"It's over."

Not again, I thought numbly, turning as fast as I could even though I knew it was going to be too late. I wouldn't be able to save any of us and it would be all my fault. There was a blur of white and a splash of water as Sensei stabbed the water clone and popped it. Zabuza instantly retaliated by cutting him in half, but Sensei exploded into water as well.

…. What?

I could still sense Sensei lurking around in the mist, honing in on… wait, was that the real Zabuza? This was so confusing; there were two of them-

Sensei was about to kill the closest Zabuza, but the second one grabbed him and threw him at the lake. Zabuza was there in a heartbeat, hands forming seals. Water rose up and closed around Sensei.

I had read a few of Konoha's Bingo books in the past, almost absently noting Kakashi's abilities. Been there, read the wiki page. But seeing Kakashi being captured this easily… even knowing it was going to happen didn't ease the surprise I felt.

It shouldn't have been this easy. On the other hand, though…

Zabuza couldn't have given me a better target if he tried. He was just… standing there. No attempt to defend himself. This was child's play.

"Guys, get out of here," Kakashi said with deceptive calm. He felt… he felt scared. For us. I clenched my jaw. "He's no match for you. Take Tazuna-san and run."

"All due respect, Sensei," I replied, a plan forming in my mind, "you'll have a snowball's chance in hell if we leave you. I don't know about the boys, but breaking in a new sensei is just going to be a pain." In a lower voice, I added, "Naruto, can you and Sasuke tag team the water clone?"

"What about Sensei and the real one?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll take care of it," I said with a vague wave before grinning maniacally at them. "Just keep the clone off my back."

Jumping into the trees and crushing my chakra down, I found a somewhat safe spot for my body that was fairly hidden with a good line of sight. I took a deep breath, nervous. This was the first time I was facing an opponent this much stronger than me, not to mention one that actually wanted me dead. Ok. Remember what Dad said. 'The more chakra the target has, the shorter amount of time you have in the body.' But all I really need to do is pull out his arm and Sensei can take care of the rest.

Probably.

I settled in, made the seal, and threw myself out of my body.

Kakashi knew he screwed up. He screwed up big time. He should have been more serious from the get go instead of being cocky about it. His genin were in horrible danger, and Inoko had disappeared to who knows where. The water filled with chakra around him was wreaking havoc with his senses, but Kakashi had felt Inoko's chakra vanish.

Be alive, he thought. If Zabuza's hidden a clone in the trees and it got her… He was going to violently kill Zabuza before Inoichi violently killed him. There was a reason the man was partnered with Ibiki in leading T&I.

Zabuza's arm jerked out of the orb before he fell through the water. What.

The Demon of the Hidden Mist surfaced with a wild amusement dancing in his eyes. "Hello, Sensei!" he said cheerfully. "Did you miss me?"

"What the f-" he started, but then the former Swordsman began singing.

"Swing, swing, swing my sword, sword, whenever I get bored, bored, I can swing my sword, sword, I can swing my sword, sword!" He tossed the giant sword aside and opened his arms. "Well? I'm waiting."

Everyone, even the water clone, stared at Zabuza. Kakashi was starting to understand exactly what happened.

Inoko had the boys distract Zabuza and the clone while she found a safe spot to store her body, then she used her clan's jutsu on him. Smart.

"Sensei, we are literally running out of time as we speak. I got rid of the sword. I freed you. Deal with the immediate pro-" She choked, Zabuza's face freezing as blood began to trickle out of the corner of his mouth.

Zabuza blinked before refocusing his eyes and glaring at Kakashi. He yanked out a kunai and lunged at Kakashi again. Inoko had somehow lost control, and Okami on his mountain he hoped that she was alright. He had to protect his students, and by Okami and Yama he would do anything to make sure they were safe.

In the end, his Sharingan brought the fight to a close. Kakashi was simply faster than him. Combined with whatever wound he had gotten while Inoko was in control, the missing nin couldn't keep up. Ripping his throat out with a kunai brought him a bit too much pleasure.

After checking to make sure he was actually dead, he pulled down his headband and began reaching out with his senses for Inoko.

Chakra's too low, he thought grimly. "Naruto, Sasuke, where's Inoko?"

Naruto very pointedly did not look at the bloody water as he glanced from his sensei and other teammate. "She went into the trees and did her jutsu thing to Zabuza and freed you," he said hesitantly. "Oi, teme, where's Inoko?" Sasuke merely shrugged, though appeared worried.

Kakashi took stock of his chakra levels - he had maybe five minutes before he crashed like a rock - and sighed. "Boys, stay with Tazuna-san. I'm going to look for Inoko."

Inoko left a rather strong scent trail of old books and flowers, but just inside the treeline, Kakashi could smell the coppery tang of blood. No.

There was no corpse. Merely a small puddle of blood on a tree branch and a glaring lack of one of his students.

Kakashi placed a hand on the trunk, partially because he was dizzy from chakra loss. What have I done?

Naruto was furious with himself. He should have sent a clone with Inoko. He should have realized what she was going to do and done something about it! She had asked them just that day to take care of her body when she was doing her jutsu and he failed.

He wondered if similar thoughts were going through Sasuke's head, if he even noticed Inoko's absence at all. Kakashi-sensei had passed out from chakra exhaustion after informing them that an unknown hostile had taken advantage of Inoko's defenceless state and wounded and captured her.

Now they were impatiently waiting at Tazuna's house for Sensei to wake up. It was awful.

"Dobe," Sasuke said at last. Naruto bit his tongue against his retort and merely glared at him. "We ought to at least be thinking of plans to find and rescue Inoko. Get a head start on it."

"Why bother? She's gonna die anyway." Both heads snapped towards Tazuna's young grandson Inari, glowering at the boy. He was unfazed. "Anyone who goes up against Gato will die, and if he gets you, he's not going to let you get away."

"Inoko's tough!" Naruto snarled. "It's gonna take more than some business punk dude to take her down! She's really smart too! Heck, she'll probably have already escaped by the time we're there!"

Inari snorted and walked away. Brat, he thought with annoyance. We'll be able to find Inoko… right?

Uchiha Sasuke was not in a good mood. He was hardly ever in a good mood, but right now he was in a very not good mood.

Inoko had been captured by an unknown. She was either dead or being held hostage. Either way, they couldn't do anything until Kakashi woke up.

I'm still too weak, he growled. I didn't even notice there was an enemy. And Inoko is paying the price for my weakness.

It had been a week since he lost his family, and he still couldn't stand the whispers and stares. It was his first day back at the Academy after… and everyone kept looking at him. Normally he thrived off the attention that he wished came from his father, but today it was suffocating.

Sasuke's glare was enough to drive them back. Most of them anyway. One of the Yamanaka twins - Inoko, maybe? Why did they have such similar names? - was being incredibly stubborn in her attempts to talk to him. The other one, the one that was always sleeping, eating, being sarcastic, or watching people with a slightly terrifying look in her eyes, appeared to sense that he needed some space and time to process. She was gently pulling on her twin's shirt, trying to get her to come away. When is Iruka-sensei going to come back?

"Sasuke-kun, are you sure you're ok?" Ino(ko) asked. Her sister gave up and wandered over to Chōji to snag a chip from his bag.

"I'm fine," he snarled.

"I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to -"

"What? You wanted to what?" Sasuke snapped. "Just go away and leave me alone." He roughly shoved her out of his way and began to stalk to a different part of the yard.

The other twin was in his face glaring murderously at him. "Don't touch my sister," she warned. She was pale and thin, as if she'd recently recovered from a long illness, but he didn't remember if she'd been sick, and he didn't care enough to know.

Sasuke sneered at her. "Or what? You'll hit me? Ooh, I'm so scared. You probably couldn't hit if your li-" A second later he was blinking up at the sky, jaw throbbing. Did she just…?

"Inoko, you pig!" one of the girls shouted. "Don't hit Sasuke-kun!"

The Yamanaka ignored them and crouched in front of him with a dangerous look in her eyes. "Touch Ino again, Uchiha, and I'll make you wish your brother finished the job," she hissed before turning around. He gaped at her back for a moment. Red consumed his vision.

She did not just say that.

Sasuke tackled her from behind, hatred pumping through his body. "Shut up!" he screamed at her, hitting her head as hard as he could. "You don't know what it was like! Shut up!" Inoko flipped him over onto his back, a wild look in her eyes. They both ignored the cries for them to stop fighting, mostly from Ino. She sounded terrified.

"Leave - my - sister- alone!" she panted, hitting him with each word. He grabbed her swinging braid and pulled as hard as he could, but she didn't even grimace at the pain. Inoko kneed him in the gut, then punched him as he reflexively bent over. Sasuke punched her in the groin, pleased by her surprised yelp.

He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and tossed her over his shoulder, settling into a different stance. Her eyes narrowed as she realized he was tossing the little Academy taijutsu they knew out the window. Inoko's hands settled into an unfamiliar seal that she extended in his direction. Ninjutsu, huh? I can match you for that.

Then Sasuke couldn't move. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he physically could not move. Inoko also appeared to be struggling.

"Shadow possession complete," Shikamaru drawled. His lazy tone was offset by his tense posture and a tiny bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"Stay out of this, Shika," Inoko spat, not taking her eyes off Sasuke.

"What is going on?!" Iruka shouted as he stormed outside, Naruto trailing him uncertainly. He took in the scene with a glance - Sasuke prepared to use more dangerous taijutsu, Inoko holding a Yamanaka hand seal, and Shikamaru holding them both in place with his clan's jutsu. "Detention, the three of you. I've told you all before, no unsupervised jutsu at the Academy!" Shikamaru groaned and let his jutsu go.

"Don't drag Shika into this," Inoko sighed as she rubbed her face. "He was trying to stop us. Please, Sensei." Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Inoko, Sasuke, I'll be seeing you after class." Inoko shot him a dirty look before turning away and walking into the classroom. Brat.

"Sasuke." He ignored Inoko and continued scrubbing the blackboard. "Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke."

"What?" he finally bit out, glaring at her. He had gotten detention because of her, ruining his perfect record. Not that it mattered anymore. Who was going to care?

She had the courtesy to look… not embarrassed, no. Regretful would be a better word. "I'm sorry for saying that. About your brother. That wasn't cool. So sorry about that." Inoko turned back to the pencils she was sharpening. Sasuke watched her for a moment before returning to scrubbing.

"Sorry for shoving your sister," he muttered. If he had been watching, he would have seen the ghost of a smile flicker across her face.

"Truce?" she asked without looking at him.

"Stay away from me," he warned. "You're nothing but a pest."

"Fair enough. But don't you like me, Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke recoiled from her, horrified. Not her too! Inoko batted her eyelashes at him a couple times before cackling. "Yeah, don't worry, the chances of that happening are…" Inoko stared blankly into space for a moment. "Meh, who knows, I suck at probability. But it's not happening."

"Wouldn't want to marry a pig girl like you anyway," he muttered.

They hadn't been friends after that. Far from it. It took him a long time to forgive that comment, but being put on the same team forced him to work with her. If he was entirely honest with himself, he was starting to become fond of her deadpanned sarcasm and blank stares. It was almost endearing.

"Oi, teme! Kakashi-sensei's awake!" Naruto shouted.

It was time to plan.