Alright.

So here's another chapter, this time focusing in on the "bad guys", and the bad guys.

Lacking further ado, let's get into it.

Chapter 15: Hazy Memories

Kabuto Yakushi idly turned his team's heaven and earth scrolls in his hands, trying to think up some way to pass the time.

He was sat in a small, mossy indentation carved into a massive tree, one that created just large enough of a canopy of wood above him to prevent the pouring rain just beyond him from drenching his outfit. His teammates hadn't been so lucky, and they sat a few feet away from him, grumbling quietly as the downpour soaked their clothes.

He had been told by Orochimaru to wait until the last day to make his way to the testing site, just in case he needed to intervene with anything in the forest, and even if he agreed with the plan, it didn't mean he was particularly happy with the details of it.

They'd of course collected their scrolls as early as they could, snatching them from a couple of Leaf Genin who were insignificant, and then done their best to make their way to the central tower.

But now they had nothing to do, other than to wait and hope someone called them for something.

Where're a couple trophy-hunters when you need them?

He could've done for the combat right about now, it would've at least given him something to do.

A small hissing drew his attention, and he looked to the ground beside him, staring directly into the eyes of a pure white snake.

Oh?

He hadn't been expecting a message from his master, but the plan certainly accounted for it, and if he were being honest, it was at least something to do. And so he stood, walking just behind the creature as it slithered into the dark tree line beyond him.

"Where're you going, sir?"

Oh, right.

He'd actually forgotten about his subordinates with the sudden summons.

"Orochimaru's sent a message. I'll be taking it nearby, you two wait here."

"Yes sir." They both nodded, going back to polishing their kunai, or checking their inventory, or whatever the hell else they thought they should do. Kabuto didn't particularly care about either of them. The plan accounted for both their survival and their deaths, they were very far from important.

He walked perhaps 100 feet, far enough that whatever it was his master had to say, he wouldn't be overheard. When he felt the man's cold, oppressive presence, he turned to face it, undeterred.

"Master Orochimaru," Kabuto bowed slightly, before looking back up at the man with a small, almost malicious smile. "What do you need of me?"

He didn't bother with idle pleasantries; he'd known Orochimaru more than long enough to know that the man didn't care for them in the slightest. He cared only for business.

Kabuto could respect that, in a way.

"The plan has changed." His master spoke, looking less than pleased by that fact. "I was unable to place a curse mark on Sasuke Uchiha, and what's worse, Jiraiya's here."

Now that was an unpleasant thought. Kabuto was strong, he knew that much. He was more powerful than many adult Jonin, let alone most other 19-year-old's, but even he had no illusions as to where he'd stand against a Sannin.

He'd come at Orochimaru with the intent to kill him, once.

He'd been younger then, sure, and less experienced, but even still, the man had played with him, toyed with him, could've ended him on nothing more than a whim.

Even now, Kabuto was fairly sure he still could've.

And a man who could fight on Orochimaru's level, and, according to his sources, largely go even with him?

He'd be avoiding that confrontation, that was for sure.

"Is he shadowing that team?" Kabuto asked, thinking that that would be the only reason Orochimaru didn't try to place a curse mark on the young Uchiha a second time.

"I would imagine." The man admitted, stroking his chin with two fingers. "It wouldn't be hard to figure out that I wanted something from that team, and even easier for a man of his caliber to completely hide his presence from children of that level. They'd likely never realize he was there."

"Unless he wanted them to." He brought up the obvious.

"Yes, I had thought about that. It is interesting that Jiraiya was called to the Leaf, far earlier than I was expecting…" His master looked contemplative, but not overly worried.

They had contingencies that accounted for hundred's of events, each of them with offshoots of their own. They'd been planning for this attack for a few years now, it wasn't hard to consider that they might just get unlucky.

A sudden thought came to him, and his eyes widened as he considered it.

"Do you think he's watching the team because of us?" Kabuto asked, a glint appearing in his eye as he looked towards his master. "Or perhaps, he's watching them because of the Nine-Tails."

Orochimaru seemed to ponder that for a moment, before looking back up at him with a malignant smile.

"A sound hypothesis, I'd thought that might be a possibility myself." The man's smile became almost cruel a second later, as he seemed to throw around a hundred thousand scenarios in his head. "I have an idea, actually."

"Oh?"

"The sound trio... I was originally going to use them to revive the Hokage… but I've come up with a… different plan for them."

Kabuto couldn't help but feel a bit confused; he didn't see those three as being worth much of anything, aside from the sacrificial pieces they'd been planned as.

"What would that be, sir?"

"The plan is in it's infancy at the moment," Orochimaru spoke, letting a snake fall out of his sleeve and slither away from them, into the heart of the forest. "I'll tell you more when I can be sure it will work, but I've been seeing some odd behaviors from one of them, lately."

"And you think they're the key to getting the drop on Konoha?"

"The drop on them?" Orochimaru laughed, a sound that came out more as a rasping hiss. "No, no, the opposite, actually."

Kabuto's feelings must have shown on his face, because the eyes of the man in front of him practically danced with mirth.

"It's quite simple, actually." Orochimaru's face turned sinister as the same snake he'd sent out came slithering back into their small clearing, winding up the man's leg and into his robe. "I'm going to let them know we're coming."

"What!?" Kabuto couldn't help but raise his voice, though he cleared his throat, and corrected himself a second later. "My apologies, sir. I just don't understand how that helps us."

"Oh, normally it wouldn't, I'll admit that. But what if information were to be leaked from our forces, and the Hokage, by some twist of fate, were to receive such information…"

"Then… I imagine he would cancel the Chuunin exams, sir."

His master gave a cold laugh, looking back at him like one would a child.

"No, he wouldn't. You see, the Hokage is currently banking on one thought." Orochimaru looked back towards the forest as the snake from earlier hissed into his ear. "Konohagakure can handle whatever it is I'm going to throw at it."

"I… Forgive me, sir, I still don't see how these things are related."

"Not a problem, Kabuto, I'm not asking you to think, merely to listen." Orochimaru turned back towards him. "The old man has a fatal flaw, and it is that which will lead to his undoing."

Kabuto couldn't quite help but swallow on nothing, looking up at his master with a genuine nervousness. It was born not of fear, but excitement. Orochimaru had never given information like this to him.

"What would that be, sir?"

His master bared his teeth, his lips drawing up into a horrid imitation of a smile.

"He is far too trusting."

/-/

What am I doing?

Zaku tried to ignore the pained whines that seemed to stream through the wad of cloth he'd stuck in his teammates mouth as he desperately stitched the girls wounds together. He was no doctor, far from it, really, so his work was slow and tortuous, pulling needle and string through flesh with as much precision as his shaking hands could muster.

Dosu, who stood a way's away, feigned standing guard, but was really trying his best to tune out the girl's screams. He couldn't blame the boy, he would've rather been anywhere but where he was right now.

But one of them had to do this if Kin was going to survive.

Even still, he couldn't quite bare to look at the girl's face now, not with how desperate and panicked she looked. It struck him like a knife every time a muffled scream tore through his makeshift gag, the one he'd put there to prevent her biting off her own tongue, or breaking her teeth.

That Sakura girl had done a number on her. The first stab had caught on the girl's ribs, which, while preventing the strike from piercing her organs, still broke 2 or 3 of them on her right side. The second strike pierced directly into muscle, and while she wouldn't be moving the arm for a while, it certainly wasn't going to kill her.

The problem was that they were cut off from the rest of society in here, and even if they tried to make a break for it out of the forest, the girl would bleed to death.

And then Orochimaru would kill him and Dosu for messing with his plans.

And so, the only real option was to use the cursory knowledge of first aid that he'd picked up on the streets. You didn't get to see a doctor when you got hurt back where he was from. If you got a wound, it got infected. If you didn't know how to treat it, then the best you could do was pray you survived.

Even still, the last time he'd had to patch his own wounds was 6 years ago, and even then, he'd been mediocre at best.

But it seemed like, just this once, it would be enough.

"I've stemmed the worst of the bleeding," Zaku spoke, panting as he cut the string on the end of the needle with a kunai, tying it to another piece, and sealing the wound. "She should recover, provided she doesn't have to agitate it anymore."

Kin's breaths were gradually shortening below him, her chest rising less and less with each passing moment as the pain from his emergency procedure gradually began to fade. He reached over and drew the cloth out of her mouth, seeing that she looked far too tired to do it herself.

"How sure are you on that?" Dosu spoke, looking back towards him with a doubtful expression.

He shot his teammate a shaky expression.

"Honestly? Not very."

A hand on his arm had him looking back towards Kin. The girl was barely conscious, extremely pale, and looking terrified.

"Hey… Zaku…" Her voice came out in what might as well have been a whisper, and the hand gripping his arm seemed like it might fall at any moment. "I'm not… gonna' die, am I?"

He felt something in his chest at that, like ice suddenly coursing through his veins.

Why the hell do I care?

"N-no, you're gonna' be fine." Zaku spoke quietly, taking her hand in his as he sat beside her. "Just… get some rest for now, we'll move when you wake up."

"O-Ok… good." Kin gave a weak smile, like she was trying to assure herself more than anything. "I didn't… I wasn't ready to die… not yet. I can't die in a… in a shitty place like this…"

The girl's head lulled to the side as she finally gave in, and Zaku waited until he could hear the sounds of rhythmic breathing before he got up, turning towards the other member of their team.

"We've gotta' watch her." He spoke, looking around, trying to find a spot where he could defend them easily. "If one of those trophy-hunting team's comes around, we have to be ready to pick em' off, before-"

"Why do you care, all of a sudden?"

The boy might as well have slapped him for how fast his voice cut off, and as he turned toward his masked teammate, he couldn't quite manage to form a thought.

He tried to find anything to say, but all he ended up with was a stunned "What?"

"It feels like recently, you've been… I suppose weird is the best way to put it." Dosu walked towards him slowly. It wasn't particularly threatening by nature, but it still had all of the muscles in his body tensing. "We might work together, but we aren't supposed to be close, Zaku."

"Think I don't know that?" Zaku growled, trying to put up a front of strength as best he could.

"Then why'd you save her?"

Words, Zaku thought to himself, as he stumbled backwards. They're only words.

And yet it felt as if he'd been pushed backwards yet again, forced to confront his own actions in so blunt a way that it left him reeling.

"Right now, our lives hang in the balance of this mission," His teammate spoke, a cold logic coursing through his voice. "As she is now, Kin is only going to weigh us down, make finishing the mission that much harder."

Dosu stared directly into his eyes, and it felt like the boy stared into his soul as well.

"We should kill her and move on, just the two of us."

He felt a stabbing pain in the back of his head, a memory he'd long thought gone seemed to be dredged up to the surface, and just for a moment, he was 9 years old again.

'Hey… Zaku…?'

'Shut up! Just shut up! I'll get us out of this!'

'Zaku…'

'You have to go, Zaku.'

'Shut up, Damnit!'

'Zaku, please…'

'Go.'

He fell backwards, landing hard on his back. He tried to breath in but found that he couldn't manage it, couldn't so much as move a muscle.

"Zaku?"

I asked Orochimaru to delete it… why am I remembering it now!?

"Zaku!"

He turned to look up at his teammate and found he could finally breathe again. As he was gasping for air, he tried to remember what it was his teammate had said…

To leave Kin behind…

The memory he'd lived through a moment ago was already fading. He remembered only that he did not want to remember it. The first thing he'd done after being taken in by Orochimaru was have it be erased.

He could feel the abstract guilt, without any purpose, even now, but he didn't know what to do with it, who to blame.

But somehow, through all of it, he still knew one thing.

"I won't leave Kin behind." He breathed hard and heavy, taking deep breaths as he tried to regain his focus. "If you want, you can go on ahead, but I'll be waiting here."

Dosu seemed to consider him for a moment, his eyes flicking from Kin's sleeping form to his own, resting just a few feet from her.

"You got a crush on her or something?"

It was such a sudden comment that it nearly made him spurt out a denial immediately, but he knew that would only make things worse. He didn't have a crush on the girl, or at least, he didn't think he did. His feelings were a bit more… complicated than that.

"No, I don't. I just…"

He couldn't find a way to describe it, the feeling in his chest. It was a quiet, tiny resolve. It said that he wouldn't leave someone behind, never again.

He didn't know who he'd left behind the first time, but he knew the memories he'd given up must've been the key.

"I guess… I don't really understand how I feel." He looked up a bit helplessly towards the boy standing above him, feeling just a bit nervous as to how he would act.

"Hmph, that's-"

The boy cut off suddenly, his face going white.

"Yo, Dosu?"

"It's good to see the three of you." A shrill, raspy voice echoed from behind him, and Zaku turned almost instantly, holding a kunai out towards it. Upon seeing who it was, he didn't lower the weapon.

"I-It's good to see you as well, Orochimaru sir." Dosu bowed deeply.

"My my, Zaku," Their master walked over to him, and, with a small motion, knocked the kunai from his hand. "It's not good to point weapons at your betters."

He hadn't even realized he'd been holding it anymore, but he felt a strange sense of anger overtake him as the man walked over to Kin's still form, crouching down and putting his hand on her forehead.

"What are you doing?" He spoke just a bit more aggressively than was probably safe, and he knew on instinct that those words may have outright killed him.

"Calm yourself, child, I'm merely inspecting her." He reached his hand down to the wound on her chest, and, after a second, pushed down on it, eliciting a small whine out of Kin.

"It's not terribly deep, but she did break 3 ribs." He still had that same uncaring smirk on his face as he said that, and it irritated Zaku in a way he couldn't explain. "As for this one…" He poked and prodded at girl's shoulder, drawing out another groan from the girl. "Hm… several torn muscles… but you've done a decent job patching these as well."

Orochimaru turned back towards him, a lazy smile set upon his face.

"You never told me you were a decent field medic."

There was something about how the man was speaking, some lilt in his voice, that told Zaku something was terribly wrong. He also knew, however, that he couldn't do anything about it, and so chose to answer normally.

"It… never came up, sir." He couldn't quite meet the man's eyes as he approached.

"I suppose it wouldn't, what with Kabuto handling any medical issues that came up." The man's smile sent a shiver down his spine, too friendly, too open. It wasn't like him at all.

"I'll be giving you all a new mission, since the circumstances surrounding the first have changed quite drastically."

Orochimaru drew two scrolls from his back pocket, one heaven, and another earth.

"I assume you surrendered your own scroll to Sasuke's team like I told you to?"

"Of course, sir." Dosu nodded.

"Then you'll be taking these, they'll get you into the second stage of the exam. Make sure you arrive on the last day, just to ensure I haven't need of you to do something before then. I need two of you to enter in to the next round after that, but other than that, what you do is up to you."

"Will do." His teammate spoke, and he nodded towards the man stood before them. Orochimaru smiled coyly, looking down towards where Kin was laid, breathing as soundly as she could.

"And what do you mean to do with this one?"

Before Dosu could speak, Zaku interjected.

"We're planning on carrying her into the second exam, sir, even if she's unable to compete, she'll be looked at by the medical staff there."

It was a longshot, really. Zaku knew that the man was far more likely to simply run the girl through now and be done with her than to allow them to risk the mission for her sake, but Zaku felt he owed the girl enough to try and keep her alive.

Orochimaru ran two fingers along his chin, seemingly deep in thought. A second or two later, he smiled, looking back up towards Zaku with a curious expression.

"And why would you go to such an effort? I don't suppose you've developed feelings for the girl?"

He looked down at the bark below him, unable to meet the snake's gaze.

"I… I don't exactly-"

A shrill laugh cut it's way through his words, and he looked back up to see Orochimaru laughing cruelly, mouth open towards the tree line above them.

"You've no need to explain yourself to me, at least, not now." The man walked over to him, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. "I was merely teasing you."

Those words sounded foreign on the man's lips, and Zaku couldn't help but shake slightly as the man's footsteps echoed subtly on the bark below them, stepping around him and towards a lower branch.

"Oh, Zaku?" He turned back around at the last moment. "One more thing."

"What is it, sir?"

There was a flash, a snap, and a rush of pain like a geyser shooting straight up his wrist. He screamed loudly, falling to his knees a second later. He looked down at his right arm, finding his hand bent at an odd angle, his wrist obviously broken.

"You should know better than to point a weapon at your superior, Zaku." Orochimaru's smile looked more threatening than anything he'd ever seen in his life. It was a cold reminder that he could do nothing against the man's raw power. "Someone could get hurt."

A second later, the man was gone, having literally melted into the wood below them.

He cradled his right arm, trying desperately to quell the intense pain that kept shooting through it every few seconds.

"Get up."

He looked towards the voice to find Dosu standing in front of him, eyes hard as he stared down at him.

"I-I will in a second man, I just-"

"Get up!"

The boy kicked him to the ground, where he fell in a heap. He laid there for a moment, trying to figure out what he'd done to deserve this, where he'd gone wrong. He'd thought they were onto something for a second there, thought that, just maybe, the three of them could become more than acquaintances.

"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Dosu spoke vindictively, fury playing across his face. "You could've killed us all!"

"I… I didn't think-"

"That's right!" His teammate roared, slamming his gauntlet into the tree beside him, sending wooden splinters flying all around them. "You didn't think! You're lucky he just broke your wrist! When Orochimaru shows up, I deal with him! That's how we've always done it, so what the hell were you thinking when-"

He felt a flash of anger, and now he was the one rounding on the other boy, the pain in his arm serving only to amplify his anger.

"You wanted me to just sit there and let him dispose of Kin!?"

"If it was going to keep me alive, then yes! I would have!"

"You're standing right fucking there, aren't you!?" Zaku felt righteous anger course through him. He knew he'd done the right thing! His teammate didn't get to act all high and mighty when it was him in the wrong. "We made it, Kin's alive, you're alive, I'm alive!"

"And now we have one teammate out of commission, and one teammate with a broken wrist!"

Realization finally dawned on him. Orochimaru had said it himself.

"He needs two of us to pass this exam, or else we have no value!" Dosu pointed to himself with his thumb. "I can make it just fine, and if you were in good condition, then I'm sure you could've as well!"

Zaku stared blankly down at his broken right wrist, trying to move his fingers, and felt only pain.

"He already killed us, you damned idiot!" Dosu pounded his gauntlet into the bark below him, over and over, digging into the wood. A few seconds later, he seemed too tired to continue, falling in to a slouch. "He just delayed the execution."

Zaku opened his mouth, tried to force air past his throat. Tried to breath, tried to speak. Nothing happened.

He felt like, all this time with Orochimaru, he'd been locked in a pitch-black cage. He'd known only that he was trapped. But he had not been able to see if something was coming to attack him, knew that if something tried, then it would succeed with little effort.

What resistance could a blind man offer?

"W-what the hell do we do?" He spoke after what seemed like an eternity.

"We do what we can do." Dosu gestured towards Kin. "We'll take her to the exam sight, wait it out till the last day, and then head inside. if we're lucky, we get matched against some small fry in the fights, and we make it into the next round without any problems."

"Kin might not be able to wait until the last day." Zaku felt he had to say.

"I know, you idiot!" Dosu practically seethed, massaging his temples. "The problem is, we can't enter early, or else we just get killed by Orochimaru for breaking his orders."

He helped get Kin onto his teammates back. The boy put his hands underneath her thighs, and he drew her arms around his neck. It wouldn't hold her, but it would help her from swinging off as they dashed through the trees.

As he let her go, he tried to ignore the pain in his wrist, which wasn't exactly easy, especially since it had begun to swell.

"So… what you're saying is that we're relying on Kin's wounds not getting infected in a sweaty, shitty ass jungle. Then we're relying on nobody attacking us during that time, so that we can conserve energy in case Orochimaru needs us. Then we're counting on getting easy fights during the second round, all so that we can then invade and attack Konoha, in a mission that will most likely get us killed?"

Dosu's face looked grim as he turned to face him.

"Basically, yeah."

Zaku let out a quiet laugh, doing his best to not panic. It wouldn't do to give up this early, though he had the sneaking suspicion that this was all already over.

"Alrighty then, partner." Zaku returned his teammates grim expression, though did his very best to answer with a smile, at the very least.

"Shall we get going?"

/-/

Sakura awoke with a start, nearly hitting her head on a small wooden knoll to her left.

She took in her surroundings, seeing that she was in some kind of cavern that seemed to be carved into the base of a tree, though whether or not it was man-made, she couldn't tell.

I guess… I must've passed out.

She remembered everything she'd done while under the influence of… whatever it was, but it felt… Odd. It was like a hazy veil had settled on top of her memories. She could experience them, but as if she was doing it through someone else's body.

As she tried to move, she felt an oddly warm presence on her right, and turned to see that Sasuke had fallen asleep just beside her, his hand still in hers.

A few years ago, she was fairly sure she would've simply passed out once again in a state of euphoric bliss, but she had matured, grown since then.

Now her nose just bled for a while. It was no big deal.

With some regret, she untangled herself from Sasuke, standing up and stretching, and walked to the mouth of the cave. She had seen Naruto as well, curled up in a ball in the far right of the place, but she had a vague memory of one other person fighting alongside them, and if she were right…

"Hey, you're awake."

There you are.

The girl before her, Tenten, if her memories could be believed, had taken to changing her outfit since yesterday's struggle. She wore the same pink tank-top as before, although it was obviously a second outfit, for it bore no wrinkles to speak of, but she had taken to cutting her baggy pants at the knee, creating makeshift shorts, which Sakura imagined would be much easier to fight in should the occasion arise.

It would probably also serve to be far more comfortable in the wet heat of the forest.

"Hey, I… don't believe we've been introduced." Sakura laughed, feeling a bit silly as she reached her hand out towards the other girl. "Sakura Haruno."

"Tenten." The other girl brought her hand up as well, and they shook a second later.

"What's your last name?"

Tenten merely smiled.

"Just Tenten."

"But, surely you must-"

"Just. Tenten."

"Oooook then. Just Tenten."

"Sorry about that, I…" The girl turned a kunai in her hand idly, then, placing it around her finger, began to spin it. "My dad left me and my mom a long time ago, so even if I have his last name, I don't really…"

Sakura couldn't pretend to understand that, given that her parents were still together, but she felt she could at least get the sentiment behind it. She smiled up at the girl a second later, trying to show she meant no offense.

"My bad, I didn't mean to be rude or anything."

"Oh, don't kid yourself." Tenten smiled at her, eyes glinting with a touch of mirth. "Asking someone their last name is an entirely normal question. I'm not going to be offended by it."

Sakura rose her hands in mock surrender.

"I'm just trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings."

A second or so later, she let her hands fall to her back, and drew out a small flask that she had in her tool bag, taking a decently-sized swig. The cool water did wonders for her sore throat, and she realized with a start that she likely hadn't had anything to drink for more than a day.

"Fair, fair." The girl beside her rocked back and forth, her legs swinging to a beat all her own. "So… you seem less… murdery than yesterday."

Sakura couldn't help but cough as she took some water down the wrong pipe, punching her own chest to try and settle herself.

"R-really didn't think you'd say that."

"Eh, I've always been a fan of just coming out and saying what I think." Tenten smiled over at her. "It has it's ups and downs."

"I can see that, yeah."

There was a momentary pause as Sakura tried to figure out how to explain what happened. She knew it probably had something to do with the mark that now adorned her neck, but other than that, she hadn't a clue.

After explaining that to the girl sat beside her, she tried her best to sit still as Tenten inspected the mark with her fingers, lightly prodding her neck every few seconds.

"Huh, that's… weird."

"What's weird?" Sakura asked, turning towards the girl.

"Ah ah, I'm trying to look at it." Tenten pushed her back to how she'd been sitting before. "Just… sit still for a moment."

Sakura's displeasure must've been obvious, because the girl beside her let out a small snicker as she lightly rubbed the mark.

"And you don't feel any pain when I do this?"

"None, it feels the same as when you rub my arm."

"Hm… So whatever it is, it's not touch activated." Tenten seemed to ponder something, and then, a second later, had a revelation. "I'm just now realizing that I probably shouldn't mess with the crazy murder seal while standing next to you."

Sakura couldn't help chuckle at that, trying to smother it into her hand.

"Well thanks for the show of faith."

"Hey, you're super nice at all," The girl held her hands up in mock surrender, smiling playfully. "But I don't think I want to meet the you I met yesterday again."

Sakura felt a twinge of remorse course through her as she remembered the terrified face of that sound ninja. Even now, she could still hear the girl's whimpering sobs, still feel her struggling get weaker and weaker in her arms…

Could still remember the girl's eyes widen, trying desperately to stop her as she herself brought a kunai down to end her life.

If she ever met them again… she wasn't sure what she'd do or say, but she did know that she'd have to thank that one ninja, the guy who'd blasted her away. He'd spared her the immense grief that would've come had she killed that girl.

She'd have to thank Naruto and Sasuke too, they'd held her back at the end.

And then Sasuke had hugged her, and they'd held hands, and slept together, and eeeeeeeeeeee-

Get a hold of yourself Sakura, Her inner self chided, We can't be swayed by the adorable face of sleeping Sasuke!

She briefly thought back to a few minutes ago, when she'd awoken next to the boy, and remembered how his hair had been all messed up, flying out at odd angles, how his lips had been pursed so cutely, and how his hand had still been in hers, even while they'd slept, and his-

"Hey uhm… Sakura?"

"Huh!?" Her train of thought broken, She flailed around wildly, looking over at Tenten. "W-what is it?"

"I didn't say anything." The girl winced, instead pointing over shoulder with her thumb, gesturing just behind her, where the two boys of their group, Sasuke and Naruto, stood.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto called out, waving to her with far more energy than she felt it was fair for him to have.

"Morning, Naruto." She nodded towards him, and then shifted her gaze towards the other boy standing there. "Sasuke."

"Uhm… H-Hey, Sakura." The boy couldn't quite meet her eyes, his own face a bit dusty pink from embarrassment.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" She kind of hoped it was that the sight of her sent shivers down his spine, but decided against verbalizing that.

"N-Nothing, I'm going to… uhm… help Naruto watch the… watch the camp." Sasuke gestured wildly, trying desperately to find a reason to leave. A second later, he followed an extremely amused Naruto over to the trees just beyond them, where the two of them talked loudly.

What was that all about? Sakura couldn't help but wonder, as she looked over to her companion, and saw that the girl's cheeks were blazing as well.

"Is… something wrong?"

"N-nothing, it's just…" Tenten drew in a breath, and then, seeming determined, looked her directly in the eye. "Do you remember when you were thinking about Sasuke a bit ago, and you were saying all those things about how cute he was, and how his lips were like… nice and stuff."

"Well yeah, I remember, but how did you-"

The entirety of the universe could have ended at that very moment, and it still would've been the second worst thing to happen to her that day.

"I said all of that out loud, didn't I?"

The girl in front of her cringed violently, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else but there.

"Y-yeah."

"Sasuke was right behind us when I said it, wasn't he."

The girl beside her put a hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some comfort.

"Hey, Tenten?"

"Yeah?"

Sakura reached into her pouch and drew a kunai from out of it.

"Just do me a favor and kill me right here."

End Chapter 15

Rip Sakura, she lived a good life.

Zaku's a fun character for me, because the show gave him 0 story at all, which means I get to make my own if I want him to be a major character.

There's some problems I'm running into with my writing that I've been trying to solve in the past few chapters, namely being more descriptive of areas. Let me know how you think that's going.

Or don't. I don't know.

Anyways, see you all next week.