Struggled with what to name this chapter for like a day and a half. Still not sure it's all that great, but I had to settle at some point.

Anyways, without further ado, let's continue.

Chapter 45: The Encroaching Dark

Sakura was, after a week-long stint in the hospital, finally out, and Naruto couldn't have been more thrilled.

"Sakuraaaaa!" He called out to the girl as she walked out of the sliding doors, waving tiredly at the three of them as she stepped into the sunlight, briefly shielding her face as he charged at her. "Welcoooome…"

He glomped on top of her, nearly knocking his friend over if not for Anko's hand on the girl's back, keeping the both of them upright.

"Back!" He smirked at the girl's annoyed expression. "How was the stomach flushing?"

A pair of arms grabbed onto him from behind, and suddenly he was being pulled off of Sakura and held aloft in the air. He felt a bit embarrassed, flailing slightly with his arms and legs as Kakashi set him back down, sighing.

"Please don't jump on top of the recently released patient." The man spoke simply, a small smile beneath his mask as he looked back towards the girl in question. "I'm fairly sure she's not trying to make a repeat visit so soon."

"You'd be right." Sakura let out with a yawn. "I've slept enough in the past week to never want to again, but I have a feeling come tonight that'll change."

Sasuke breathed out a laugh, before gesturing towards the Hokage's building off in the distance.

"Tsunade called our team in, should we go now, or…?"

"I don't see why not." Sakura agreed. "I mean, the sooner we're done, the sooner we can go eat lunch."

"Ooh!" Naruto raised his hand excitedly, smiling widely. "Can we go for Ichiraku!?"

"Well, normally I'd be down for that," Sasuke spoke, frowning slightly. "But we've got five people here, along with what I assume will be four more, and Ichiraku's only got six chairs."

"Four more?" Sakura spoke, tilting her head in confusion. "I only invited Ino."

"You invited Ino, Haku invites himself, and then Zabuza has to come. Normally, so would Iruka, but with the extra lessons, I suppose he'll be absent. But, you have to remember that Jiraiya always just kind of shows up to these anyways." Sasuke spoke with a small sigh. "I'm honestly surprised none of the rest of you get the pattern by now."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true."

"That's not even including our most recent additions." Sasuke brought up. "Zaku will probably want to show up as well around half-way through the meal, along with his teammates, one of which will be glad to see us."

"You seem to like…" Naruto tried to find the words. "Already know how this is gonna' go down."

"If you've seen it once," Sasuke uttered, looking up into the sky as if he were an immortal, having watched over this world for generations. "You've seen it a hundred times."

No one spoke for a moment as they processed the boy's words, though it was Naruto who finally broke the silence some five seconds later.

"You ever think you're just… a bit too extra?"

"Shut up."

/-/

Sasuke walked into the Hokage's office with the same degree of respect as the rest of them, which was to say very little, because as much as he'd grown to like Tsunade, she didn't exactly command their respect in the same way Lord Third had.

Well… Sasuke thought, sighing as he watched his orange-colored friend prance into the room, waving to Shizune and Tsunade casually. Not like that ever stopped Naruto.

"Hey granny!" The boy shouted out as he stepped up, placing both his hands on her desk. "How've you been?"

"Oh, you know, alright I suppose." The woman placed her hand atop Naruto's own and, with one fluid motion, launched it off her desk, causing the boy to plummet to the floor below him from lack of balance. "And don't do that again."

"Understood." His friend called from the floor.

"Now, I've called you three here for a few reasons today, but we'll get the least important out of the way first and foremost."

That didn't exactly catch their attention, but when Tsunade sat up in her chair, and Shizune turned back and locked the door behind them, the situation suddenly seemed a lot more serious.

"Sakura Haruno." The woman spoke, and Sasuke's teammate suddenly stood completely at attention. "You encountered two men down in the tunnels that day. They single-handedly eliminated Danzo Shimura in the comfort of his own base, and then walked back out without so much as a single injury."

The girl nodded, and Sasuke was immediately left reeling from the information. He'd known Danzo was dead, but what he hadn't known was exactly how that'd come about. To hear two men had done it, and during the middle of the Leaf's own raid…

"Do we have any information on them?" Sasuke asked Tsunade. "I mean, for them to do something like that, they'd have to be at least S-ranked, right?"

"Yes, and they've been given that ranking in the Bingo Book, along with in our own files. I wanted to get information out of Sakura's own mouth, however." The woman turned towards Sasuke's teammate. "I put off asking you since you were horribly delirious and sleep-deprived, but now that you've rested, I think it's about time we get as much information as we can."

Sakura nodded, showing no signs of hesitation, but Anko stepped forward before the girl could continue.

"I already gave you my report, though." The woman spoke. "As did Shikaku, Homer, and those kids from the sound village. Why do you need Sakura's as well?"

"Because from what I'm told, one of the men spoke directly to her, is that correct?"

Sakura nodded, even if that particular information made Sasuke more than a little nervous to hear.

"Actually, when he was talking with me, he mentioned… more than a few things that I thought Sasuke and Naruto would be interested in hearing as well." The girl swallowed, nervous to speak. "Well, I'll get to that in a second. The first thing is that they said they were members of a group called 'Akatsuki' or something."

Both Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened, and they turned towards Tsunade, who nodded at them with a conflicted expression.

"The group that consists of Itachi Uchiha, and Kisame Hoshigaki." Tsunade spoke, pressing her hands together and lacing her fingers, looking over the top of her hands with a small, almost worried look in her eye. "So, this group is beginning to move."

"They're the same group Orochimaru was a part of as well." Anko spoke up." Jiraiya mentioned them more than a few times."

Kakashi nodded, confirming that fact.

"So that means they've been around for a decade, maybe more."

Hearing that put some of Itachi's actions these past years, after he'd slaughtered the Uchiha clan, into question. Just what was he trying to accomplish joining an international terrorist group? Was it truly to test his abilities, and if so, since he wasn't the group's leader…

Does that mean Itachi isn't the strongest member, either!?

Such a thought was ridiculous. Itachi had been a near prodigious talent among the Uchiha's, their most skilled member in nearly a century, dating back to the warring states period. Surely, there was no one among the Akatsuki who could defeat him.

…Right?

"We can think about all of this at a later date." Tsunade brought them back on track. "Sakura, you said the man you spoke to gave you some interesting information, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Hmm, well, from what I've heard from Anko, it certainly sounds it, but I'd rather hear it from your mouth, if you wouldn't mind."

Sakura gulped, turning back to the two of them.

"He… he mentioned a few things about the Uchiha Massacre."

Sasuke tried not to show any of the emotions that raged through him at those words on his face, attempting to maintain a neutral visage. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that by the way Sakura's face tensed, he'd been less than successful.

"It's ok." He forced himself to calm down, reigning in his feelings on the matter and slaughtering them. "I'll be fine. Tell me."

Sakura nodded, but it was clear she was still quite worried about him, and from the way Naruto stepped closer to him, putting a hand on his back, it was also evident that the boy was feeling much the same.

Normally, he'd have been annoyed by their pity, now, however, he couldn't find the room in himself to care.

"Right, so… first off, Danzo had one of Shisui Uchiha's eyes in his possession."

The name, at first, didn't set off any alarms. He thought that, perhaps, it had been one of the numerous corpses that had been in the Uchiha compound the night of Itachi's rampage, and the man had simple robbed one of them their eyes. It disgusted him, and made him sick to his stomach as he thought that he'd never be able to avenge the pour soul, now that Danzo was dead, but he wasn't sure why Sakura would see the need to–

He put it together about four seconds later.

"Wait… but…" He stepped backwards, confounded. "Itachi was the one who killed Shisui, he said so himself! He told me to do the same thing he'd done, to kill his best friend. He admitted to it!"

"But this Tobi guy, he even showed me Shisui's Sharingan." Sakura looked down at the floor, evidently feeling terrible. "It… It was a Mangekyou Sharingan as well, one of the special ones Itachi and Kakashi have."

That was a blow he hadn't needed. That meant that Shisui himself had had the Mangekyou, and it also answered Itachi's riddle he'd given him that night. If Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyou, then that meant he would've been the third to possess it's power. That second must've been Shisui, so–

He turned back towards Kakashi, eyes wide.

"Kakashi." He spoke with a complete lack of calm. "When did you awaken your Mangekyou!?"

The man shied away initially, not quite able to look him in the eye.

"Bit of a personal story, Sasuke." The man rubbed the back of his neck. "I wish I could find it in myself to-"

"I don't need to know how!" He shouted perhaps a bit too aggressively. "I just need to know when. Was it before Itachi left the village!?"

"It was." Kakashi spoke, pushing his feelings to the side. "It was during the Third Shinobi World War, long before the massacre."

Sasuke's eyes widened, going back into his thoughts, and thinking back to Itachi's words at that time…

He said living users. Sasuke realized, his eyes widening just a bit. He said living users, not all users.

He calmed down ever so slightly… but he couldn't quite shake the feeling that was washing over him…

The feeling that Itachi might not have told him the whole truth that night, all those years ago.

And maybe… maybe he was working with Danzo.

"Also, uhm…" Sakura spoke up suddenly. "I don't want to interrupt your thought process, but he … well… he mentioned you, too."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"How so?"

"Well, not directly, but he said something like "You're the one on a team with…" and then cut himself off."

"Yes, he was probably talking about me, then…" Sasuke massaged his chin with one hand. "Though he could've also been talking about Naruto. They were trying to steal him away when Jiraiya jumped in and saved him."

"Well, technically it was Guy who jumped in and saved me." Naruto brought up with a small smile. "But yeah, Jiraiya bought me a lot of time."

"They knew he was a Jinchuuriki, I'm guessing?" Tsunade asked from her desk, looking at the two of them.

"Yeah, they called him that multiple times." Sasuke remembered. "I'd be willing to bet that's why they were after him."

"Yeah they pretty much explained it while Itachi had you in that Genjutsu." Naruto outlined. "Said they were after the Ninetails… though I'll be honest in saying I forgot most of the rest of what they said, out of the fear that I was going to be killed."

"I guess that's fair."

"Unfortunately, until our spies can report back anything to us, that's about all the information on the Akatsuki that we have." Tsunade rubbed her chin with one hand. "Is there anything else you three have to discuss? Or you two, Kakashi, Anko?"

"I've got nothing." Naruto admitted, before seemingly discovering something else he wished to say. "Ooh! How's your… Hema… Hemio…"

"Hemophobia?" Tsunade asked, a small smile on her face. "It's improving. I didn't have some grand "Ah, my fear of blood is gone!" moment or anything, but I guess having more confidence in myself in general is certainly helping me manage it. I'd honestly like to get back to managing the hospital in my off hours."

"Off hours?" Shizune questioned, gripping the other woman's shoulders from behind and squeezing down. "That's an awfully funny phrase for someone who consistently dodges their work to go goof off."

"Er… Shizune?" Tsunade's face seemed to grow red. "That… that kind of hurts-"

"Oh, how strange." The retainer seemed to only grab harder. "Is that better?"

"I'm getting the feeling you're less than happy with me."

"Where would you be getting such a strange feeling from, I wonder?"

Naruto took a step back from the live grenade standing in front of everyone, and Sasuke couldn't help but join him, about to exit the room and head straight to lunch when Tsunade stuck her hand out, stopping them.

"Just a-" She flinched as Shizune finally let go, shooting her a glare that Sasuke couldn't help but think meant "We'll talk more about this later". "Just a moment. Sasuke Uchiha, I have something for you."

His eyebrows rose as he stepped back towards the desk, and the woman reached underneath it. She struggled with something for a moment, knocking over a stack of what looked to be vests that then scattered onto the floor, before she sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and placed one of them on top of her desk.

"Here." She spoke to him. "You're a Chuunin now."

He blinked once, then twice, before looking down at the vest below him and realizing, a bit shocked, that the vest was, in fact, a Chuunin's vest.

Naruto walked up next to him, mouth agape as he picked up the plastic-wrapped item, holding it away from himself as if he were near-sighted, and couldn't quite grasp it's majesty from up close.

"WHAT!?" The boy screeched out a second later, looking towards Sasuke with betrayal in his eyes. "Where's mine!?"

Tsunade gave an exasperated sigh.

"I knew you'd act like this." The woman groaned under her breath. "If you must know, Naruto, you didn't get one."

The Jinchuuriki seemed utterly gob smacked, physically recoiling away from the Hokage's desk and taking a few steps backwards.

"H-how!? If Sasuke got one, then surely I should've earned one as well!" Naruto tried to argue. "I beat my opponent too!"

"It wasn't the result, but the path the two of you took that made the Third Hokage make the decisions he did." The Sannin pulled out a stack of paper that, upon Sasuke's analysis, seemed to be notes going over their Exam matchups. Tsunade grabbed a sheet that he realized must've been his and began reading off of it. "Sasuke Uchiha, third round: The Leaf fighter demonstrates a mastery of distance when facing off against what I regard to be a Chuunin Level foe in Kankuro."

Heat came to his cheeks as the woman read out his praises, and even if they had been words from the Third Hokage, it still felt rather nice to be complimented by the often grouchy Tsunade.

"Took not a single hit during the entirety of their match, and dodged multiple point-blank traps fired from his opponent's sleeve. It is possible his opponent was holding back slightly, but Sasuke never let that goad him on or trouble him. He dealt with his opponent with efficiency and poise, demonstrates clear points that would make him a possibility for Chuunin Rank, will need to see future rounds for confirmation."

The woman placed the sheet down and raised an eyebrow at Naruto, and the boy seemed to take that as a challenge, crossing his arms and stepping forward.

"Oh yeah!?" The boy declared. "Fine then, why don't you read out mine! I won, too."

"You're sure?" Tsunade seemed to want to show the boy some mercy, which Sasuke couldn't help but think wasn't a good thing. "I guarantee you it's not as good as-"

"Just do it!"

Tsunade smiled, as if secretly relishing in what she was about to do. Sasuke couldn't quite blame her, because even if Naruto was his best friend, there were still times where he wanted nothing more than to strangle the boy.

"Naruto Uzumaki comes into the round looking decent. He's holding someone with a close-ranged style at mid-range with his Shadow Clones and abusing that range difference to not even have to chance an encounter with her."

Naruto puffed out his chest, evidently feeling quite good about his chances.

"Unfortunately, he shows too much compassion for me to want to give him a chance at Chuunin Rank from this match."

The boy looked like he'd been punched in the stomach, looking up with his eyes wide.

"He constantly tries to help his opponent, lets her recover, and doesn't even defend against what he knows will be a last-ditch effort. He is lucky his body is more sturdy than almost any other ninja, for taking a sixty-four palm attack from a Hyuga is something that even I would never attempt. All in all, the match starts strong, but Naruto Uzumaki is too affected by his feelings to be given the rank of Chuunin at this time."

The young Jinchuuriki visibly deflated, falling on his butt upon the cold stone floor beneath him.

"I did warn you."

"You did." Naruto admitted, smiling despite the Third's comments. "I didn't listen."

"You didn't."

"I should've listened."

"Yes."

Naruto sighed.

"Moving on," Tsunade looked towards Sakura. "Haruno, You were also passed up for promotion to Chuunin. I apologize. Would you like to know why?"

"Nah, that's fine." Sakura held her hands up in mock surrender, a shaky smile on her face. "I don't really want to be picked apart right now. I woke up like… an hour ago."

"Well, if that's all, then I believe you all are dismissed. Kakashi, Mitarashi, continue guiding your students in the right direction."

The two bowed towards the Hokage, before heading towards the door, beckoning them forward as they did.

"Well?" Naruto walked over to him, his arms crossed, and his eyebrows drawn down annoyedly. "Put it on."

He did as the boy commanded, unwrapping the vest and winding his arms through it, and then zipping it up. It felt cumbersome and odd on his body as he did some light stretches.

It's a bit… awkward.

Still, having more pockets wasn't a bad thing, and the armor it offered certainly wasn't negligible. He'd heard more than a few stories of blades being stopped just before they'd pierce organs by the powerful backing in these vests.

His eyes widened as he realized he'd gone nearly ten minutes without saying a single word, and he turned back towards Tsunade in order to give proper conduct.

"Thank you for this honor, Lord Hokage." He bowed before her, trying to make up for the 10 minutes he'd spent drooling in front of her desk. "I appreciate this acknowledgement of my abilities."

"Hah, no need to thank me. Your duties will only increase as your rank does, so don't think you're just getting a pay increase of something." The woman placed one arm underneath her chin, propping up her head. "You'll likely be tasked with leading teams of Genin on D or C-ranked missions, or even being assigned to other Jonin on C, B, or maybe even A ranked missions."

He nodded at that, finding that he wasn't really all that concerned. He believed in his own skill, even if he wasn't sure about his leadership abilities.

Still, the only way those skills will improve is if I actually lead people. A rather unhelpful part of his brain supplied. Even if that sounds a lot like torture.

"Alright, now get out of my office, all of you."

"Right!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Naruto pouted, before turning back towards her with a slightly aggravated face. "Why couldn't you just give me Chuunin anyways!? Me and Sasuke fought against Kabuto and stuff, and Sakura duked it out with a whole crap ton of Root guys, shouldn't we have earned the rank in the field or something!?"

"Oh, shut up and go eat lunch." The woman fired back. "I considered giving all three of you field promotions, you've certainly earned them, but your less than stellar conduct is making me reconsider."

Naruto paled for a moment, before, with a sudden grace, he bowed before the Fifth Hokage.

"My deepest apologies for how I acted earlier. I'm filled with remorse."

Tsunade actually snorted.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are."

/-/

"Congratulations, Sasuke!"

The Uchiha shrunk in his chair, sat at the back of a massive U-shaped booth, holding up his glass of tomato juice with one hand and trying to hold back the blush on his cheeks. He smiled at everyone, but it came off more than a little sheepish.

Naruto, Sakura, Haku, and Ino had all cheered for him, along with Kakashi and Anko raising their glasses. Hell, even Jiraiya had gotten in on the excitement, though he was fairly sure that was the alcohol talking more than anything.

Zabuza had abstained, though, to be fair, it was Zabuza, and he'd at least given him a nod.

He waited for everyone's eyes to shift away from him and back towards their food to sit up, taking a small sip of his juice and relishing in the complex flavor that filled his mouth. He reached out with his chopsticks and snagged himself a few cuts of beef, shoveling two or three into his mouth to fill himself up. He hadn't eaten breakfast this morning, which he was fairly sure Naruto and Sakura would've gotten on him about had they known.

The Jinchuuriki nudged him with his shoulder, and he turned towards the boy on his left, curious.

"Hey, you seem a bit… weird." Naruto spoke without any tact at all. "You alright?"

"Just a bit anxious." He lied, trying to cover himself. "I've never really liked these social situations and stuff."

"Yeah, trust me, I've met you." Naruto threw his excuse aside. "I mean… it's more than that, isn't it? What's wrong?"

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk slightly. His friend was famous for getting right to the root of how you were feeling, but more than that, he seemed to be able to psychically sense whenever one of his friends was down, swooping in like a hawk to cheer them up.

He'd always appreciated it, even if he pretended he didn't.

"I just feel a bit bad." He admitted, taking a drink of his juice to give himself a moment to formulate his thoughts. "I mean… this was supposed to be Sakura's party, and then I had to go and get promoted to Chuunin. I basically hijacked this whole thing."

Naruto nodded, at the very least understanding where he was coming from. Despite that, he looked towards Sasuke's right, where Sakura was sat engrossed in her own conversation with Ino, in which Anko and Haku were occasionally interspersed.

Naruto pulled him aside so they were just out of earshot of Sakura, though, really, he'd pulled him perhaps half a foot towards him.

"I don't really think she wanted this party to be entirely based around her either, y'know? Pretty sure she just wanted to finally have some time to relax with everyone."

"Hm?"

"I mean, you saw her down in that Root base or whatever, she was like… I don't know how to say it, but she was super relieved to see us and everything. I think she just wanted to chill out, unwind, and have a good time. Honestly, I don't think she wanted this to be some super 'yay me!' party, or anything." Naruto cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do you?"

He always hated it when his friend could point out something so seemingly obvious that he felt like a complete idiot. It really was starting to get annoying, some three and a half years into their friendship.

He couldn't stop the grin on his face, however, even if he'd wanted to.

"I understand." He conceded. "Still doesn't mean I want this party to be about me either!"

"Yeah, well, that's fair, I suppose." Naruto patted him on the shoulder supportively. "Tough luck there, buddy."

"Oi."

"Still…" Naruto suddenly transformed from wise beyond his years back to ceaselessly childish. "I'll never forgive you for getting Chuunin before me."

Now it was his turn to have the upper hand. adopting his best teasing expression, he leaned back slightly, trying to show an air of superiority.

"Well, it's not like they give them out to peasants like you, after all." He placed both of his arms atop the booth cushions, giving a kingly sneer. "And as the greater of the two of us, it was preordained that I receive this rank before you would."

Naruto glared fiercely.

"You're doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

"That thing where you mix in a hard word to sound smart."

"Everyone does that thing." Sasuke commented, smiling victoriously. "You should try it some time."

"Never forgive you…" Naruto muttered under his breath as he stabbed his chopsticks into a few of the beef pieces in front of him. "Neeeever forgive you…"

Sasuke couldn't help but snicker into his hand as the door to the shop opened, and three more figures stepped into the building. Zabuza looked towards the door, apparently less than used to spending the day idling around inside a barbecue joint, and expecting to have some enemies arrive.

He would go disappointed, however, for the figures who stepped in were exactly who Sasuke had been expecting earlier.

"Ah!" Sakura sat up, standing in her spot and waving towards the new arrivals. "Zaku, Kin, Dosu! Over here guys!"

The sound trio were dressed, for once, mostly casually. Kin was wearing a fairly normal looking dress that he'd never seen on her, though it hardly looked brand new. Zaku wore a simple t-shirt and pants, and Dosu…

Well, Dosu was still wearing his armor, but, at the very least, he'd taken off his gauntlet, weird baggy headdress thing, and facial bandages, choosing to go without them for what was a relaxing day on the town.

I'd like to act surprised. Sasuke couldn't help but think as the three tried to find room in the booth. But I'm really not.

"Sorry we just showed up all of a sudden." Zaku let out, rubbing the back of his neck a bit embarrassedly. "But… it seemed like you knew we'd be coming."

"Yeah," Sakura laughed as she spoke, quickly gazing towards Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. "Someone had an idea you might."

In Sasuke's eyes, at least, the party flowed smoothly from there. They chatted, and ate, and drank for quite a few hours, until the sun was already beginning to cast an amber hue on the horizon. Zabuza was the first to try and call it quits, attempting to drag Haku away as the poor boy begged to be able to stay just a bit longer.

Eventually, he relented, allowing Haku and Ino to continue their conversation unimpeded. It was another whole hour before the man was able to pluck the icy child up and out of the restaurant, and only because Ino decided to follow suit and go with them. By that time, the rest of them were feeling the evening's fatigue as well.

"Welp, I don't know about you guys," Anko spoke through a yawn as she stood up. "But I am beat. Feel free to continue on without me, but I'm gonna' head on out."

"Same here." Kakashi agreed, standing up and looking towards the three of them. "I won't tell you three what to do, but keep in mind that the Hokage's going to be assigning us all a lot more missions to pay the damages on Orochimaru's attack, let alone the whole Root clean-up."

"Don't stay up late, we got it." Naruto waved away the man's concerns. "Don't worry, we were going to head out as well."

"Awww, c'moooon!" A very obviously drunk Jiraiya called out to the three of them as they stood and made their way out of the booth. "You should stay a while! You know, there's value in knowing when to relax."

"You do realize you're paying for all that, right?" Anko glared at the dozen steins that sat next to the man's arms. "Actually, you know what, thanks for treating all of us. I was a bit short on money this month anyways."

"Wait, what!?" The man suddenly seemed sober. "But I got invited!"

"You were expected." Kakashi corrected. "Which is wildly different from being invited. Besides, everyone knows the highest-ranking ninja pays for the meal."

Jiraiya seemed stunned, betrayed, and poor all in one single moment. He turned towards them and seemed to see Naruto as a way out of the situation.

"C-c'mon Naruto, you won't abandon your master, will-"

"What won't I do, Jiraiya sensei?"

Perhaps it was the way that Naruto didn't call the man by his usual nickname, or the icy way his voice sounded as he spoke. Perhaps, instead, it was the overwhelmingly pleased look on the boy's face that indicated that Jiraiya wouldn't be winning this, but even still, Sasuke couldn't be sure.

"This is for my froggy wallet, you thief." Naruto said simply as he pushed himself up and, with the air of a wife who'd just found her husband cheating, walked right past Jiraiya without even looking towards him. "Sasuke, Sakura, shall we head out?"

He smirked, a tiny, mischievous thing that only very rarely appeared around the boy before him.

"I think we should." He answered. "Wouldn't want to be up to late, after all."

"W-wait," Jiraiya protested. "Y-you're not seriously going to make me pay for all this-"

"Oh no, of course we wouldn't make you pay for every single meal." Sakura soothed the man's woes, and the Sannin relaxed, letting out a breath of relief, until Sakura stepped out of the booth, a sadistic sort of smile on her face. "Haku paid for his."

Sasuke laughed as they ran out of the restaurant, listening to the wailing cries of a man who'd finally been met with some karma as they dashed into the evening air.

/-/

Naruto was still laughing as they rounded the corner towards Sasuke's apartment, deciding to drop their newly ranked friend off for the night first as they all made their ways back home.

"Seriously though," Sakura spoke up, patting the Uchiha on his backside with a reassuring smile. "Congrats' on making Chuunin."

The boy blushed once more, though Naruto couldn't tell if that was a Sakura exclusive thing, or if he was still feeling those nerves from earlier.

Eh, not like it matters. Naruto thought to himself. They'll probably get themselves sorted out here one of these days.

They bid Sasuke goodnight as they made it to his apartment building and watched as he began trudging up the stairs before they both turned around, deciding to head towards Sakura's house first.

Still, Naruto couldn't hide one particular fact from the girl.

"I'm still hungry."

"How?" Sakura asked, looking absolutely dumbfounded. "How could you possibly still be hungry? You ate like twenty pieces of meat!"

"Don't underestimate my raw ability, Sakura." Naruto responded confidently. "I'm the foremost devourer of food in the Leaf Village."

"I think Anko could give you a run for your money, personally." Sakura contested. "Not to mention Choji, or just the entire Akimichi clan in general."

"Oh?" He joked. "A challenger for my title!? Fool, there is no one in this pesky land who could defeat me!"

The edge of Sakura's lip turned upwards, trying to hold back her amusement.

"What are you, the king of food?"

"Ah ah ah," Naruto wagged his finger at her. "I'm the Hokage of food. Get it right."

Sakura laughed quietly, giggling into her open palm as they walked side by side towards the shopping district.

"Look, all I'm saying is we do one quick trip by Ichiraku, grab a bowl or two, and we're out before we even know it."

Sakura's brows rose, clearly unimpressed.

"Is that a no, then?"

"That's a no."

Naruto pouted, but didn't protest as they continued towards Sakura's place. It wasn't far from there, perhaps only a few more blocks, when the girl spoke once more.

"Hey, Naruto?" The girl voiced out. "About… y'know… Sasuke making Chuunin."

He turned, worried for a moment that Sakura was concerned about her own lack of a rank-up. He reached over to console her, before realizing that the girl beside him was doing exactly the same thing.

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't too down about it," Sakura smiled comfortingly at him. "There'll be another tournament in a few months, and… why are you laughing?"

In truth, it was because he just couldn't help it. Sakura's words were just too similar to the ones he himself had been about to say to her. To hear his own thought process repeated almost word for word…

"Nothing. Just funny to know we're so similar."

Sakura looked confused.

"What does that mean?"

"Like I said, it's nothing." He smirked, knowing that particular comment would likely drive the girl insane. "We're here."

Sakura turned back around to meet with confirmation that they were, in fact, there. Her house stood before them, and Naruto could see the faint light emanating from underneath the doorway. Rather likely, it was Sakura's mother or father making dinner, waiting for her return.

The girl turned towards him, offering out her fist, which he quickly bumped with his own. She walked up the steps and pushed the door open, and Naruto could hear the way her parents called out to her, walking up to her and asking if she was okay, how she was doing, what her hospital stay was like…

Must be nice.

He made his way back to his own apartment in silence. He was a bit sad he hadn't gotten to see Iruka sensei today, for talking with the man was always great for keeping himself well adjusted. It'd been a bit since they'd spoken as well, what with the immediate business that came from cleaning up not just Orochimaru's attack, but Danzo's rule as well.

He made it back to his building and climbed the set of stairs towards his apartment. When he finally arrived, he placed the key into the lock and turned it, walking inside and flicking on the light switch.

There was no one.

And that never ceased to hurt, just a little bit.

/-/

Having finished her dinner (which had very nearly caused Sakura to vomit), the young girl made her way up the set of stairs and towards her room. Opening the door and shutting it behind her, she looked upon her own bedroom for the first time in over three weeks.

She didn't quite tear up or anything, but she couldn't deny some small rush of emotion as she looked upon her dwellings. Everything was a bit dustier than she'd left it, but other than that, it was exactly the same.

She flopped down upon her bed and marveled at the way the dusty comforter beneath her sprayed particles of the stuff into the air, giggling silently as she tried to avoid getting it in her eyes. She laid there for quite a while, just trying to relax and unwind, finally getting some peace and quiet.

She nodded off after perhaps half an hour, the sleep that had claimed her for almost a week once more overtaking her system, and she was out like a light as the sun set in the sky.

It was late at night when she awoke again, and she knew immediately that something was wrong.

A sharp crash coming from downstairs alerted her to the possibility that someone, or perhaps something, had made it's way into their house. She pushed down on the fear that flooded her system, instantly waking her up, and mentally prepared herself. She got herself out of bed, silently tiptoeing across the carpeted floor as she made her way towards her bedside table. Atop it lay her ninja tools, which she strapped to her waist.

She hadn't taken the time to change into her night clothes when she went to sleep, which helped now. Even wearing a casual outfit, it still had a place for her to clip on the bag. After doing that, she drew a kunai from out of it, and slotted three shuriken into her left hand, using a technique Sasuke had taught both her and Naruto a long time ago to surprise your opponent.

Don't panic. Sakura told herself as she stepped to the edge of her room, cracking her door ever so slightly and peering out into the hallway. It could be Mom or Dad. One of them could've wanted a midnight snack or something. Don't assume everything's going to be ninja related.

Immediately, she made her way towards her parents room, deciding their safety took priority over anything a thief might be stealing from downstairs. Quite frankly, they could have their appliances, or their food if they wanted. She needed to make sure everyone was okay.

She pushed open the door to her parents room while standing parallel to the wall, and charged into it, blade at the ready.

Her parents were still asleep.

She breathed out a sigh of relief, until, a moment later, she realized something was slightly off.

She walked like a crab, keeping her back to the left wall and sidling sideways, making sure she kept the entire room at the very least in her peripherals. She approached her mother first, reaching down with one hand and keeping her back to the wall behind her.

Upon nudging the woman's face, she couldn't quite keep her worry in check when nothing happened. She tried again, this time shoving her shoulder as hard as she could, which should've easily awoken the woman.

Once more, there was no response.

She reached down once more, this time, raising the woman's eyelid to look at her pupils.

They weren't dilated. Despite the fact that both of them were sitting in the dark, and they should've been sleeping, their pupils were tiny, as if they'd been sitting in the sunlight all day.

She took a deep, silent breath, controlling her breathing so that she made no noise.

It's Genjutsu. She came up with a hypothesis as she reached down and placed a hand on her mother's body. Release!

Nothing happened.

She tried once more, relying on instinct more than anything as the woman's chakra fluctuated briefly, before, just as before, it returned to its altered state.

She breathed deeply, trying to reign in the small bit of panic building in the back of her stomach. She walked over to her father and repeated the steps. As she failed once more, she bit her bottom lip, running through her options in her head as another noise sounded out from the downstairs kitchen, though this one sounded more like a pan clattering to the floor.

It sounds a lot like the pan mom cooked dinner with. She sidled along the wall, peeking back into the hallway to make sure nothing was amiss there. There's no way someone with enough skill to place them both under a powerful enough Genjutsu that I couldn't undo it would be making that many mistakes on accident.

That shifted her theory considerably. Now, it was far more likely that, rather than a clumsy burglar who'd arrived to take their things, this was instead a targeted attack.

And there's only one thing of note worth attacking in this house… She swallowed the contents of her mouth, and inadvertently kept herself from throwing up. I… I need to contact someone, anyone. If I could get a message out…

She realized a moment later that there was no way she could.

Whoever this person, or people, was, they'd done their homework. They'd snuck their way in, placed her parents under a powerful Genjutsu, and effectively used them as a bartering chip. If she tried to flee, then her parents lives were potentially forfeit. There was no way she would be calling for help, and it was very likely they'd studied her in some way, knowing without a doubt that she had no way of contacting anyone aside from running to them.

She was stuck.

A moment later, she decided that, at the very least, she would face down whoever this was without fear. She passed through her parents door and silently closed it behind her. She placed a kunai from her bag on the doorknob, balancing it so that if someone tried to open it, the weapon would fall to the floor and make a sound. It wouldn't prevent them from attacking her parents, but at the very least, Sakura would know about it.

And with that, she made her way to the stairwell.

She couldn't quite fully muffle her steps onto the wooden stairs, even as much as she tried. Whoever awaited below, they'd know she was coming.

So she might as well surprise them.

She leapt the final seven steps, rolling as she landed at the bottom of the first floor and kicking off of the wall behind her into the kitchen. She activated her curse mark immediately, feeling the familiar strength flow into her system as she brought her weapon to bare.

Immediately, she spotted three people in her peripheral. Each of them looked… rather odd, if she were to go off only her immediate impressions. She turned towards the tallest man in the room, resolving to perhaps kill the strongest of them before they even realized she was here.

The man she was dashing towards barely had time to bring his arms up before she slammed into him, her curse mark only adding to the strength of the blow and sending him flying back into their dining room. The brute impacted against the top of their table, flying right through it and letting out a grunt as he hit the floor.

Sakura decided to push her luck, planting her right foot hard on the ground and pushing off of it, leaping into the air above her and just barely avoiding hitting her head on the ceiling as she reversed her grip on the kunai in her hand, holding it away from her body as she prepared to fall down upon the orange-haired man beneath her.

Her eyes widened as a black symbol raged across his skin, and he blocked her blow with ease. In the moment after that, he forced his arms apart, launching her into the ceiling above her and knocking the wind out of her lungs. She couldn't idle, however, because even as the man recovered, she knew his allies would be closing in on them.

She threw the three shuriken in her left hand and kicked off the roof above her, rolling once more onto the floor and choosing to engage the larger man once more in hand to hand. He repelled her attacks with relative ease, tanking the shuriken with his arm, and returning her blows with far more force than she could muster, even with her curse mark activated.

She spent a moment hotly debating with herself on whether or not she should try and unleash the curse mark further, but quickly clamped down on any arguments. It was obvious that she should release it's strength.

It won't matter if I didn't let it control me if I'm dead. Sakura reasoned.

She let the mark flow across her further, and watched as the eyes of the man before her widened as she began to match the power of his blows. She snuck into his guard after one particular hit, and swung her blade across his stomach.

Before her edge could reach, however, It was shot out of her hand by some form of object, one which continued onwards and impacted against the far most wall, embedding itself into the side of the house. Her now harmless strike overextended herself, and she was powerless to stop the orange-haired man from pummeling her into the floor below her.

She coughed up blood, unsure if any of her bones broke on the impact or not. She certainly wasn't feeling much pain, but she had a feeling that was the adrenaline talking.

"Sheesh, what a fucking bitch." A voice spoke out from directly above her, and she recognized the sound of shuriken hitting the floor as the man plucked them out of his forearm, before a hand gripped her wrist and hauled her up. "And to think, we weren't even going to rough you up."

"Hey, I thought it was pretty funny." A feminine voice echoed out from what sounded like the entrance hall. "Watching you get your shit kicked in is never not worth it, in my eyes."

"Oh, go shove it up your ass, Tayuya!"

"I'm sure you'd love that, wouldn't you?"

"Shut it, both of you!" A new voice echoed out as someone stepped towards her, and she turned her head just enough to be able to make out the rest of them.

There were three boys and one girl. One of the guys seemed to possess a second head on his back, whilst another had four arms. The one she'd fought, the orange haired brute, was a bit chubbier, having a large ceremonial rope wrapped around his waist. The girl, for her part, seemed to be the least odd, though she did hold a flute in her right hand.

"W-who are you?" She asked, eager to find that nothing was ruptured, for now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she could tell the pain was a bit lesser than it would've been if she were seriously injured. "Why are you here!?"

"Y'know, most people start with that." The four-armed one spoke out. "Instead of just attacking willy-nilly."

"You broke into my house!"

The boy seemed to consider that.

"Y'know what, that's fair."

"Quiet." The boy with two heads spoke up, walking towards her and pointing to himself with his thumb. "Names Sakon. I'm the leader of this here group."

She wasn't really sure why she should care, but she nodded anyways.

"Right, good. What we're going to do here is pretty simple. You can come with us willingly, or we can knock you the hell out and carry you, your choice."

She swallowed but couldn't quite find any openings in the orange-haired man's hold on her. His grip was like iron, and the black markings running across his skin reminded her of–

Wait.

She looked closely. The pattern was different, but the way they all emanated from a spot on his neck, the way they covered his left side until a certain point…

"You have a curse mark!"

"Oh, hey, ding ding ding! How right you are." Sakon mocked her, giving the boy with a curse mark a pat on his shoulder. "You're not the only one with a curse mark around here, little lady, though you might be the only person around who's not supposed to have one."

She tried not to show any weakness before them. Whatever they were going to do to her, they'd already decided to do so. She would present a strong front, at least.

"Right, so coming, or coming but worse?"

She swallowed.

"I'll go."

"Good, good. That makes things much easier." The man gave a series of quick hand signals as the rest of them began moving. The chubby one released her, letting her flop onto the ground and massage her aching wrist. "Right, so we've got just one stop to make before we leave the village."

She grew immediately suspicious, but she wasn't sure why. It was as if somewhere, deep down, she already knew, but was still putting the pieces together at the same time.

"Where's that?"

"Where?" The white-haired boy turned back towards her with a small smile. "Why, it's Sasuke Uchiha's place."

Her eyes widened as she connected the dots, and she went to struggle before finding the orange-haired giant had once more grabbed her. She tried to break free of his grip, but her arms, even with the curse marks power, weren't as powerful as his.

"After all, that gift you possess was meant for him." Sakon taunted. "But luckily, Orochimaru discovered that you do have some use. After all, you can utilize the wood style, can you not?"

She bit down on her lip, drawing blood as she tried to kick off of the floor to get an angle of attack.

"Oh, stay still, you brat." The one who chubby had called Tayuya stepped forward, and Sakura immediately saw stars as the woman's fist buried itself in her gut. "We ain't killin' either of you."

She coughed up some spittle as she looked up at the girl before her, who's arrogant smile did nothing for the anger already coursing through her.

"We're just going to use you as a bit of… let's call it leverage."

She could do nothing as the rest of them pushed open the door to her house, and the orange-haired ninja slung her around his shoulder, carrying her like a bag of rice.

"After all, I don't think Sasuke Uchiha will be able to resist coming with us if it's your life on the line." Tayuya continued. "And then, not only will Orochimaru have the Sharingan, but he'll have the Wood Style too. But hey, look on the bright side…"

The girl smiled derisively, stepping towards Sakura, and pinching her cheek.

"At least you'll finally be useful for once."

End Chapter 45

Been a bit since I cliff-hangered. Like... one whole chapter, right?

Anyways, twin birds, a singular stone, you get the point.

See you all next week!