Warnings- Blood. Heehee…

Sonic: Well this is bad…

Sasuke: …

Sonic: Do you know who that could be?

Sasuke: (seething in anger)

Sonic: (takes a step back) Sasuke…?

Sasuke: (grits teeth) From the events leading up to this, it's most likely one of two people I never wanted to see again.

Sonic: Really? That serious huh?

Sasuke: (sharingan spinning) Yeah, and excuse me, I have to go destroy something now.

Sonic: Hey wait! Can you at least tell me their names! And…there he goes…

Lost

There is a tense silence in the room. There is no noise besides my shallow breathing and the stranger's own breaths. In all of my days in fighting Eggman and his dumb robots, I've never felt this…nervous. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because the silence, or the fact that I'm kinda trapped in here with this ominous stranger, but, I'm really nervous, borderline afraid. Because Sonic the hedgehog is never actually scared, nope.

I stand there with my back to him for what it seems like for hours, but it has only been two minutes. Ok, this has gone on for long enough. Come on, Sonic, just turn around and confront the-

My thoughts derail as my unexpected roommate chuckles again and takes a step towards me. I whirl around so fast that I lose my balance a bit and stubble back into the nightstand. The emeralds roll around, but don't fall off. When I focus on the person about a yard away from me, my eyes widen.

He would look innocent enough, if it wasn't for the dark and devious grin he is giving me right now. He has light grey hair with large circular glasses framing his face. This guy can't be any older than twenty. Glancing up at his forehead, I realize that the symbol is different from the ninja in Konoha. It's a music note instead of the pointed swirl. Does that mean he isn't from here?

I stand up from my position leaning on the stand behind me, eyeing the smirking ninja. He looks down at me, his gaze occasionally shifting to the emeralds, which makes me a little uneasy. I break the oppressing quiet, putting my hand on my hip.

"Ok...three questions." I hold up one finger. "Who are you?" Another raises. "Why are you here? You clearly aren't from this village. And..." The last finger meets the first two. "How do you know who I am?"

The sinister smirk grows and I want desperately to just grab all the emeralds and bolt. Sadly, that isn't possible because he is standing right in front of the door. The silver haired nin pushes up his glasses. Now there is a white glare on his lens that makes it impossible to see his eyes.

"Fine, I'll humor you." He chuckles and again, a shiver makes its way down my back. "My name is Kabuto Yakushi. The better question is, how can I not know who you are?" I can tell he's pointedly avoiding the second question. "News travels fast with loose-mouthed merchants with gossip to share." My eyes widen. How many people know who I am in this world?

Kabuto steps towards me and the glare is gone from his glasses; I have to keep myself from looking away from the penetrating gaze. "But we didn't need them," He continues. "for we knew who you were before the rumors started to spread."

I cross my arms. "That's hard to believe." My eyes shift to the still blocked door, then back to the spectacled man. "I would've seen you creeping around here at least once."

"One word." His smile in seriously creeping me out. "Snakes."

I'm genuinely confused. "Snakes? What do they have to do anyt-" And then it hits me. I saw one disappear into a bush today…and that time I was on the huge mountain! I eye Kabuto warily. So he was watching me sleep? How creepy is that.

Hold up.

Those snakes popped up after the word got out about me. So how did he know before…?

Kabuto, almost seeming to read my mind, adds, "I know about the ones you've seen, obviously. But those snakes have been watching for a while, and they weren't the only ones. We know a lot of things about you, Sonic." My heart starts to beat faster at the sound of his last sentence.

He holds out his hand, closes his eyes, and starts listing. "We know all about your friends in your world."

There were snakes in Sasuke's house?

"Your speed."

Well, that one really isn't a surprise.

"All of your attacks."

Even in the clearing…

"Your strange addition to hot dogs…"

Were they watching me the whole time?!

He opens his eyes and grins at me. "Your fear of water."

Shit. This is bad.

"All of your forms."

How do snakes get inside a restaurant without anyone noticing? This village has some pest control problems.

"And most importantly…" He starts to move his arm, which I didn't know until now was behind his back, in front of him. My heart nearly stops when I see the white Chaos emerald in his hand. I do a 180 to examine the gems on the night stand, only counting six. How did I not notice one was missing? I nervously turn back to Kabuto to see that the glare on his glasses is back while he looks at the emerald. "We learned all about these rocks filled with endless energy and power."

"Wait a minute. You keep on saying we, but you're the only one here." I take a quick glance around the room. "You are the only one, right?"

Still admiring the emerald in his hand, Kabuto says, "The answer I'll give you is the answer to your second question." He focuses back onto me. "No one else is here, physically." Even now those reptiles are watching?

"Your previous observation was correct. I'm not from here. I'm from Otogakure, the Hidden Sound village, under Orochimaru's (his name sounds familiar…) orders to collect all the emeralds and bring them back to him. All I had to do was wait until your twin and all of those ninja were out of the way, and for all the emeralds to be in one place so the gathering would be easier."

With all previous nervousness gone, I glare at him and raise my fists. I also ignore when he said that Shads and I were twins. "Sorry to burst your bubble, pal, but you're not taking these emeralds anywhere. I've already had someone try to claim them as her own today." Why are people here so power hungry?! Back home I only had Eggman to worry about…

Kabuto chuckles. "That is right. The hokage here wanted them too." He shakes his head. "Your black hedgehog friend has quite a temper." He then takes another step forward. The door an available escape route now, but I gotta get that emerald in his hand first. "Too bad he isn't here to help you."

I bristle my quills. "I really don't want to hurt you, but if you want these emeralds, you have to go through me first!"

The silver haired ninja smirks. "All I would have to do is knock you out."

"That won't be easy!" I then smirk. "Especially if I do…this!" At the end of my sentence, I quickly step towards Kabuto and try to snatch the gem right from his hand. As soon as I think I got a good grip on the emerald, it disappears completely.

Staring at the spot Kabuto once was, I mutter an intelligent, "Wha…?"

Then said ninja reappears to the right to where I was reaching, the white glow of the emerald reflecting off his glasses. Ugh, I would give anything (besides the emeralds) to wipe that smug grin off of his face. "You seem surprised. I just copied what that loud kid in the green did out in the field. You're just prolonging the inevitable Sonic. Just give up and let me take the emeralds."

"This isn't over till it's over!" I growl out and rush at him again, only for him to vanish like the first time. I sense him behind me and before I could move, something sharp slashes my right shoulder.

"Agh!" I yell out and place my left hand over the gash. Holding my hand to my face, I see blood covering about half of the glove. Even now I can feel the warm liquid running down my arm. Trying to move said appendage only agitates the wound more and brings on more pain. Dammit, I have to work through this to protect those emeralds!

Whirling around, Kabuto is standing there with no expression on his face, with no weapon in sight. I grit my teeth and ignore my shoulder wound. "How did you do that? You don't have any weapons!"

A one side of Kabuto's mouth twitches upwards. He holds out his unoccupied hand and blue chakra surrounds it. "This is a chakra scalpel. It might as well be a knife I can summon at will." I gulp at the sight. I'm going to have to be more careful not to be hit with that.

Like the last two times, I make a dash at him, and like I predicted, he chaos controlled. Standing still, I focus and wait patiently for him to make a return. Surprisingly, Kabuto pops up behind me again. I quickly turned around, not giving him anytime to attack, and kick him hard into his side. He grunts as he flies towards the wall only to right himself and land on his feet.

"Quick on your feet, I see."

"Shouldn't be a surprise to you." I mock, but soon wince because the blood hasn't stopped flowing from my shoulder.

He ignores that comment completely. "Since you won't give me the gems voluntarily," He grins darkly. "I'm gonna have to cut out the middleman!"

Kabuto, making the first move this time, goes out of existence and I fall into my fighting stance, ready to counter whatever he throws at me. For a split-second, everything is calm, then I see Kabuto in my peripheral and try to punch him. However, I'm too slow and he cuts my other arm, right above the elbow.

"Gah!" I hiss and feel that this cut isn't as deep as the other one, but it still hurts nonetheless.

I barely have any time to look at my adversary before he's gone again. This time, I frantically search around to prevent Kabuto from getting any more hits in. He reappears, but I'm not ready because this time he wasn't gone for nearly as long as when he first started chaos controlling. Caught off guard, Kabuto slashes the side of my left leg, high on the thigh.

I have almost no time to survey the damage before he strikes the same leg, below the knee. How the hell…? Then it feels like I've been hit in the face with a brick.

He knows, really knows how to use the emerald now. That's why he's been getting faster and faster each time with the teleports. If he keeps this up…I…

Panicking, I quickly make my way back over to the other emeralds. If I used one, I would be able to stop his assault! At the stand, I reach out and am about to grab the closest gem, but I never get it because an unexpected hard kick to my side sends me rolling over the bed and falling to the floor with a loud thud.

Groaning, I struggle to stand up because the crash led to the cuts on my leg to open wider. A puddle of blood is starting to form on the hardwood floor. As soon as I regain my balance and stand up, Kabuto is on me again, disappearing and reappearing, slashing anything and everything.

My arms.

Legs.

Chest.

Stomach.

Back.

Face.

The pain is excruciating.

I have to do something, right now.

Grunting, I curl into myself and start to spin. A little surprised, Kabuto jumps a safe distance away, eyeing what I'm doing warily. When I think I'm spinning fast enough, I lock on to Kabuto and charge right towards him.

As expected, he chaos controls out of my way. I, however, keep on going. Hitting the wall, I bounce off at an angle and head towards the one adjacent to it. Kabuto has popped back up at this point, so I bounce off that wall and head straight towards him.

He teleports again, but I'm not surprised. This time, I hit two walls and the ceiling before locking on to the grey haired Sound nin. Kabuto warps out of the way with plenty of time to spare, but that won't last for long. Every time I bounce of the wall, floor, or ceiling, I gain speed. Faster, faster, faster…

So by the sixth time he has dodged me successfully, I'm whizzing around the room like a ball in a pinball machine, leaving sizable dents everywhere in the room where I have hit. So when I finally crash into Kabuto, (right in the chest, extra points!) he soars across the room and hits the wall with a loud groan, slumping to the floor.

Uncurling, I end up crouching in the floor, panting heavily. Standing up, I plant a victorious grin on my face and limp over to the unconscious figure. When I get over to him, I see his glasses on the floor, cracked. I chuckle but then realize that Kabuto is still, too still. My eyes widen and I bend down to check his pulse.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I feel a soft one. Like I said, Sonic the hedgehog doesn't kill people.

Glancing to his hand, the emerald is still proudly glowing. With a small smile, I pry it from Kabuto's hand and stand back up. I turn around and survey the room damage. What I see makes the pain from all my injuries return ten-fold; the adrenaline has worn off.

There is blood everywhere. No doubt it's my own. Random puddles litter the floor and some drips from the walls where I've bounced off. There are splatters on the bed and even on the ceiling.

Letting out a shaky breath, I take a step forwards towards the night stand. I don't get any farther because my body feels like it's on fire. Especially my face. Bloody hand trembling, it reaches up and lightly brushes my cheek. I have to bite my tongue to hold back the pain induced scream bubbling up in my throat.

Slowly, I let that arm fall back to my side. Blinking, I now acknowledge that my sight is getting fuzzy and unfocused. Swaying a bit, I raise that same hand again to touch my first wound of the fight. Enduring the sting, I hold the hand up to my face to see it drenched. My heart nearly stops.

I'm bleeding out.

Breathing faster, I try to focus on the stand that seems so far away. I have to get them so I can chaos control to Tsunade! She's a doctor right? And she won't go back on her word about using the gems, so the tower will be the safest place to dump them. But now the task of getting the rest of them…

Taking another step, I start to see double as more blood drips from my wounds. No! My body can't give out now!

Risking yet another step, my left leg goes out and I land hard on my stomach on the floor. Desperate, I try to drag myself over using my arm without the emerald, but it wouldn't listen to me. I can't…I just…

Calm down Sonic.

The others will come looking. I'm the fastest thing alive! They should be worried if I'm not there by now, especially Shadow.

Black spots enter my vision and it's taking most of my energy just to keep my eyes open.

They'll come…

Shadow's POV (starts right before Sonic leaves to go to Sasuke's house)

Sonic glances at me. "Be a good boy while I'm gone, ok?" I scoff and watch him race off towards the house, his laugh filling the air. He acts like I'm the one to get in trouble! I then think about what just happened in the tower…that was just a one-time thing. That blonde woman was pissing me off. Ugh, don't forget that now I have to play construction worker and playmate for punishment!

And then that faker has the nerve to take away my emerald! It's mine, dammit. Now, I feel sorta naked without its constant flow of energy. Sigh, that's the cost of wanting to see what these special humans (ninjas, I think) are made of. The chameleon from that detective agency pops into mind; I guess they are like him, but stronger.

Shifting my eyes from where Sonic disappeared around a corner, I look up at the only adult in this little group. "Are we just going to stand here all day or…?"

He glances away from that book that's always stuck to him like glue. Kakashi smiles. "Right, the training field." He makes a following motion as he jumps up onto the nearest roof. "Let's go by roof so we'll get there quicker."

I struggle to keep the impassive expression on my face as I watch all the kid ninjas jump on the same roof with ease in awe. The roof isn't exactly a low raising one either. I smirk to myself. This place gets more interesting by the second.

"Hey Shadow!" The wild haired, tattooed boy (…Kiba?) calls down to me. "You can get up here, right?" His large canines show as he grins cockily at me. The nerve of that boy…!

I scowl at him. "Of course I can." After squatting a bit, I quickly jump up on the same building and land beside Ino, who scoots over to get me some space with a faint blush on her face. I just roll my eyes.

Kakashi nods contently. "Sonic says you're his rival in speed, so that means you will easily keep up with us. That is, if what he said was true." He says his last statement in a questioning tone.

"That faker just says that." I smirk. "He's no match for me."

Neji eyes me. "Really? He has told us the exact opposite." Before I can answer to him, Sakura cuts in.

"Wait, why do you call him a faker?" Uh…do I really want to tell my whole life story to these people I literally just met this morning?

Nah.

I shrug. "I just do."

"Right…" I can tell she's not satisfied with that answer, but that's all she's getting out from me right now.

Getting tired of conversation, I activate my hover shoes. Naruto is in front of me laying on the roof, face not even an inch away from my shoes. I tick forms on my forehead.

"Wow! These are so cool! You're like an inch off the ground!" He looks up at me with excitement filled blue eyes. He really reminds me of the young fox back home. I can almost imagine the two tails swishing back and forth behind him. "Do you have an extra pair?"

"No, no I don't." While Naruto gets up with disappointment written all over his face, I glance around to see everyone, including Kakashi, looking at the shoes in child-like curiosity. A small sigh escapes my lips. "Can we get going?"

My question snaps all of them out of their stupor and Lee pumps his fist. "Yosh! We need to hurry so I can determine how much youthful energy my opponent contains!" My right eye twitches. Youthful…energy? I don't even want to know.

"Alright then!" Kakashi claps his hands together. "Let's get a move on!" With that, he speeds off, jumping from roof to roof. The others follow and I quickly start to skate, catching up with them.

Hopping from building to building, I realize that the village is much larger than I first thought it was. There are shops and apartment complexes galore. Every once and a while we pass by a large cluster of houses. Passing by one of those clusters, I hear the barking and whining of multiple dogs. Why would they have so many dogs is beyond me.

I also see a school like building with a playground behind it occupied with little kids. I scowl. That's no doubt where I'm going to have to play (insert shudder here) with the students. Stupid school, stupid woman, stupid wall…

I'm knocked out of my rather…childish rant when Sasuke appears by my side.

"Hey."

Curious to the reason behind his actions, I answer back. "Hello."

Cue awkward silence.

Sasuke sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "Look. I know this seems…out of the blue." It does. "But, we started off on the wrong foot and I just want to start over. You seem like an interesting character."

I glare at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He doesn't flinch under my gaze. Huh, no one has been able to do that before. "That wasn't an insult." My eyes shift off of him and focus back on where we are going. In my peripherals, I see him glancing at me. "So can we start over?"

Hmmm…he doesn't seem too bad. I inwardly shrug. Might as well get along with someone while Sonic's gone. I give Sasuke a small nod. "Sure."

A small smile appears on his face. "Right. So…hey, the name's Sasuke." He looks at me expectantly.

I shake my head in exasperation. "This is so stupid." The smile disappears, but then I roll my eyes. "I'm Shadow." Sasuke lets out a small chuckle and, without my consent, the same sound exits my mouth.

"What brought this on?" I ask after silence fell over us again, that time a bit more comfortable.

Sasuke's face falls a bit. "Well, I found out that we're not that different from each other."

I warily glance at him. "What do you mean, 'found out'? I'm a complete stranger to you." Then I think about what just happened. "Or was."

Sasuke scratches the bridge of his nose. "Sonic kinda told me about Maria."

As soon as he finished saying those words, I start to see red. A growl escapes my lips. How dare that blue faker hand out my life story like that! Oooo…as soon as I see that blabbering idiot again…

"Shadow."

"What?" I snap. He doesn't seem fazed.

"Before you plan blue hedgehog homicide, he only told me after I told him my similar story." My vision is returning to its regular color palette as I listen for him to continue. Sasuke takes a deep breath. "My family was also taken away from me, killed, by my own brother." Surprised? Oh yes, but I don't let it show on my face. "Every single one of them, so I grew up alone because my brother left after he was done. I didn't let anyone in, until I meet this group." He gestures to his friends ahead.

"So yeah, I guess my point is that if you want to talk to someone who can empathize with you, I'm all ears." When I give him a hesitant nod, he returns it and speeds up to talk to Naruto. I furrow my eyebrows. That's all he wanted to tell me? That I can talk to him? I stare at his back.

Maybe, just maybe.

About five minutes later, the buildings run out and we have to jump down. Instead of running, we walk over a bridge that spans over a river. Naruto turns around and faces me, walking backwards, arms spread. "This is the Team 7 bridge, Shads!" I cringe. Oh no…the name is starting to spread.

Sakura audibly sighs. "Naruto, he really didn't need to know that."

"Agreed." Sasuke says.

"Awww…you guys are buzz kills!"

Sakura and Sasuke just shrug and continue walking beside a pouting Naruto. Shaking my head at them, I examine my surroundings. There are plentiful trees and green grass. Past the bridge, I see a large clearing with three seemingly random vertical sitting tree logs. Also there's-

Wait a second.

I stop in my tracks and whirl around to face in the direction we just came from. I felt the increase of energy of a Chaos emerald that's let out when someone uses a chaos control. My eyes narrow. What's Sonic doing over there? Playing with them?

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I look behind me only to see Shino eyeing me, at least I think so because of those thick shades. "Is something the matter?"

My eyes shift back in the direction of the house, then back to him. Not feeling any more energy spikes, I answer. "I'm fine." Shino nods and steps away from me, towards the others who have stopped as well.

Kakashi, staring right at me, raises an eyebrow and I just nod at him. He returns it. "Let's continue everyone, we're almost there."

"What was that all about?" I hear Kiba mumble to Shikamaru, who shrugs.

"I have no clue."

We continue off the bridge and I don't let whatever just happened plague my mind. It's not long before we make it to where the three logs are. Kakashi turns around and clears his throat. "Now that we're here, Lee and Shadow take center stage while the others move to the side. Now because this is a spar…"

I don't hear the rest of what Kakashi is saying because I feel the energy of another chaos control. Sonic…what in the hell are you doing over there? My eyes narrow as I feel it again. I frown, and isn't Sonic supposed to be back anyway?

"Hellooo? Anyone home?" I blink when Lee waves a hand in front of my face. Glancing around, I see that the others have taken their spots on the side lines surrounding Lee and I. The green clad boy backs up when he gets my attention. He stops a couple yards away and drops into a fighting stance. "Are you ready?"

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I drop into a stance of my own. "Let's go."

Lee makes the first move and sprints towards me, fist ready to punch. When he's on me, I quickly duck and his fist goes right over me. I pull back my hand and hit Lee right in his stomach. He makes a strangled noise and backs up, holding his stomach. I grin as I stand back up. I may be a lightweight, but that doesn't mean you should underestimate my strength.

Lee recovers and smiles brightly. "Yes! May the flame burn within you!" He then charges again, coming at an arc this time. I follow him with my eyes and plan to counter whatever he plans to do.

Until I feel the energy again.

That's lapse in focus allowed Lee enough time to hit me with a hard right hook on my cheek. Stars appear in my vision and my tongue tastes the copper flavor of blood as I'm knocked to the ground. There are gasps of surprise from the spectators and I feel Lee's shadow blocking the warmth of the sun. I'm sure he's trying to talk to me, but I don't care about any of that. The chaos controls are happening more frequent now, faster and faster.

Groaning, I push away Lee trying to help me up. Rubbing my face, I see that the others are coming closer, Kakashi leading the group. A bruise is forming. I ignore all of them and look in the direction of the house, one hundred percent positive that Sonic's in trouble now. He wouldn't use chaos control so much for no other reason but a battle.

Lee backs away with a worried expression when Kakashi reaches me. "Shadow, tell me what's wrong. You weren't focused on the spar. And don't tell me it's nothing. You won't get smashed in the face for nothing."

The energy keeps on fluctuating. "You're right." My eyes shift to him. "Sonic's in trouble."

The silver haired ninja's eyes widen. "What? Are you sure?"

Irritated at his question, I growl. "He's the fastest thing alive! Can you tell me another reason why he isn't here?!" Did I just really call my rival that? No, it's just to get how dire the situation is through Kakashi's skull. Yeah, that's it.

"He's right sensei!" Sakura agrees. "Sonic should've been here a long time ago!"

Ino covers her mouth with her hands and her eyes widen also. "But, who would attack him?"

"I think I might know." Everyone turns to Sasuke, who is looking in the direction of his house. He narrows his eyes. "But I need to get there to confirm."

"Enough of this talking!" I growl and activate my skates. "We need to get there now!" I'm not feeling the energy anymore, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Kakashi's eyes turn serious. "Right." He starts to run back across the field. "This is an emergency! There isn't any time to dawdle!" He calls back and the genin follow full speed behind them with me on their trail.

We fly back through Konoha, taking the streets, roofs, short cuts, anything to get to Sasuke's house faster. I take a glance at said ninja and his face is unreadable. Also, his hand is on his left shoulder, gripping it tightly.

Making it to the outskirts of the village, I feel another chaos control and…I almost trip over my own feet.

I can't sense the emeralds.

Panicking a bit, I increase my speed and get in front of everyone, including Kakashi, for I know how to get to the house from here. After what it seems like an eternity, I make it to the front door first only to be stopped by Kakashi's voice.

"Stop Shadow!" Scowling, I look behind me to see Kakashi finally catching up to me along with the others in our group. He's not looking at me, but at the door. "We don't know the situation in there." He focuses on me. "You can't just barge in there alone."

He's right. But…I frown at the piece of wood standing in the way. Sonic could be dying in there!

"Well that everyone is here, "I grit out. "Can we go inside?"

Kakashi doesn't say anything; he just moves towards the door and raises a hand to turn the knob.

"Wait!" Oh come on! Growling, I whip around to glare at Choji, who is nervously eating a chocolate bar. He flinches at my gaze, but speaks nonetheless. "I have a really bad feeling about this…"

Tenten puts all weight on one leg and places her hand on her hip. "Ok that's comforting. Glad I'm not the only one who feels like that." She twirls a kunai around her finger. "I know we've been living here, but right now, this place gives me the heebie jeebies."

"It's definitely not just you, Tenten." Kiba adds, looking down in his jacket. I drop my gaze to his chest, where a shivering bulge is located. "Akamaru has been hiding in here ever since we have gotten close to this place!"

Frowning, I cross my arms. "Well you all can stay out here. I'm going inside."

"You're not nervous at all, Shadow?"

I turn to Sakura. "No."

Naruto huffs and steps up. "Not even a little bit?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Not nervous what-so-ever?"

"No." I growl out.

He eyes me. "I don't believe you."

Clenching my fist, I turn back to jonin. "Kakashi, do something about your student before I do something I probably won't regret."

He sweat drops and glances at Naruto. "Uh, I suggest you just stay quiet for the time being."

"But-"

"What did I just say?"

Naruto puffs his cheeks and pouts, but stays quiet anyway.

"Alright, in all seriousness…" Kakashi doesn't finish his thought because as soon as he turns the knob, I rush in and start to call Sonic's name.

"Sonic? Sonic!" I cub my hands around my mouth. "Dammit Sonic! Are you in here?!"

No answer.

"We can check his room. He might be sleeping." Sasuke walks up beside me and I can tell he doesn't even believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Let's go then!" Naruto walks past us without a care in the world. Behind me, I see that everyone entered, even the nervous ones.

"Wait a second, Naruto. What did I say about going alone?"

Surprisingly, Naruto doesn't complain and he waits for all of us to catch up to him in the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, a foul odor reaches my nose. I pinch it. "Does anyone else smell that?" My voice is a bit altered. Not getting an answer, I turn to find everyone's face as pale as a sheet. Breaking into a cold sweat, I try to swallow the baseball sized lump in my throat. Taking another step forwards, Kakashi grabs my arm.

"Let me go first." Hesitantly, I nod and let him pass. We all trail him to Sonic's closed door where the smell must be emitting from for the stench is almost unbearable now. "Be ready for anything." He tells us, but I have a suspicion that it is mostly meant for me.

Kakashi opens the door quickly and bile rises up in my throat at what I see. The normally grey and boring room now has blood puddles on the floor and splatters all over the walls. The liquid is so fresh, that it's sliding down the walls like raindrops on a windowpane. Most of the room is painted with red, even the bed.

The jonin steps into the room, tries not to stain his shoes, and examines the place. I walk in after him, nose still plugged. Then I start to hear choked sobs from behind me, glancing back, I see the others still standing in the doorway with Kiba trying to comfort Hinata.

"W-What happened, hic, i-in h-here?"

"We don't know Hinata." Kiba says.

"But what we do know," Sasuke walks into the room followed by the rest of team 7. "is that someone got real hurt in here." That team setting an example, the rest of the genin slowly creep in.

"The real question is, was it Sonic?" Shikamaru asks, dragging a reluctant Choji farther into the room.

"And how blood got on the ceiling." Neji adds, looking up at the dark red stains up above.

Feeling a little less nauseous, I let go of my nose. Blocking out Hinata's sniffles, I look around and try to find something that'll tell us what happened here. We all just search the room for a while until I see Naruto pick up something from the bed that's covered in dried blood.

"Guys, I found something." We all, besides Kakashi, shift closer to him.

"What is it?" Ino asks, looking closely.

The blonde holds it right in front of his face. "I dunno. But it looks like a straight strand of string." After twisting and turning it, Naruto lifts his other hand and licks his pointer finger and thumb, moistening them. Naruto places the string between the two fingers and wipes off the residue.

As the blood comes off, I see that it isn't a thread at all, but a quill. More specifically, Sonic's blue one.

Sakura shakes her head rapidly in denial. "No…"

Kiba himself looks a bit green in the face. "Does that mean that all this blood…" He glances around the room. "is Sonic's?"

"No." I quickly answer. "We shed our quills on occasion. This doesn't prove anything."

"But it proves that Sonic was in this room." Neji says, his pale eyes meeting my gaze. He's statement releases a tiny spark of fear in my chest.

Was.

Was.

Sonic was here.

Not anymore.

My fists clench at my sides. What happened in this room? And why in the hell is Sonic not here? I take a deep breath. It won't help to get too worked up about this; I have to keep a level head if I ever want to find out what happened.

"Shadow." I turn around to Kakashi to see him examining a small blood stain on the wall with a keen eye.

"What?"

"Come over here." Curious to what he wants, I shuffle over to him. He doesn't look at me when I get beside him. He points at the red splotch and turns his head towards me. "Do you see anything unusual here?"

I don't spot anything out of the ordinary besides the vivid color on the previously grey wall. Scrunching my eyebrows, I shake my head. "Get closer." I frown at him for the sharp order, but peer closer anyway. Nothing else is here, just the-wait a second. My gloved hand reaches up and, starting where the blood begins, drag it downwards, getting the glove dirty in the process. That's beside the point. I'm surprised to feel a small dip in the dry wall, like a dent.

"You feel that?" Kakashi asks and I nod. He focuses back on the spot. "They are everywhere in the room if you look close enough. Even the floor and ceiling. I wonder what caused this." His hand runs through his grey hair. "What or whoever it is was the one bleeding for most of the blood are coupled with these shallow dips."

I search the room. "They are everywhere, you say?"

"Yeah."

Finding another stain on an adjacent wall, I walk up to it. Sighing, I turn around and push my back against that spot, feeling the dip and not caring about the blood that gets on my quills. I have a theory, and I'm silently hoping it isn't true.

Focusing on Kakashi in the same spot as before, by the wall, I realize that the two spots are in perfect position for something like a ball to bounce off of with a straight flight path. My eyes go from there to the ceiling, where another dent is in perfect position. My theory is proven.

"Spin dash…" I mutter to myself.

"What was that, Shadow?" Sasuke, now holding the quill, gets closer.

"The damage to the walls are caused by a spin dash." I say louder and the group of genin tilt their heads in confusion. I step away from the wall and gesture to it. "If you look closely, you can see that it caves in. It happens everywhere the blood spatters are."

They all scatter and search the walls. "You're right." After finding one, Shikamaru looks at me. "A spin dash…that's one of Sonic's moves, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"That means," Kakashi moves away from the wall. "that this is Sonic's blood."

Ino gasps. "Oh my God…"

"This is bad…" Choji mutters.

I then hear low growling. Looking over to Naruto whose fists are shaking, I see his eyes closed. He snaps them open and I'm surprised to see them a blazing red, not the cool blue. He whirls around and punches the nearest wall, scaring anyone close to him. A crack forms where his hand connects.

"Who would do this?!" He snarls.

"Calm down Naruto!" Kakashi goes over to him and places a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "That's the next thing on our list to find out. We know you're upset, but breathe."

A few moments pass before Naruto takes a deep breath and lets it out. His eyes fade back to the more familiar blue, but they are still determined. "Whoever did this to Sonic will get what's coming to him!" Naruto pounds his fists together like a certain emerald guardian. Speaking of those gems, they are nowhere in sight either.

Kakashi nods. "We'll make sure of that."

"Hey, I found a piece of hair on the floor." We all look at Neji picking up said item by a wall. Standing up, he does the same thing Naruto did before and wipes off the blood. "It's grey."

"Grey?" Tenten asks. "Who do we know with grey hair?"

I glare suspiciously at Kakashi and he catches my gaze. He raises his hands defensively. "I didn't do it! I was with all of you the whole time and plus my hair isn't that light of a shade." I eye him for another moment before focusing back on Neji. I know he was with us the entire time, but I don't know his abilities to a full extent.

"Kiba."

The dog lover perks up. "What Neji?"

The long haired ninja holds the hair out. "Come sniff this."

"Ew! Why would I sniff some random dude's hair?"

Neji sighs exasperatedly. "To see if the smell is familiar to you and if the attacker lives in Konoha."

Kiba smiles sheepishly. "Right, I knew that." He walks up to Neji and as soon he is about to take a whiff, Akamaru pops out of his jacket and takes one of his own. The puppy starts to whine. "What is it Akamaru?" The pup answers with a small yip. "Snakes?" Akamaru nods his head to Kiba's question and disappears back into the jacket.

Kiba frowns. "I gotta see for myself." He takes a long sniff and his nose wrinkles up in disgust. "Ack! Akamaru was right! It does smell like snakes!"

Kakashi's eyes widen before narrowing. "Does it seem familiar to you?"

Kiba taps his chin. "Know that I think about it, I do recognize it. I haven't smelled it in a while though."

"How long?" Sasuke questions with uncharacteristic coldness.

"I don't know. I think the last time was during the Sand and Sound invasion."

"I knew it!" The raven snarls. He turns to Kakashi with cold eyes, quivering with rage. "It's Kabuto."

There is a tense silence in the room.

"Kabuto, as in Orochimaru's Kabuto?" Naruto asks angrily.

"The same." Sasuke replies in the same tone.

"Why would he attack Sonic?!" The blonde yells.

"Yeah…why?" Sakura asks softly.

I decide to include myself in the conversation. "Hold a minute." They all focus on me. "Who is Kabuto and this…Orochimaru?"

"Let's just say that they are enemy ninja." Kakashi answers after a brief pause.

Not satisfied with the answer, I glare up at him. "I'm gonna need a better answer than that because this Kabuto person stole the emeralds too!"

Silence.

"WHAT!?" Everyone yells.

"W-What do you mean the youthful gems are gone?" Lee stutters.

"Precisely that. I can sense them if they are close by, but I don't feel them at all right now!"

"This has gotten a hundred times worse…" Shikamaru mutters, rubbing his temples.

I scowl and glance back up at the wide eyed Kakashi. "That's why I need to know who they are!"

The jonin shakes his head a bit. "Orochimaru is an enemy of the village and Kabuto is his apprentice. Long story short, Orochimaru wants to destroy the Hidden Leaf and will do anything to achieve that goal." Kakashi's eyes shift to a fuming Sasuke. "He has already tried with an invasion of the village. We luckily won, but with many casualties." He focuses back to me with a softer expression.

I don't like that look.

"He will do desperate things. If he told Kabuto to come here, to get the emeralds…"

No. The faker should have been able to protect himself.

"And if Sonic tried to stop him…"

He should have…

Kakashi turns away.

"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"

"Shadow, are you going to stare out that window all day?"

"Shadow... I beg of you...please give them a chance to be happy."

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

Maria…

"He might be dead."

We lost Sonic the hedgehog.

History repeats itself.