Hi everyone, Psychic King here! Please bear with me, I;m starting the story a little different than usual this time, but I felt a short apology/explanation was in order (I'll keep it short, though as I am sure that anyone still interested in this story is eager to read the next chapter.

Ok, so first off, I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter! It was not my intention to make you all wait three months to see what happens next; although I had my suspicions that if I didn't finish Embrace before my college finals (which took about a month including preparation) than I would not get to update for a long while (after finals I went on vacation out of town for a month! It was lots of fun!... er, sorry...). After that, it wasn't that I wasn't working on chapter 22, it was just that I could never get it to a point that I was actually happy with it... I ended up scraping the whole chapter I had already written and rewriting it like you will see below. I gotta thank everyone that that's been reviewing and reminding me that people are waiting. Special thanks to Bakasaru Boi, whose review mentioning that it had really been three months since the last update finally got me off my butt enough to rewrite the dribble I had already written... I really didn't intend to have THREE whole months between updates!!!!! I'm really sorry!

Um, OK, a quick mention of the fact that the first three sections are done in flashback format, meaning that they are Illia's memories from when she is alive. I thought it would be a little more fun to have her story told (at least at first) as it happened, and then Sasuke gets to listen to her talk. Phew OK, that's it, enjoy the (finally) newest chapter of Embrace of Solitude!

Side note: scene changes now look like this: 888888888 Because I can't get the normal thing to show up....

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Embrace of Solitude

Chapter 22

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Naruto's worried face appeared above his wife as he packed up his two eldest sons to head out on a training trip. "We can always train closer to home instead of going off for the night..."

Illia laughed lightly, pushing her husband out of the cave entrance. "Tenmar and Uzu are both excited about the trip, if you cancel now you'll have two very disappointed little boys on your hands. Ganten and I will be fine. It's been so quiet recently, the biggest worry you have is us being bored to death."

Naruto's brow creased. "If you'll be too lonely..."

Illia put on her sternest glare, firmly pushing Naruto out the door, her two eldest sons grinned at her as they toddled after their father. Illia shook her head at the infant Ganten as he put as much of his tiny fist into his mouth as he could manage. She laughed as she heard a chorus of "I love you, mommy!" coming from the bottom of the cave. Suddenly a burst of blonde hair appeared before her.

Naruto leaned into the cave, planting a passionate kiss on his startled wife. "I'll miss you, love." He jumped over to Ganten, pulling the small child into his arms he held him in a gentle hug for a long moment. "Take care of your mommy, little man." The infant gave his father an innocent, brilliantly happy smile and reached out a small hand, grabbing Naruto's nose. Lowering his son with a laugh, he placed another kiss on his wife, this time on her cheek. "The four days will pass before you know it. I'll send Aidan to check on you the day after tomorrow. If you're dieing of boredom by then, send him off to Sai and have her come visit."

Illia shook her head, once again pushing her husband out of their home. "Naruto... You've left Tenmar and Uzu alone for three minutes now! I swear, if anything happens to my boys while you're off gallivanting-"

"Training!" Naruto broke in reproachfully.

"Fine, training; but if anything happens to them, I'm taking it out of your hide!"

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Illia sighed, looking out of the cave at the noontime sun for what seemed like the millionth time. It had only been eight short hours since Naruto left with Tenmar and Uzu and already Illia felt the pressures of loneliness and boredom. Looking over at Ganten she felt a pain of guilt. It wasn't that he was bad company, but... The last few years it seemed like the only companionship she HAD was toddlers and Naruto. There was always the local Shaman, Sai, her only friend, but she was always traveling and not at all easy to connect with. But this week, while Naruto and the boys were out, she'd promised to be nearby, just in case. Illia was pretty sure she knew where she'd be right about now... Gathering supplies near South Lake. That was a short trip and a pretty safe area. She would be fine and that would prove to Naruto that he didn't need to worry about her so much.

Purposely avoiding putting enough thought into the decision to talk herself out of it, Illia went about packing Ganten and some supplies. "It's not too long of a trip..." She murmured, glancing at the sparse amount of food and water she was packing. "And we'll most likely run into Sai, so... Plus," She hefted Ganten into his baby harness (made by his daddy) and onto her back, "if I weigh myself down too much I won't be able to run as quickly... just in case."

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"Here you go," Illia cooed to Ganten, who laughed happily as his mother slipped him off her back and set him on the ground. "You like being able to crawl around, don't you?" Tossing her long, slim arms into the air and arching her back Illia stretched out the muscles that had tensed after carrying Ganten so long. "You are getting heavy my love."

Ganten looked up from the rock he was holding. He'd been deliberating weather or not it would feel good in his mouth, but the musical sound of his mother's voice caused him to forget it entirely. He beamed happily up at her, slapping the ground with his open palms and cooing.

Illia smiled as she curled onto the ground next to her son, glancing at the empty campsite they'd arrived at. A quick glance around told Illia that Sai was not planning on being gone long; there were large bags of supplies simply sitting around and there was no sign of struggle. Until then they would have to wait. The site was protected, Illia recognized a few of the wards Sai had put around the campsite, and no enemy could break through one of Sai's wards.

Illia smiled as Ganten's breath evened out and he started snoring peacefully. She smiled fondly at the little one, it'd been a long morning for the both of them, and a little nap couldn't hurt. She'd just shut her eyes for a while...

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The sound of the fire cracking caused Illia's eyes to spring open. A quick glance around told her it was already dark and there was a figure huddled on the far side of the fire. "Sai?" Illia attempted to push herself into a sitting position but her limbs would not move. "Sai, is that you?" With a start she realized that Ganten was not by her side and once again she attempted to push herself up, once again she failed; it was as if there was an invisible force pushing down when she pushed up. "Who's there, where is my son?"

"Oh..." The familiar sound of Kentaar's mocking voice caused a dark chill to run down Illia's body. "I didn't think he needed to be here for THIS, do you? It's not really appropriate."

Concentrating all her remaining energy into her hands, Illia once again attempted to push the force over her, off, away, but once again there was no effect. "What did you do to him?" She shrieked, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she assessed the futility of her situation. Her only remaining hope was that Kentaar would lift the pressure and that somehow she could surprise him or hurt him enough to create a small chance of escape, but then... What of Ganten?

"Relax, your son is safe and when I'm done you will be reunited. You don't have a chance of escaping me, so you might as well just... enjoy yourself." Kentaar spoke softly as he walked slowly closer. Illia's eyes widened in terror as Kentaar raised a glowing hand over her unmoving body...

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Illia trailed off and stared in the direction of Naruto and Kentaar's fight. Sasuke stared at her for a long moment before blinking, feeling slightly annoyed he asked, "And..?"

Still staring almost dreamily off in the direction of Naruto Illia responded, "And I awoke. Sitting only a few feet from our cave, Ganten asleep next to me, it had all been a dream; everything after Naruto leaving. After that I decided not to leave the cave, not even to hunt, but the damage was done. Naruto thought we were safe from Kentaar, that he couldn't find us but that incident opened my eyes. Kentaar still feared and respected Naruto, yes, but he hadn't given up on his revenge; revenge against me for turning his brother against him, revenge against our children for being born, even against Naruto for taking me away from him. And every night for the rest of my life he reminded me of that hatred."

Sasuke felt a stab of pity for the woman when he noticed the haunted, hollow look in her eyes. He could only imagine what Kentaar had done to her, obviously even her spirit was still suffering the effects, and she had held off going to her eternal rest to tell this story... "He appeared before you every night from that point on?"

"In my dreams." Illia replied, still not looking at him. "Kentaar is a wolf and wolves... wolves have power over dreams." She held her hand to her forehead, closing her eyes as memories flooded though her. "A wolf is a creature that can live freely between the land of dream and reality. There are enough dreams that a wolf could wander aimlessly throughout them, never finding the same one twice, but once the bond has been made the wolf can return over and over again to the same person; a bond like the bond of family or a strong love or strong hate. Most wolves use it as a means of communication between their packs but most wolves don't have the benefit of a twisted human mind like Kentaar."

Illia fell silent for a moment and Sasuke watched as she lowered her hand and fixed him with a hollow, empty stare. He found himself almost wishing that she would cry, scream, something, anything to express her emotions, but she just stared at him. He had always thought that he had killed his emotions but looking at Illia he realized that he didn't even know what it meant to die emotionally. It almost hurt to listen as she spoke again, "He told me in the dreams he sent me that he had planted his seed in me, and that I could no longer escape him; Naruto had been using his own power to protect us from him but apparently that one dream where he had found me, when I was stupid enough to take a nap with Ganten outside of the cave, was enough for him to gain a permanent hold on my mind. Before I even knew I was pregnant he told me that his seed had taken root and when I gave birth to Mina he claimed her as his own."

"What did Naruto say about all of this?" Sasuke asked, sure of what her answer would be.

Illia's soft reply confirmed his expectations, "I never told him," she said, empty look still in her eyes as she glanced again at the area just out of her reach where Naruto was fighting with Kentaar. "I was scared at first and then... it didn't seem to matter. Naruto was thrilled at the prospect of a new child, even more thrilled when Mina was born. His first daughter. Haha." A cold chill ran through Sasuke as he listened to Illia's emotionless laugh. "Naruto was always so proud of the fact that she looked so much like me and he loved her so much, so did the boys and... it didn't matter."

"Naruto didn't notice the change in you?" Sasuke asked, unable to believe that that could have been the case.

"He noticed. He noticed that I wasn't sleeping well; he noticed that I had no appetite. I didn't let him see anything else, I buried my happiness in him and our four children, I left my tears for when I was alone, which became almost never. The time passed quickly, and it was for the most part a happy time during the day and every night I fell into Hell until... it was almost Mina's second birthday and the winds changed. Naruto felt some direst in the air, he decided to go see his older brother, Tagen, to ask about these changes, he took Tenmar and Ganten with him, leaving Uzu, who was unwell at the time, and Mina with me." Once again she paused, breathing heavily she covered her ears wither her hands, shaking slightly. "That's when Kentaar showed up. Uzu was resting while Mina and I... played at the mouth of the cave. He took my baby and he..." Closing her eyes as if to block out an image only she could see, Illia continued, "He threw her, my little Mina, over the edge of the cliff our cave was on. I snapped. This whole time, since he had attacked me in my dream, I had done what he told me, believing that if I were to do so he would leave my family alone. But Mina... The child he even claimed as his own..." Eyes once again focused on nothing, but now open, Illia shook her head. Sasuke noticed that as she continued talking her voice and face started once again to show emotion; dark twisted emotion, but emotion all the same. "I attacked him. For Mina, who I thought was dead and for Uzu who was sleeping. For my first attack Kentaar just laughed at me and knocked me away, he kept looking over the edge of the cliff and maybe it was because something distracted him or maybe he didn't think I would be brave or stupid enough to attack again or maybe he even thought he had killed me, but... I got lucky with my next attack. I managed to get what was almost a killing blow in because of his inattentiveness; me the weakest ninja in Konoha, almost managed to kill the most dreadful monster of our time... but I missed. Instead of slitting his throat I cut from his ear down to the side of his neck. It wasn't enough, he healed almost instantly and then he transformed. He knocked me down again, this time with his claws."

Sasuke found himself drawn to her hands which were now wandering across Sakura's torso and he shuddered realizing that she was tracing the areas that she had been hit. "Are you OK-"

Ignoring his question Illia spoke again, "It hurt, but I survived. He probably would have left me alone at that point, I was down and despite my desires to rip his heart from his chest I could not move and he hadn't come to kill me, he'd come for Mina... And then I heard Uzu's scream." She was sobbing at this point and it took her a moment to compose herself to speak through her tears. "I opened my eyes and there was my son, barely five years old and half transformed into... a creature and he was trying to protect me. He attacked and, even though Kentaar was barely able to feel the attack he grew enraged. He pinned Uzu under his paw and... He was going to eat him and I couldn't let him. I didn't have any energy left, but I couldn't let him eat my son so I- I jumped between Kentaar and Uzu and he bit me instead. He shook me around in his mouth for what seemed an eternity and all I could do was lay there and wait to die, but from my position high in Kentaar's mouth I could see what he had been looking over the cliff for. A giant wolf cub was clawing its way up the cliff."

Sasuke stared at her as the impact of her words hit. "So Mina really is...?"

Illia nodded, face once again emotionless. "She is his daughter. He's been protecting her by disguising her transformations, but in that instant I knew the truth. I died as I heard the sounds of Naruto screaming and I never got a chance to tell him. I couldn't pass on, I couldn't leave my family with a wolf in their midst. So I stayed and watched over my struggling family... Mina knew, she knew that Kentaar was her father; she knew that he was using her to find the boys' location at all times and she knew that he would kill them after they found Naruto for him and she never told them. Not only that, but-"

"Sai-sama is ready. The ritual must start now or your friend will be lost forever." The sound of Gin's voice, breaking into Illia's story caused Sasuke to jump momentarily.

Sasuke glared at the man, "One second." But Gin ignored him, and already was caring Sakura's body to the center of the make-shift bone circle.

"Mina still talks to Kentaar at night, it's not that she can't block off his dreams, she's scared to!" Suddenly Sai was pouring a dark liquid into her mouth causing Illia to cough and sputter. "Listen! He knows how to take over her body when she doesn't want to obey him, but she really..."

Sasuke watched in annoyed shock as Illia went limp and Sai began chanting over her body. It was Gin's hand on his shoulder that broke him from his state. "You know enough now, I can take care of your friend."

Sasuke didn't need to wait for a second offer, he ran as fast had his leg would carry him in the direction of the sound of Naruto's battle. Something inside of him kept crying, "Faster! Faster!" And he found himself praying, "Don't let me be too late!" When he heard the sound of Naruto screaming Mina's name he found a way to move faster than he would have thought possible for his body.

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Kakashi grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. Kentaar fought surprisingly well against two strong opponents. He watched the tall man that was only a day ago his small student, Naruto, eyes red, face monstrous, dash at the man, jump only a millimeter before Kentaar could hit him and swing a kick at Kentaar. The wolf man easily avoided the kick but was not able to avoid the tail that had suddenly appeared from Naruto's backside, which whacked him in the face. Disoriented, but not enough to let his guard fall Kentaar grabbed at the tail which disappeared with a poof of smoke as his hands curled around it. Moving quickly Kakashi formed the seals for his Chidori while dashing into the fray. He managed to hit the wolf in the stomach, but it didn't seem to matter much as Kentaar grabbed Kakashi's wrist and twisted.

Kakashi allowed his body to follow his arm and ended up with a bump on his head rather than a broken arm. Naruto's teeth were suddenly in Kentaar's arm, and Kentaar screamed in pain and rage as he released Kakashi. Naruto tore his teeth from his brother's arm but not without taking a large hunk of flesh and muscle with him. The wound began healing before their very eyes, not that Kakashi had a lot of time to watch it happen. He sighed, they were getting nowhere; the only person that was getting any lasting damage was Kakashi himself. He glanced at Naruto to see the blonde man once again rushing blindly in. He wasn't able to hit any of the critical spots on Kentaar, the wolf man had them too well protected, but he should at least be wearing down the man's chakara. He glanced back at Kentaar in time to notice the forming of a set of seals that he had never seen before. "Naruto! Get back!"

Naruto looked at Kakashi for a moment, watching the man dash backwards, away from the fight quickly. Then his world exploded in a mixture of dirt and fire. Naruto was lifted off the ground and with a thud he landed against a tree, a cracking sound echoed through the forest and Naruto moved quickly as the tree split in half. Glancing to where Kentaar was he growled in frustration as he realized that the man had disappeared. "Kakashi! Did you see where he went?"

Kakashi was in motion before Naruto even spoke, dashing in the direction that the man had disappeared to. Naruto followed the silver haired man, trying to sniff for signs of Kentaar, but the smell of fire was over powering. It then hit him, the direction Kentaar was heading; it was towards the area he had left Mina. "MINA! Run!" Naruto screamed, knowing that it would be too late if Kentaar managed to get his claws on her.

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Ganten stiffened as he heard the sound of his father screaming for his sister and stopped his movements mid-attack. Rin also stopped his movements, listening to Ganten's thoughts. "'No more playing around?'" Rin asked, picking the thoughts from the top of Ganten's head.

Ganten glared at the boy, face stern. "If you don't stop toying with me, I'll kill you."

Rin laughed as he moved backwards in anticipation of the frontal attack Ganten was planning. His mind registered surprise as he picked up the words 'Not fast enough.' And then Ganten had him, was clutching his neck with a clawed hand. He made a chocking noise as his feet were lifted from the ground and he clawed at Ganten's arm.

Ganten grinned darkly as he held the boy, "Let me do some mind reading if my own. First, you are surprised that I'm suddenly so much faster, And second you are thinking, 'This is how it ends...?' Am I right?"

Rin struggled, he could read every though going through Ganten's mind, and he knew without a shadow of doubt that he would not escape the boy's grip because Ganten knew; he also knew that Ganten did not want to kill him, but had no desire for Rin to chase him after he left. Rin's struggling increased as Ganten used his free hand to reach for one of his arms. With a sickening snap the arm fell limp at Rin's side. The hand reached for his leg next and the process was repeated until both arms and legs hung uselessly at his side.

Ganten looked sadly at Rin as he dropped the boy to the ground. He still would have liked to take him as a companion, but... Thoughts shifting to his sister and father Ganten turned. Rin lay on the ground in pained shock, the only thing he could make his mind do was listen to Ganten's thoughts until the other boy was finally out of his range. When he was completely out of reach Rin allowed his sorrow to over take him and he wept; for some reason never before had he felt so alone.

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Uzu reached Tenmar and Iruka moment ahead of Kasai and smiled slightly at the scene before his eyes. They were sleeping on a very large branch of one of the giant trees around Konoha; Iruka was sitting up and leaning against the trunk of a tree while Tenmar was curled securely around the brunette, clutching him as if his life depended on the teacher. "Oi!" Uzu screamed, causing both men to jump to their feet. Tenmar had bandages tied around his waist, but it was obvious that the wounds were mostly healed; Iruka seemed to be in worse condition now, although it was apparent that that had not been the case when they fell asleep.

"Uzu!" Tenmar smiled at his brother. Normally being woken up in such a way was upsetting, but in light of the fact that Uzu was alive, Tenmar couldn't bring himself to get mad. "How's Naruto-sama and the others?"

Iruka also stared at him eyes wide, "Kakashi? Is he alright?"

Uzu shook his head, "Everyone was fine when I last saw them, but I have not yet seen Ganten; Kakashi and Daddy were in the process of fighting Kentaar when I left."

It was at this point that Kasai appeared, "Aidan..." He pushed his nose against his brother tentatively, "Is he...?"

Iruka turned to the fox, "He's sleeping. He was badly hurt, but I think he'll be fine."

Tenmar stood, "I'll send you both back now."

Uzu shook his head. "I agree that Aidan needs to go back, but we need Kasai and you need your chakara. Something's happening in Konoha, Daddy wants us to go help protect it."

"Why don't you send just Aidan back?" Iruka asked.

"It doesn't work that way." Kasai responded. "We can only go back and forth as a pair... It's fine." He announced, once again rubbing his nose against his brother's and whispering softly before glancing up at the humans. "Aidan is strong enough to survive and we can't leave cubs like you wandering around with no protection. Aidan can stay here alone; let's get to this Konoha quickly."

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Sasuke sighed as he glanced around himself. There was obviously a battle in the spot he was standing, the ground was torn up and scorched in a huge circle, one of the giant trees was also broken in half, but he had no clue what direction the three had gone from there. Obviously Kentaar had used the ball of flame in order to make a hasty escape, but what direct did he run in? And what direction did Kakashi and Naruto go? Normally Naruto left a trail obvious enough for a blind man to track him, but not this time, why'd the dobe have to pick this time to cover his trail?

Sasuke jumped quickly to the tops of the trees in hopes of seeing something from above. He could see movement in the direction back towards Konoha, but was that Naruto or something else? With a frustrated growl he followed his only lead, racing back in the direction of his town. "Naruto!"

"Sasuke-san." A quiet reply came, and Mina stepped out form behind a tree. She looked ill, her face was pale and her clothes were soaked with sweat, like she was fighting with an illness. "You talked to that woman, didn't you?" She stumbled forward, reaching out to Sasuke.

Sasuke took a step away from the girl as she tumbled towards him; forcing her to catch herself before she fell. He had trouble believing that Mina meant to kill either Naruto or her brothers, but Illia's story was still very fresh in his head. "Mina? Do you know where Naruto is?"

"HE is leading him to Konoha. Kentaar-" Suddenly the girl lurched forward, chocking and gasping for air. Without thinking Sasuke caught her as she was about to fall to the ground a second time.

"Mina!"

The red haired girl turned her head to face Sasuke, voice barely a whisper, "He's telling me to do things, but I don't want to listen... He wants me to kill you, Sasuke. I try to fight him, but it's so hard. You should kill me, before I loose control."

Sasuke shook his head as he stared down at the girl, logically he really should kill Mina, she was a danger to everyone that way she was now, and she was even aware enough of it that she was willing to sacrifice herself, but he couldn't do it. Naruto would never forgive him, hell he wasn't even sure that he would be able to forgive himself. He lay the girl on the ground then pulled a small vial from his pocket, "You'll be fine, I'll just drug you and bind your hands and feet and-"

Mina's back arched and she screamed in pain, eyes squeezed shut, "It won't work, you're already too late-" Her body began twisting and contorting, her eyes snapped open to reveal a eerie yellow glow and her arms and legs grew longer, her body, too, grew until she was almost as tall as the trees, hair was sprouting rapidly from all over her body. Sasuke was forced to retreat as her body continued to mutate. When it was over where Mina has once stood instead was one giant claw of the biggest wolf Sasuke has ever seen; it towered above the tree line and when it took a tentative step backward the world shook around it. For a moment its head snapped in Sasuke's direction, and he could see his own reflection in the enormous yellow eye, then, as if in pain, it lowered its head, shaking it like there was a bee buzzing around it but the moment passed and the creature that had been Mina turned her attention towards Konoha. With a mighty howl it leapt into the air and was gone. A chorus of hundreds, if not thousands of wolves returned the call.

A strong feeling began to well in Sasuke as he watched Mina disappear, even in wolf for she had enough control to keep herself from attacking him, but in sparing his life was now all of Konoha a sacrifice? "Shit."

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Shawn glared between his compatriots. He had eventually been forced to separate them, like bickering children. He gave a frustrated growl as he noticed the two of them stopping to stare at him with pitiful, begging eyes. "I told you that I'd separate you if you didn't get along, didn't I? Now get back to keeping lookout!"

Each of them heaved a long suffering sigh and looked back over the dark sea of wolves. The creatures had been deathly silent since they had heard that scream, but now it appeared that something was agitating them. Shawn leaned over the edge of the high wall as he heard the wolves snarl and then there was a blast of bright light.

"What the hell was THAT?" Yoh asked, also leaning over the edge as far as he could without falling over.

"There's people down there!" Saya exclaimed, pointing towards the spot directly beneath them. Now Shawn could see it, too, the blast must have been to clear a passage way, there were now three men and a giant dog running towards the wall, full force, but the wolves were recovering quickly. Just as the wolves were pouncing the biggest of the three men grabbed onto the smallest and together they all jumped. "Those idiots, they aren't gonna make it!"

Shawn nodded in silent agreement, it was hard to say the least to jump the wall from the outside, only the highest level ninja were able to do it easily, and if they started to fall, there was no grip on the wall to use as leverage to get back up and chakara wouldn't stick... With a thud the first of the three men slammed into Yoh, sending the confused man flying backwards as the other two men and what looked like a giant fox also perched on the wall.

"Sorry about that," the tall redheaded stranger was saying, holding his hand out to help Yoh up. "What were you doing, leaning over the side like that anyway? If you have time to stare you should have offered to help, you know most people probably can't manage that jump."

Shawn stared between the men in confusion, when his eyes caught on someone familiar. "Iruka-sensei?" He stepped forward, grabbing the brunette's arm. "What were you doing out there? What's going on?"

The man that had been holding onto Iruka answered, "The wolves are-" The man's words cut off as he tumbled forward, and Shawn noticed a puddle of blood beginning to form underneath his feet.

Iruka caught the tall man as he toppled to the ground. "I had a feeling you were pushing yourself too hard, bastard."

Tenmar shook his head, pushing Iruka away and standing once again. "I'll be fine! We need to warn people about Kentaar."

"What's a Kentaar?" Yoh asked. Before anyone could answer there was an earsplitting howling sound and the earth began to shake. Yoh looked down to see the wolves as one rear their heads and howl in response then, almost as if in a trance he looked up and his eyes caught on a giant yellow orb hanging unsteadily slightly above the tree line. It slowly moved closer. "What the...?"

"Dear God..." Saya muttered as a mouth the size of her apartment, barring fangs the size of her torso appeared almost an arms length away from them. "That's the biggest freakin wolf I've ever seen."

"That's a Kentaar." Uzu muttered, humorless smile twisting his face.

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Sakura: 88 clicking around on her computer 88

Naruto: 88 BIG sigh 88 Where's the old hag been for the last THREE MONTHS?????? I think she's forgotten about us!

Tenmar: Normally it wouldn't worry me, except... We were just in the middle of a BIG fight, what the hell's going on???

Ganten: Well, we know its not writers block, because those root things would be attacking again...

Sasuke 88 grumbling 88

Naruto: Well, whatever it is, it's gotta stop! Sasuke's been pouting ever since Illia showed up! Anyway, I want to know what's going on with Mina!

Sakura: 88 peeking over the top of the monitor to look at the others 88 Mina's Kentaar's daughter.

Naruto: ... Yeah... that makes sense...

Sasuke: 88 growling 88 But what about that evil she-demon possessing your body?

Illia: 88 hovering over Sasuke's shoulder 88 WHOM are you referring to, Sasuke- kun??

Naruto: 88 stepping between the two, tired, strained smile on his face 88 Now, now... Don't fight you two...

Sakura: 88 once again peeking over the computer 88 I think she's gonna be gone soon...

Naruto: 88 strained 88 She'd better; I'm SO tired of being the voice of reason.

Illia: 88 hurt88 What? You don't love me anymore? You don't want me around you?

Sasuke: 88 snorting88 I think THAT'S obvious.

Naruto: NO! That's NOT what I meant! I- sigh Of COURSE I love you, it's just, you ARE dead and Sakura ISN'T and I just... 88 putting on his saddest face88 I don't want to loose anyone else I care about ever again...sniffing

Illia: 88 floating over to Naruto88 Oh! No, I'm sorry! I've just been over emotional since this whole situation started... Sasuke and I won't fight, right Sasuke?

Sasuke: 88 glares at Illia, then looks at Naruto's sad face88 Fine! Whatever.

Naruto: 88 heaves a big sigh of relief, muttering88 thank God...

Uzu: 88walking by88 Yeah, you tow shouldn't take your frustration out on each other anyway. Save your anger for the person really at fault.

Naruto: 88 in a worried tone88 Who's that?

Uzu: Psychic-King-sama! She's obviously off enjoying herself with NO CARE for our well being. She hasn't even checked in to see if we're still alive.

Naruto: You know, I hadn't thought of it that way...

Sasuke: 88 dark light behind his eyes88 I have, oh I have...

Sakura: 88 once again peering over the monitor88 Um, guys? I'm all for ganging up on Psychic King-sama, but I think, before you all get gun ho about it, you should know that she's update-

Tenmar: 88 growling88 Argh! I can't believe I didn't see it before! She doesn't care about us at all! When she finally comes back, I think we should be ready...

Naruto: 88 eyebrows raised88 What do you think we should do? I mean, she acts like an idiot sometimes, but she's actually pretty wily.

Sasuke: 88 leaning in conspiratorially88 I've actually put some thought into this... What I think we need to do... 88 voice drops to a low whisper88

Psychic King: 88 hiding around a corner, looking towards readers88 Well, crap... Um, I think I'm just gonna stay right here for a while, but... If you are more forgiving than they are, please find it in your heart to review, but if not... please send complaints to my e-mail address (can't seem to make the link work...) ... There WILL be another chapter! I promise that I will have it out BEFORE the next three months pass... Actually, I do have it started, but I am not promising a time frame (fear of angry letters). I will warn you that if it's not out by Friday (not likely, I think) than it will be... not until the week after next. I debated if I should wait until the next chapter was ready before I release this one, but I decided that maybe I had waited long enough... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's the longest one yet, as a kind of apology (but I STILL didn't manage to finish the fight)...