A/N

Look... look how far we've gotten... together... ;-;

Shut up emotional me! CHAPTER 25 BABAY! YES I MEANT TO TYPE BABAY, IT WASN'T A TYPO I SWEAR!

ENJOY MOTHER FRIDGES!

Chapter 25: Stolen Princess

I wanna runaway, never say goodbye.
I wanna know the truth, instead of wondering why.
~Runaway–Linkin Park

Kyarra had begged Lady Tsunade to let her run after her team once her ankle had healed, which was surprisingly quickly. All Kyarra wanted was to go on the mission in the Land of Tea with them, because she really wanted to see if the houses were made out of teabags.

Cause, you know, the sand village buildings were made out of sand, so why not?

But Tsunade had said no, sadly.

So she sat in the shade of a tree and drew. It was the same tree she had sat under when Sasuke had found her on the day of the Hokage's funeral. She sighed, staring at the clouds.

For some reason, she couldn't think about all of that right now. All she could think about was her bracelet. She really wished she had asked the Hokage about it before he...passed. She trusted him.

But Tsunade was... different. Not as warm, not as trusting. At first, she was suspicious of Kyarra. Now she seemed to like her.

But it wasn't the same. So she wouldn't ask. Something about that bracelet linked her to Itachi and the shark-man he was with, and he was an S-rank missing nin. So obviously it couldn't be something good.

She sighed again and looked down at her picture. She had been drawing without thinking about it, and the drawing had turned into a person's face. The person–who was a boy–had long, light-colored hair and medium-light eyes. Maybe a bright green or blue. He had a smirk on his face, and he seemed so familiar to Kyarra...

She continued to draw. The person's eyes were blue, she thought. His hair a little bit darker than Naruto's, and in a ponytail at the back with one piece covering one eye.

She drew one of his hands being next to his face, a small clay bird clutched in it. And on one finger was a ring. A ring that looked like hers. Except it was a blue-green color, and the word on it meant Green.

She set down her sketchbook.

"Nii-chan." she said aloud, even though the person was obviously a boy. She had obviously met them before. Even in her sketches with pencil, she knew the color of their hair, eyes, everything.

She lay backwards and waited for the headache she knew would come.

"Where are you going, Princess?" Kyarra asked, narrowing her eyes. She was blocking his path, twirling a kunai around her finger. Her other hand was on her hip, but was inching towards her kunai pouch. They stood facing each other, only a few streets away from the main gate of the leaf village.

"Stay out of my way!" Sasuke tried to push past her, but she put a hand on his chest, pushing him back instead.

"It was only a question." she took a step towards him, and he glared at her slightly. She tossed the kunai up high in the air, "Now let's try this again. Where are you going?"

"To gain more power." he stated simply, trying to step around her. She blocked his path once more, catching the kunai she had just thrown.

"From Orochimaru, right?" she asked, trying to think this through and throwing the kunai up again. This was her chance. She could learn about her past, finally.

"Yes." he answered, and his eyes turned blood red with the Sharingan, "And no one's going to stop me, not Naruto, not Sakura, not you. I will have my revenge."

She caught the kunai, and in a second, it was at his throat. "I bet I could, if I tried. But..." she dropped the kunai from his neck and shoved it in her pouch, "I'm coming with you."

"Why?" he asked. He didn't want her to slow him down, didn't want her to interfere.

She sent him a glare, "I have my reasons. And one of them has to do with the very person you want revenge on."

"What do you know about him?" he asked harshly. She was looking into his eyes before, but she looked down, now. But not before he saw tears welling up in them.

"I know he showed you awful things. Things I'd rather not say out loud. I know what he's done to you, and I know why you want to kill him." she kept looking down, "And... I saw him that day. I saw him the last time you did, and... he..." she fought so hard to not say what she so desperately wanted, needed to tell him, "I know him. And that's why you're so familiar to me."

"Why haven't you told me this sooner?!" he yelled, eyes seeming to glow an even brighter red.

Her head snapped up, "You don't have to know everything!" she yelled, anger overwhelming, "And it doesn't have anything to do with you, it has to do with me!" her eyes flashed a weird purple color, but it was probably the glint from the moon.

"Then why are you coming with me?! What the hell does this–I–have to do with anything!?"

"I have to go to Orochimaru!" She yelled, "He told me–" she cut herself off, then her eyes turned sad, "Please?" she whispered, "Just let me come with you. I'll explain everything when we get there." she lowered her head, but still looked up at him. Her eyes looked big, pleading.

His anger faded. He couldn't stay mad at her when she was like this, he just couldn't. Honestly, who could? There was just something about her that made him need to help her. "I..."

"Please."

He sighed, eyes fading to their natural onyx color. "Fine."

"Thank you!" she hugged him tight, like it would be the last time she ever saw him, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're... welcome?" he said, awkwardly hugging her back-ish.

"And, uh..." she started, still not letting go, "Can you tell Orochimaru I helped convince you to go to him?"

"Why?"

"Pleeeeeeease?"

"Fine." he sighed again, and she sighed quietly in relief. She let go of him and kissed him on the cheek quickly. She knew that he only said yes to get her to shut up. She didn't really care, she was getting her memories back.

"I sense them." Tayuya said, turning slightly so she could look at the leader, Sakon/Ukon "Five of them, leaf ninja. They're coming for the kid."

"Leaf ninja?" Kyarra asked, slowing down slightly so she was side-by-side with the pinkish-red-head. Tayuya nodded, and Kyarra cursed.

"They can't see me, they can't know I'm on your side." she told them all, "I can help though, I can go invisible, check it." she disappeared from sight, but continued to run next to Tayuya. "I'll make sure they never make it to Sasuke."

"You would go against your own comrades?" Kidomaru asked, obviously un-believing. Everyone stopped running and looked toward where her voice was coming from.

"Of course! This is much bigger than them." she reappeared and crossed her arms, and they seemed to believe her. "I could set traps." she said, "We'll see them coming from a mile away."

They agreed, and she dropped down from the trees, "I'll catch up when I'm done!" she yelled, and they sped off once again.

While setting the "traps" she would turn her invisibility on then off, so if Neji was one of the people following them, he would hopefully know it was her. Her traps were horrible, but that was kinda the purpose. How else is she supposed to get their attention without standing there, waving her arms? Plus, if one of the sound four came back to help her or something, she had proof that she was "on their side".

She scrawled a few things down on tags, and stuck them in the trees with kunai. It was easy to simply step around her traps, and she hoped her friends would listen to the signs and not think it was an actual trap. Shikamaru was the smartest, and he might be with them. He would figure it out.

She stuck one last note up, then leaped back into the trees. She looked behind her just for a second, and realized she could sense their presence now too. Naruto was with them, she could feel the nine-tail's chakra. She decided to leave one more note for him.

When she was done, she turned back and sprinted through the tree's after Sasuke.

She had no idea how she was going to pull this off.

"Do you really think we can trust her?" Jirobo asked them. Tayuya was the one who answered, "I think so. We don't know why, but she's dead set on seeing Lord Orochimaru."

"Would she really go against her comrades though?" Kidomaru asked once again.

"There was fire in her eyes, and also hope, desperation." Sakon answered for Tayuya, "She not only wants to see Lord Orochimaru, she needs to."

"And Orochimaru told us to be on the lookout for a girl. I'm guessing it's her. He said that she would be important."

Everyone was convinced at that point, even Kidomaru, who had been questioning her the entire way.

"Let's just hope she can set some damn good traps."

"Stop!" Neji yelled, just as Naruto tripped over a pathetic trip-wire. It didn't even do anything, just make him fall on his face.

"What the hell!" Naruto cried just as his face hit the dirt.

"Are you really that stupid?" Kiba asked, laughing.

"Shut up!"

"If you two idiots are done fighting," Shikamaru stepped over the wire, inspecting the horrible excuses for traps.

"A little while back, I saw someone, remember?" Neji asked, and Shikamaru and Choji nodded, "They kept disappearing then coming back. Do you think it could be..."

Naruto stood up, then shot a kunai through another wire. A tiny branch attached to a rope fell just above their heads.

"What are you doing?" Choji asked, and Naruto pointed to some tags that were stuck on the trees.

"Watch out for obvious-ass traps. Mess them up a bit so they think someone got caught." the blond replied, ripping those two down.

"Why are you doing what they tell you to?" Kiba asked, hitting him like he was an idiot.

Shikamaru ripped off the next one, "Do as I say. Why? Because I know everything."

Choji was next, "If you don't know who this is by now, you're all dumbasses."

Neji found the last one, "I'm on your side. If you see me with them, don't believe a thing I say."

They all looked at each other, then said, "Kyarra." at the same time.

Neji had never turned off his Byakugan, so he could see another note facing the opposite direction than they were coming from. He ripped it off, then read aloud.

"There are four of them. If you have any hope of making it to Sasuke, you'll have to fight them one-on-one. If word gets to Orochimaru that you've beaten even one of them, they'll send in someone else. I'll be there too, but I'll help you, not them. Trust me. And one more thing... don't die on me, okay? Love, K."

"K... Kyarra." Kiba said, sitting down.

Naruto clenched his fists, "That's why we couldn't find her. She was out here, maybe even with Sasuke. She could have convinced him not to leave. She made friends with our enemies." he was blinded by rage.

Choji chimed in, "How do we know she's really on our side?"

"Shut up, both of you!" Kiba exclaimed, watching as both their heads swivelled in his direction, "Do you even listen to yourselves? It's Kyarra, and we all know she would do anything for her friends. She told us herself. For crying out loud, Naruto! She's you teammate, and best friend!"

Silence came with this, but Neji spoke first.

"Up in the trees, there's a note for you, Naruto. Go get it, and we'll plan out how we're going to do this."

Naruto nodded, then jumped up onto a high branch. The note was almost the same color as the tree, but he could see it easily from where he was standing. He un-stuck it from the kunai, but didn't read it out loud. If it was for him, he was going to be the only one to know what it said.

Naruto,

You're going to be the one to fight Sasuke. You have to. You're the only one who can save him now. But... don't leave me, okay? You're my best friend, and I couldn't live without you. Bring Princess home. Please.

~K

He noticed a tear stain on it. Just one. He shoved the note in his pocket, then put on a smile and jumped back down through the trees.

"What'd it say?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing important, just asked me if I tripped over the first wire."

"Even Kyarra know's you're an idiot."

"Shut up!"

Neji broke them up, "We should get going. We'll lose them soon." he jumped back up into the trees, the others following. They got in formation again, and shot off towards Sasuke.

Choji panted, hands on his knees. He looked up just in time to see Jirobo run at him, fists raised. Jirobo was already in second-state mode, and Choji had one pill left.

The red one.

He was already in so much pain, and his chakra was low. So he reached into his pocket and pulled out the last pill. Jirobo was right in front of him now, barely giving Choji time to block his attacks. But his defenses slipped, and Jirobo found an opening. Just as Jirobo wound back his fist, he was thrown backwards by an unseen force.

"What?" Choji asked, quietly panting, and then Kyarra appeared right in front of him. Jirobo hit a tree with a loud crashing noise.

"Did you guys guess who it was?" she asked, "I think I made it slightly obvious."

Jirobo stood, the spot where he had hit the tree dented, "You! Kidomaru was right!" he pointed at her, and she made a "who, me?" kind of gesture, then shrugged.

"Well, it's complicated, see." she paused, "Okay, no it's not. I have friends," she gestured to Choji, "Who I do not want to be killed."

"Wait until I catch up to the others! We'll tell Lord Orochimaru everything!" he said, stepping forwards.

"No you won't be catching up. Cause Choji here has one last thing up his sleeve... or in his hand, actually." she looked at Choji sadly, "I have to go help the others. But I know you can handle yourself. And I know I will see you again."

"Thanks, Kyarra." he said, and she ran off into the forest, just as Jirobo ran at him.

He took the red pill.

Neji was covered in the sticky web that–gross–Kidomaru seems to spit out. He couldn't use rotation anymore. This guy was just too good, and now he had learned of Neji's blind spot.

Kidomaru hid up in the tree's somewhere Neji couldn't see him. The special weapons that Kidomaru made flew seemingly from all directions, all aimed perfectly at where he couldn't see. Neji had been hit more than once, and was so drained of energy he could barely stand.

One of the weapons headed right for Neji's blind spot, directly to the back of is head. But of course, he didn't see it coming.

Kidomaru smirked at the perfect shot. It will all be over soon. He would catch up to the others, and take that little near-dead brat to Lord Orochimaru.

"Neji!" he heard, "Behind you! NOW!" he turned as fast as he could to see a weapon headed straight for his face. He grabbed a kunai and knocked it away, just as it would have hit him if he hadn't heard that person. But he had recognized that voice, and knew to listen.

"So much for coming in all inconspicuous." Kyarra grumbled to herself walking over to stand next to Neji. Kidomaru jumped down from the tree he had been hiding in.

"I told them!" he said, "I told them you couldn't be trusted! But they didn't believe me, and now what? Now you're helping the other side!" he ranted.

"Congratulations, you're the smart one of the group!" she said in a false-cheery voice, "Too bad that'll get you nowhere where you're going!"

She turned to Neji and whispered, "You are so capable of winning this. And if you don't, I'll kill you. You have to beat this freak, Neji, you have to. I mean, what happened to the Neji I know who's a cocky bastard?" she looked at Kidomaru, who was hiding in the trees once more and planning his next attack. "You can't lose." she turned around and hit one of his strange kunai-like weapons away.

"Oi! Watch it!" she called, then turned around and laughed, "Just do this, okay? I'll meet you up ahead with the others. Oh, and take these." she handed him some flash bombs, "It'll blind him for a bit. Good luck. Don't die. I'm counting on you."

"Acknowledged." he nodded, and she disappeared.

Ending note!

Goooooo me! I actually wrote this a while ago! (Yeah, what else is new?) I will slap you so hard, mysterious voice!

Also, to the guest reviewer on my story who keeps asking about Kyarra's name. I shall not say what my true name is. Is it Kyarra? Or is it something else entirely?

...Either way, just call me Kyarra.

I've actually never met someone else with the name Kyarra, so I thought it was pretty original. So sorry, but I've never met you. And I spell it like that because YOLO AM I RIGHT?

...Is there any other way to spell it, bro?

Goodnight loviiiiiiiiies!

~Kyarra-Chan (^.~)