixed the man with a Nara worthy look, for once all traces of laziness gone, leaving behind only the sharpness of a strategist. "If I need to, I'll ask Ibiki-san to vouch for her."

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "We'll just have to do it tomorrow." He said. "She's free tomorrow, right?'

Shikamaru nodded. "Unless something big happens last second." He sighed and just like that, the spell was broken. "How troublesome." He waved lazily and back hunched, he slowly began making his way towards Sakura, who was just finishing off the last stick.

NEW STORY:

Those in Between (Sakura x Sasuke x Itachi) ((If there is a pairing)) :

Sakura, a survived experiment, has skin that releases venom. To hide her from ROOT, she is taken in by Jiraiya and now acts as messenger for him and his spies. On a mission to find Tsunade Sakura meets Sasuke-the brother of a particular spy who pets her hair and buys her dango. Born to obey, she must take initiative for the first time in her life to save the people she cares for.

So, team stuff coming up next chapter...unless something big happens...meh...

Darque: I might just skip over all the boring bits and do the important bits.

Raven: Oh? Like that boring things and what interesting things?

Darque: Boring like the D-ranks and stuff. Important as in the Wave arc and the Chunin Exams.

Raven: Wait...how much are you planning to skip?

Darque: All the way until Sakura can show off her bloodiness!

Raven: But you need team bonding too. Don't you want her teammates to freak out?

Darque: Hm...that is important too. I know! She can start off by eradicating the Tora mission off the roster.

Raven: Uh...how? Bad feeling here?

Darque: She will decapitate him.

Raven:...Dear Readers, I'm sure she's joking...I hope.

Happy New Year~

(If it's a little early, re-read later :) If it's late, here's a belated New year greeting.)

We hope you all have had a good 2016 and will have a bright year ahead.

We thanks you for your continuous support and we hope you continue to read and review our stories.

Read and Review~