Time for another exciting chapter of my fanfic. I hope you enjoy.

How are you to kill two immortal ninja? The world may never know...

...but I'm sure our heroes will figure something out.

After all, they have Shikamaru.

And they also have Lucy, whose as smart as Shikamaru is. She's no dumb blonde, I can assure you.

Chapter 85: The Zombie Brothers Redux

Not long after they had bested him, Takashi returned for Round 2.

"Him again?" asked Shikamaru.

They had just fought him.

Usually Takashi waited a while before attacking again.

But this time, he seemed to have a cursed seal.

"A cursed seal? Didn't Sasuke have one of those? Before he defected?" asked the shadow ninja. He wished that he could stop him from leaving Konoha. But it seemed there was just no stopping him. Not even Naruto could make him change his mind.

He wished he knew how to remove one. It would make fighting Orochimaru's followers easier. Or at least make them stop being so crazy.

Unfortunately, this made him a lot stronger.

Perhaps he wasn't so harmless anymore.

Why would Orochimaru want to give him a cursed seal though?

Perhaps it was one of his many experiments.

Still, it didn't seem he was much of a match for Asuma.

Perhaps he should pick on someone his own size.

"Why do you have to be so tough?" asked Takashi.

"Well, the village won't defend itself." noted Asuma.

Fortunately, Takashi still went down.

But for some strange reason, Shikamaru got the feeling that he was about to face another maniac.

Who was it going to be this time?

Suddenly, Hidan showed up.

He let out an evil laugh.

"What's this? Some sort of evil priest?" asked Shikamaru.

"It looks that way." noted Lucy.

Asuma realized what the priest was wearing, and a revelation dawned upon him.

"Wait a minute, he's a member of the Akatsuki!" exclaimed the jonin.

Though for some strange reason, his partner wasn't with him.

Zetsu didn't seem to have a partner for whatever reason.

But he still found the sight to be somewhat unusual.

Unfortunately, as Asuma was fighting the deranged priest, he was suddenly slashed in the leg.

"Aah!" exclaimed the jonin.

Shikamaru gasped.

Hidan smirked.

Now that he had a blood sample, his ritual could begin.

Hidan created a mandala.

Asuma wasn't sure what it was, but it looked sinister.

Was it some sort of Satanic ritual?

There were always those whackjobs that tried summoning demons to get them to do their being...much like the Akatsuki who were trying to use the tailed beasts as weapons.

Usually they needed a virgin sacrifice. Why was it always a virgin? Asuma wanted to know.

Well, at least Kurenai wasn't in danger. She had lost her virginity some time ago. Though he wasn't planning on telling who she lost her virginity too.

He laughed wickedly, which unnerved the jonin.

Suddenly, Hidan stabbed himself.

Asuma wondered why he would injure himself...only to discover that for some reason, that hurt him too.

It seemed his opponent had somehow become some sort of voodoo doll.

This was one sinister jutsu.

What was he going to do? He couldn't attack his opponent without attacking himself.

On the other hand, Hidan seemed to regenerate whenever he stabbed his own flesh.

The deranged man punched himself in the face, causing a bruise to appear on Asuma's forehead.

Perhaps a genjutsu would be safe to use?

Although, there didn't seem to be any way to make him any crazier than he already was.

"How am I going to get my sensei out of this?" thought Shikamaru.

Suddenly, Lucy put her blood in Hidan's mouth.

"What are you doing?" asked the priest.

"Now you're linked to me!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Sacrificing yourself for your jonin friend? How noble...yet it changes nothing!" shouted Hidan.

When he was finished with Lucy, he would kill Asuma as well.

"Actually, it does." noted the kunoichi.

She took off her jonin uniform, leaving her in her tube top and miniskirt.

Shikamaru wondered why she was doing that in the middle of a fight. It didn't seem practical. Though she did look sexy in it.

Did she wear a bra?

Hidan noticed something very surprising on her midriff.

It was a jinchuriki mark.

"You're one of the jinchuriki?" asked the cultist.

Most of the jinchuriki happened to be male.

"You sure you wish to tell the Akatsuki you're a jinchuriki?" asked Shikamaru. She could be in danger now.

"They were bound to find out sooner or later." explained Lucy. She used the nine-tails chakra in a lot of her battles.

The shadow ninja understood her logic.

Unfortunately for Hidan, this meant he couldn't stab himself in the heart and get rid of the girl. He needed to bring the kunoichi to Pain alive.

To be honest, he wasn't really expecting to find a jinchuriki at the temple. He thought it would be a simple mission of killing monks that in his opinion had chosen the wrong religion.

He figured that the monks would think that the tailed beast was a monster from the depths of Hell.

However, while Asuma was out of danger, they still couldn't attack Hidan. They wouldn't want to risk hurting such a pretty face.

Fortunately, Lucy decided to check to see what would happen if she pushed the madman out from the mandala.

She was pretty sure that hadn't been there before.

"Hey!" shouted Hidan.

Judging from his angered reaction, he was no longer linked to Lucy.

She slapped him in the face to see if that was the case...which it was.

"Now!" exclaimed the blonde.

Shikamaru stabbed Hidan in the heart with a kunai.

"Normally, I wouldn't discriminate against anyone because of their religion...but you're off the deep end." remarked the shadow ninja.

But for some strange reason, Hidan wasn't dying. Even though some blood oozed out from his chest.

"What the-" exclaimed the shadow ninja, his eyes widening with shock.

"Heh." answered the man. People had already tried that. It was nothing short of amusing to watch them fail.

It seemed he was somehow immortal...much like Sasori the puppetmaster. But to their knowledge, Hidan wasn't a puppet...except maybe for the Akatsuki.

The same thing happened when he was stabbed in the head. Stabbing him in the brain didn't seem to have any effect.

"I'm starting to think that he's immortal." noted Shikamaru.

If so, maybe Orochimaru was jealous of him. He had to transfer his body every three years to keep himself alive.

Asuma kicked off Hidan's head...

...only for it to insult his mother.

"My mother is a saint...wait a minute."

He gasped in alarm.

Shikamaru and Lucy were surprised by the occurrence as well.

"Why isn't he dead?" asked Shikamaru. This defied common knowledge. He was pretty sure that this never happened whenever somebody used the guillotine.

If so, perhaps they should come up with a different execution device.

"I don't know. He's like a cockroach or something." noted the girl. Although, she didn't think cockroaches were so psychotic.

"Too bad we can't just step on him." remarked the shadow ninja. That would make their lives a lot easier, now wouldn't it?

Fortunately, it seemed that as long as Hidan's head wasn't on his shoulders, he was perfectly harmless.

There was no way he could wield his scythe and use it to reap their souls.

Still, they weren't sure how they were going to kill him.

"Well, might as well make the best of it..." noted Lucy.

Lucy and Shikamaru started kicking the head around like a soccer ball.

They felt like they were in a soccer field.

"I'll kill you!" bellowed Hidan as he was kicked around.

"Sure you will." answered Lucy Heartfilia, passing him to Shikamaru.

Aside from all the swearing, kicking him was fun.

But there was one thing on Lucy's mind.

Didn't the Akatsuki usually come in pairs?

They knew Itachi and Kisame were a duo.

Where was his partner?

Suddenly, Kakuzu grabbed Hidan's head.

Lucy jumped backwards in surprise.

"Huh?" asked Shikamaru.

It seemed that just as Deidara did, Hidan had a partner.

"I guess his partner has arrived on the scene." noted Lucy.

Their mission just became a lot more complicated.

They could apparently beat one member of the Akatsuki, but could they handle two?

It appeared he could stretch his arms like rubber.

"I see that these three were too much for you." remarked Kakuzu.

He found it to be rather amusing.

"Shut up!" bellowed Hidan.

Seemed the two of them didn't get along. Though sometimes, Kakuzu thought he was entertaining. He didn't think before he acted.

It was ironic that the two were at each other's throats, considering Pain partnered them together.

"Maybe you should have quit while you were ahead." spoke the bounty hunter.

"Silence!" exclaimed the priest.

Now that he had Hidan's head, he got to work on reattaching it to his body.

"He can reattach body parts?" questioned the shadow ninja. That was a new jutsu.

Apparently, this was the reason why he was working with him. Perhaps this hadn't been the first time Hidan had been decapitated.

And considering how impulsive he acted, it probably wouldn't be the last.

Unfortunately, now that Hidan's head was once again on his shoulders, he was back in the fight.

"Yes! Now I can kill again!" exclaimed Hidan.

He was looking forward to that.

He sure wasn't going to let himself get decapitated again, that was for certain.

Though considering his recklessness, he probably was going to get decapitated again.

What would he do without Kakuzu?

"Didn't your mother tell you not to kill people?" asked Lucy. Perhaps he was the black sheep of his family.

"Well, my god told me to." answered the man. And Jashin was a divine being. Though perhaps his mother wouldn't support his dark religion.

"I think you'd be better off if you let me handle them." recommended Kakuzu.

"I can take them!" shouted the religious man.

"They knocked your head off." pointed out the bounty hunter.

Hidan sighed, recalling how they had used his head as a soccer ball.

Was being immortal really that spectacular?

Kakuzu summoned his fire heart.

"What in Fiore is that?" asked Lucy.

"Lucy, we're not in Fiore." explained Shikamaru. They were in the land of ninja.

"Oh...sometimes I forget what world I'm in." noted the blonde. She switched between them pretty often.

The fire heart spewed flames from its mouth.

All of a sudden, Asuma was getting a taste of his own medicine.

He was burned and he screamed.

"Sensei Asuma!" bellowed Shikamaru, his eyes widening in fear.

This mission simply was not going well.

Perhaps they should have brought a healer ninja on this mission. One of the Akatsuki members was nothing but a lunatic.

Fortunately, he didn't seem fatally wounded.

Still, those flames looked scorching hot.

If this kept up, they were going to be barbecue.

It was time to take some action.

Lucy summoned a sea dragon to counter the fire heart.

He wasn't going to allow Shikamaru's teacher to be burnt to a crisp if he could help it.

The sea dragon spat out a beam of water.

The fire heart recoiled from the blast.

"Strange, when I see dragons I expect flames..." remarked Shikamaru.

Maybe he had read too many fairy tales...or had spent too much time with Fairy Tail.

Disturbingly, Lucy was reminded a bit of Kenichi's dragon. The same dragon that burned down entire villages for his master's bidding.

But she was pretty sure this dragon was on her side. It wasn't trying to eat her, for one. Perhaps she would taste like lemons.

Fortunately, this counteracted the fire heart fairly well. Perhaps if she kept at it she would shatter the mask it had for a face.

Unfortunately, Kakuzu summoned his earth heart in retaliation.

"Another one?" questioned Shikamaru.

"You're not the only one who knows how to counter elemental ninjutsu." noted the bounty hunter.

"Uh-oh..." thought Lucy to herself.

It seemed that he had more than one heart.

She wondered why he had more than one.

Wasn't one of them enough?

At least he didn't have to worry so much about having a heart attack. He had spares.

The earth heart breathed toxic gas, and the sea dragon collapsed to the ground.

"That poor dragon." remarked the summoner.

Hopefully he would be alright.

But then again, that gas looked kind of...deadly.

Well, it looked like she was going to need another summon.

Lucy summoned a lightning beetle to attack the earth heart, but Kakuzu summoned his wind heart in retaliation.

The wind heart blew the beetle away.

The blonde's eyed widened with astonishment.

"Man, this bounty hunter thinks of everything." noted the kunoichi. The only thing he seemed to be lacking in was genjutsu...though he still seemed smarter than his partner.

"Talk about a heart attack..." noted Shikamaru. How many hearts did Kakuzu even have?

Theoretically, he would only need one. But he seemed to have five, one for every elemental ninjutsu.

The earth heart spewed out toxic gas.

"I don't think we want to breathe in that." noted Lucy. If only they had some sort of gas mask. Or they didn't need oxygen to breathe in.

Though to her knowledge, the duo needed her alive. They would probably avoid making her inhale too much of the gas.

Kakuzu would, anyway. Hidan probably wouldn't care whether she lived or not.

Unfortunately, it was difficult for Shikamaru to grab targets that were so agile.

And even if he grabbed one, the others would most likely retaliate. He wasn't looking forward to being struck by lightning or being set on fire.

And to make matters worse, the water and wind hearts were merging.

"They can combine?" asked Lucy.

The combined hearts let out a stream of ice.

One of the monks was frozen.

She gulped.

Was she going to end up a snowcone?

Suddenly, Hidan and Kakuzu were interrupted by Pain.

Sometimes, he interrupted them during a bounty hunt or a Jashin ritual.

And yes, it was inconvenient.

Still, Kakuzu insisted that they listen to him. Though perhaps if Akatsuki achieved peace, Kakuzu might not have so many bounty hunts.

But considering he most likely won't have to put up with his partner afterwards, that might not be so bad.

"What is it this time?" asked Hidan.

He was hoping to get to kill some people.

It was inconvenient.

It looked as if that was going to have to wait another day...or three.

"We captured one of the Jinchuriki." explained Pain.

This was their second.

It was the Mizukage this time.

It was anyone's guess as to who they would choose to replace him.

Seemed his security could have been better. The advisor had underestimated the Akatsuki...and now he was utterly dead.

Midori couldn't help but feel amused that his arrogance had caused him to die horribly.

It looked as if their efforts were paying off.

This time their new ninja had captured him.

More specifically, their new kunoichi.

"As much as I would like to complete this bounty hunt, I should listen to our leader..." noted Kakuzu to himself. He could try fighting Lucy to capture her too...but then he might not have enough chakra for the ritual.

Lucy Heartfilia seemed like a pretty strong ninja.

And she didn't seem to be a dumb blonde, either.

Perhaps he shouldn't judge people by their appearances. Though people could typically tell that he was evil just by looking at him.

Hidan and Kakuzu left the scene to prepare for the ritual.

Fortunately, there was a hideout not far from where they were.

"Why are they retreating?" questioned Shikamaru. They seemed to have an upper hand against the two.

"Should we chase after them?" asked Lucy.

She was worried that the psychotic priest would kill more people if they didn't. And of course, some unlucky person was probably going to have a bounty put on their head.

She knew Asuma had a bounty on his head.

Perhaps some people made a habit of making enemies.

"I think we need to give Asuma medical attention first." warned Shikamaru. Besides, he didn't want to risk assaulting an Akatsuki hideout. There were some pretty nasty traps...like the mortal gas that melted off your skin.

Lucy nodded. Shikamaru had a good point. And they probably wouldn't be able to handle the two of them anyway. Fighting Kakuzu was like fighting six opponents in one.

And if you included Hidan, that made seven.

They were drastically outnumbered.

Well, Lucy's summons could help even the odds...but she could only summon so many before she succumbed to blood loss.

For now, it was time to head back.

Meanwhile, Midori and Deidara arrived in the Akatsuki hideout with their captive.

This particular hideout was a cavern with a lake.

"So, it looks like Beauty and the Beast were successful with their mission!" exclaimed Kisame.

Midori rolled her four eyes.

Just as Deidara didn't get on with Itachi, she didn't get on with Kisame.

Perhaps the shark man liked coming up with nicknames with people.

He had called Hidan and Kakuzu the Zombie Brothers, because they couldn't die.

Hidan couldn't, anyway. Kakuzu could die...if you killed him repeatedly. Though killing him once was a challenge in itself.

It seemed that Yagura's defensive fighting style wasn't a good counter for Midori's regenerative powers.

Maybe he should have focused a bit more on offense.

For three days, the Akatsuki drained Yagura.

Eventually, they had the tailed beast, and the Mizukage was no more.

'So...what's our next target going to be?" asked Konan.

They had a map of the jinchuriki's last known location for making decisions.

Pain thought about what to do.

There were several possibilities.

What should be their next target?

He would have to think it over.

Now that the extraction was over, Hidan and Kakuzu could go back to performing bounty hunts and demonic rituals.

That was what they did best.

However, Kakuzu had information that their leader wished to know.

"Master, there is something I need to tell you." spoke Kakuzu.

"Naruto transferred his nine-tailed fox to someone else?" asked Pain.

Perhaps he figured that if he did so, the Akatsuki wouldn't be able to find it.

It was a smart move. Typically they expected a jinchuriki to be the offspring of a Kage...or at least be related to one. But not this time.

Considering Kushina had survived the transfer when she gave the nine-tailed fox to Naruto, perhaps it wasn't too surprising that he had survived as well.

Ironically, he had chosen a girl who resembled him, especially when he used sexy jutsu.

Maybe it was his sister? Pain believed that Naruto was an only child due to the death of his parents, but he figured he could be wrong. He didn't know everything about the boy.

Well, if she too could survive the extraction process, maybe he could take the nine-tailed fox with a clean conscience.

Meanwhile...

Kurenai waited at the Konoha hospital, waiting for any status update on her husband's condition. The more she waited, the more worried she felt.

Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were waiting as well. Ino and Choji considered themselves lucky they weren't there to witness Asuma being wounded.

Currently, Choji was munching on chips.

It seemed they were his comfort food.

Shikamaru wondered if Choji had started eating to cope with stress.

People did seem to pick on him back when he was younger.

At least the hospital had good food.

Suddenly, the doctor showed up.

He looked unhappy.

"Mrs. Sarutobi, I'm afraid he may never walk again." stated the doctor.

Kurenai gasped at the distressing news.

Was her husband going to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair?

Either way, it looked as if he wouldn't be going on missions for some time.

"This is terrible..." spoke Choji. Asuma was like a father to him.

Or maybe an uncle. Having two fathers was kind of weird.

Ino pulled out a tissue.

Luckily, the hospital came with those. Perhaps they were for patients that had runny noses.

Of course, if you simply had a cold, you probably wouldn't be at the hospital.

If he couldn't walk again, he couldn't go on missions with them.

And they enjoyed his company on missions. Asuma did want them to be independent though. He wasn't going to be around forever.

He sure hoped that he would able to walk again. But there was no guarantees. Perhaps not even Tsunade could heal him.

Choji knew from Rock Lee that even Tsunade had her limits.

"Wait, you were married to Asuma the whole time?" asked Hinata. Kurenai had never told her about that.

Why had she kept it a secret?

"It was a bit of a shotgun wedding." answered Kurenai. She had been pregnant with his child, so she decided to engage herself to be married to him.

"What's a shotgun?" asked Hinata.

"Oh." spoke the kunochi. Perhaps technology hadn't progressed that far yet.

"I think Alzack and Bisca might have those." remarked Natsu.

It wouldn't surprise him. They seemed to have a lot of firearms.

"Yeah...they're cowboys. What firearms don't they have?" questioned Hinata.

"I gave birth to his child recently." continued Kurenai.

"You did?" asked Natsu.

She nodded.

It looked like she had been welcomed to the world of motherhood.

Unfortunately, it seemed that she was going to have to look after her while he was in the hospital.

But at least his second-hand smoke wouldn't get into her lungs.

She asked him not to smoke so much. It was going to set off the smoke alarm sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Naruto wondered why Lucy was in a tube top and miniskirt again.

She struck him as the type of person who would dress more modestly.

"You need something?" asked Lucy.

Naruto pointed to Lucy's shirt.

She realized what was going on.

She knew she had forgotten something.

"Whoops! I left my jonin uniform behind." noted Lucy.

She sure hoped she could get another one. Though jonin weren't necessarily required to wear the uniform. They could dress however they wanted...as long as they didn't dress up like the Akatsuki. That was considered taboo.

Maybe the monks at the temple could mail it to her?

At least she looked cute in that outfit.

"You're turning a lot of heads." noted the former jinchuriki.

She chuckled nervously. Naruto wasn't wrong.

Well, at least she wasn't topless in public, like Erza had been once.

Erza was wearing her Clear Heart armor.

She was at her guild, in a room with several other guild members. Most of which were male.

"Gee, this sarashi is awfully hot, I should take it off." noted Erza.

She started taking it off.

Her guildmates gasped in shock.

"Aahhhh!" screamed Happy, his eyes widening with fear.

He felt that he was having a nightmare.

Would this nightmare ever end?

"Jesus christ..." murmured Gray.

Then again, he had a habit of stripping off himself.

Who was he to judge?

At the park, Konohamaru was upset about the turn in events as well.

It seemed that his uncle had been wounded in action.

He was still alive, of course, but it was disappointing that he might have to retire from being a ninja.

His career had been somewhat distinguished, considering he had made it to jonin level. You couldn't expect anything less from a Saratobi.

"I can't believe that my uncle is in the hospital..." noted Konohamaru. He and his uncle were close. Would he ever recover?

"I'm sorry to hear about what had happened." remarked Wendy. She remembered when her adoptive mother had walked out on her.

"What's so great about Jashin anyway?" asked the grandson of the Third Hokage.

"Whose Jashin?" questioned a wind user.

"He's a god who gets high off of human sacrifices." explained Konohamaru.

No doubt Hidan was part of some sort of cult before the Akatsuki decided to let him join them.

Perhaps they had decided that his immortality would come in handy.

However, he seemed weaker in comparison to other Akatsuki members like Deidara or Kisame.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was thinking of a plan to defeat Hidan and Kakuzu.

He heard a rumor that Kakuzu was around during the time of the 1st Hokage.

It was most unusual.

Had he really lived for 91 years?

Not even the Third Hokage himself had lived that long...no thanks to Orochimaru.

If the rumor was true, Kakuzu had a lot of combat experience.

Hidan wasn't such a threat by comparison, but he was immortal. How were they supposed to take him down for good?

He could try removing his head.

But chances are Kakuzu would reattach it...and then he would be back to square one.

Well, one thing was for certain...he couldn't take on them alone.

He was going to need some help.

His first choice would be his two teammates.

However, he couldn't bring his sensei with him. He was still in the hospital.

But if he couldn't bring Asuma with him, then who else could come along?

Maybe Kakashi?

Fortunately, Kurenai volunteered.

"Kurenai? You want to go on this mission?" asked Shikamaru.

"I can't let those two continue killing...especially not after what they did to my husband." answered Kurenai. Her heart had shattrred when she heard the news.

Though to be fair, jonin went on dangerous missions.

"But whose going to look after your child?" questioned the shadow ninja. It'd be pretty irresponsible to leave her by herself. Who knew what chaos she could get into?

"I've already taken care of that." explained the kunoichi.

As it turned out, Hinata and Natsu were looking after Kurenai's child.

"I never thought I would get stuck with a babysitter job." noted Hinata.

It seemed like a D rank mission...and she was a chunin.

"You don't say?" answered Natsu.

Fortunately, people said that she would make for a great mother figure.

She was going to put that to the test.

"So, are you ready for this mission?" asked Kurenai. Time was of the essence. Wouldn't want Hidan and Kakuzu to make a getaway, now would they?

Fortunately, it was likely they had time. Reports had said the two weren't far from Konoha at the moment.

"We might as well go on while we wait for sensei Asuma to recover." noted Ino.

"I'm not sure if he'll ever fully recover..." remarked Choji. That maniac had really done a matter on him.

And to make matters worse, Kakuzu had set him on fire.

"You think we can find them?" asked Choji.

"Maybe. Maybe not." answered Ino.

"Well, I still think we should go on this mission." said the kunoichi jonin. Those two were the stuff of nightmares.

She felt that Asuma would want them to do that.

Shikamaru nodded.

Together, the four of them left Konoha.

They also invited Naruto and Lucy to come with them.

It might give them the edge.

They didn't want Lucy to have her nine-tailed fox get extracted though.

That would make the Akatsuki stronger than ever.

And he felt they were strong enough as it was, especially since they had recruited a kunoichi who could be torn in half and survive.

Before she went on the mission, she decided to have a chat with her friends.

"Greetings, Lucy. How was your mission?" asked Levy.

"Not too well, I'm afraid. Asuma was wounded in action." noted Lucy.

If only she could have prevented it.

Well, sometimes these sorts of things happened. And Shikamaru couldn't prevent it, either.

"That's depressing. Did the doctor say he'll recover?" questioned the mage.

She sure hoped that he would.

"Well, it's up in the air whether he'll be able to walk again." explained the kunoichi. Tsunade had exceptional medical skill, but she wasn't perfect.

Rock Lee was lucky he survived the medical procedure that allowed him to resume being a ninja.

"Oh dear..." remarked Levy.

Well, things like this happened in the world of ninja.

Maybe people should consider whether they wanted to be one or not.

"You sure you don't want to hide from the Akatsuki in our world?" asked the spelling mage.

It seemed like it would be the safest bet.

And she was worried about Lucy now that there was a criminal organization hunting her down.

The Akatsuki wouldn't know where to look for her.

"If we can make a portal to their world, they could probably do the same to ours." pointed out Lucy.

Chances are hiding in her world wouldn't work forever.

She was going to have to fight back.

Meanwhile...

At Orochimaru's lair, Karin decided to check on Sasuke.

"I wonder how my handsome little man is doing." remarked the kunoichi.

She was like Ino and Sakura used to be when it came to Sasuke.

While Orochimaru and Kabuto weren't aware of it, they had met about three years ago.

The bears in the Forest of Death were...unbearable.

But Sasuke had come to save the day.

Lucky for her, she didn't have the scroll he was looking for.

But it didn't really matter since she failed the second half anyways.

But moving on to the present, it was almost time for Orochimaru's body transfer.

Currently, the Sannin was resting for the jutsu.

"Sasuke? Are you awake?" asked the redhead.

However, as soon as she approached Sasuke's chambers, what she found out alarmed her.

Apparently, Sasuke wasn't willing to go through with the body transfer.

In fact, he was planning to kill Lord Orochimaru to make sure he didn't take it.

"He thinks he can have my body, can he? I'm going to do what he should have done to himself years ago to avoid dishonor...cut his belly open!" exclaimed Sasuke.

Though to be honest, part of the reason he was planning to kill Orochimaru wasn't simply to save himself.

He was...growing a conscience.

What was she going to do?

If she warned Orochimaru, perhaps he would have Sasuke killed.

But if she didn't warn him, Orochimaru could be killed.

Perhaps it was time to decide where her loyalties lied.

What was a girl to do?

Maybe if she was lucky he wouldn't kill Kabuto, her teacher as well.

But there was no guarantees.

One thing was for certain.

She was going to have to decide quickly.

Luckily Asuma didn't die this time. He hasn't had a lot of appearances in this fanfic so I figured I might as well not kill him off. I'm sorry if you wanted more of an emotional impact. But even so, he's going to be out of commission for a while. Hidan did a number on him. But perhaps there's a way to take him down...even if he's immortal.

In the next chapter, there's going to be an assassination mission. But it's anyone's guess as how to kill two people that are immortal. In Hidan's case, they can probably just knock his head off and be done with it.

Kurenai will be fighting alongside Asuma's team. They kind of need a leader now that Asuma is in the hospital.

As a side note, it seems Karin has a difficult choice to make.

What will she choose?