Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge
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A/N: Okay… Maybe I didn't update last night. I blame drowsiness. I'm forcing myself to get to chapter ten so I can hook Mitsa and Sasuke up before the school year! What's troubling me with that is… HOW do I do it? Ack, I'll figure out the Shikamaru and Zeo fluff, but… that's just irking me. Oh well, I'll figure it out later. Niraku shall make another minor or major appearance in the chapter; I haven't decided which. Um… There are going to be little… heart-warming moments in this chapter, being as I'm tired, and when I'm tired, I tend to get all sympathetic and such. I have a little plan set out anyway. If Shikamaru and Zeo get fluff on chapter ten, they need to get close, ne? And if Mitsa and Sasuke actually get together… meaning… they need to have initial physical contact (You KNOW what I'm talking about), so something has to start. This ALL has to happen before the tenth chapter. Ugh, I hate myself for planning ahead before I actually make the chapters. (--;) Um… prepare for sappy moments, little apologies, and some gruesome little scenes I guess. Oh! And you all shall meet Nanji; Mitsa's, Alona's, and Zeo's sensei! Oh, and… There's a scene between Gaara and Delana, too. Ugh, this'll be a long chapter. (--;)
To Anna: There's your review. And right after I update, too. I can almost always an update from you, hun. Okay, I'm not worried. I figured you were reformatting your computer or something or the sort.
Warning and disclaimer: This chapter may include grotesque content and/or offensive language. Also, this chapter is intended to be mildly fluffy. If you have something against fluff or something along the lines of, please refrain from reading this chapter or when you happen to come to the portion of the chapter with that, simply skip over it. I shall try my best to give you an idea of what happened if they speak about anything important. (This most likely will happen, unfortunately…) Oh, and I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever. I just really, really like Sasuke and Kiba. Therefore I own them.
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Chapter 6: Ones Who Must Be
Protected
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"Orochimaru's back?!" Gai almost screamed, but kept his voice hushed so the Genins couldn't hear him. This shouldn't have been a big surprise, really. As long as Orochimaru was alive, there would still be inevitable and imminent attempts to get all of the Ninja countries at war. Mitsa's ears twitched continuously. Zeo's chocolate brown eyes gazed at the child, as did Alona's emerald green ones.
"What's wrong, Mitsa?"
Alona's voice rang through Mitsarugi's ears, catching her attention immediately. Her sentence brought the eleven year old back to reality. "Well, let me put this simply…" Sasuke and Sakura looked over at the trio curiously, Ino bitching to Shikamaru, and Naruto… well, being Naruto. Mitsa tossed her hair to the side, then dropped her voice to a whisper.
"Orochimaru is back."
At this, Alona and Zeo kept their face neutral. They wouldn't make a big deal out of this. They couldn't. Besides, there was a likely chance that they'd find out eventually anyway. Alona fiddled with a strand of her red hair idly while Kakashi, Gai, and Tsunade made their way back to the clearing. The blonde haired woman wore a serious facial expression, and her Hokage necklace moved a bit over her –quite large- chest. Kakashi and Gai followed ever-so slowly behind, their faces lacking the ability to offer and expression. "Okay, everyone." Tsunade began, focusing her gaze on all eight rookie ninjas. (A/N: Yes. Eight. Delana isn't currently here for a reason…) Oh, how would she do this? She couldn't put them into teams of three, that wouldn't be fair. Because then there would be two teams of three and one team of two. That wouldn't work.
Wait. What about four teams of two?
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. Orochimaru is back, and you all are the selected ninjas that are to go investigate his current… condition, I guess." She nodded slightly, then continued to bear her gaze on the kids. "Since there's eight of you, I'll put you into partners." Kakashi and Gai looked at Tsunade. Why not just make two teams of four, hmm? That'd increase their chance of SURVIVAL. But it is not wise to question a Hokage's decision. "Sakura, I'd like for you to go with Alona. Naruto, you go with Ino.--" A loud grunt was heard at that. Apparently, Ino didn't seem fond of this 'pairing'. She flailed her arms a bit in annoyance, then just gave up. NEVER yell at Tsunade-sama. "Mitsa, you and Sasuke are to be partners." Two shrugs were seen at that. "And Zeo, that leaves you with Shikamaru." Zeo glanced at Shikamaru, who had let out a, "How troublesome…" He seemed so lazy. So ignorant. But Zeo… was used to people like that, so she'd adapt to him just fine.
Alona had no objection to her pairing. She had nothing against Sakura, really. The same thing applied for Mitsa and Sasuke. To Sasuke, Mitsarugi was tolerable and vice versa. They'd be just doing a mission, nothing more. Tsunade nodded, seeing as nobody had any objections. "Alright. You all are dismissed. You all know that he's in Sound village, so it's your job to go, get information, then come back immediately. In fact, even if you don't get information in these five days that you are given, report back anyway. I'm not taking risks. If any problem occurs, and persists, meaning if you get caught by a sound ninja, I want one partner to return Konoha to get help. Is that understood?" Sakura gulped before she joined everyone in nodding. "Alright then…" The blonde said, moving some blonde strands of hair from out of her face. "Good luck." (A/N: I'm going to not focus on Sakura/Alona and Naruto/Ino right now. They will come back in later, but not now. I'm itching to get some random fluff started so I won't have to worry about having it in the next chapter. And we all know that Orochimaru is after Zeo and Mitsa. So let's focus on them, ne?)
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In the woods, in some random cave miles and miles away from Sound village; 9:00 PM
It's raining… Mitsa idly sat against the rock wall of the cave. Her hair was drenched, the chestnut locks now turned into dark brown compacted individual strands. In all honesty, she didn't like the rain. Fortunately, there wasn't any thunder or lightening. Otherwise she'd be screaming. Mitsa had a phobia against storms generally, but rain was something she merely didn't like. It wasn't as if she despised it or anything. Sasuke was out trying to find some wood to start a fire. Oh, right. That's another thing. Mitsa hated the dark. How wonderful, two things she hated in one day.
In a few minutes, the raven haired boy had made his way back to the cave with some wood. He worked away at a fire, slightly getting frustrated. The young female ninja rolled her eyes, placed her hands over his, then began the make the fire properly. "You aren't doing it correctly, Sasuke…" she whispered agitatedly, trying to blow on the fire to get it going. Sasuke grunted. "You haven't changed. Still have to be the one who does everything right, huh?"
---
In another random cave; around 9:35 PM
She had caused the rain. And he knew she had. He had said something that upset her so much, she just started to cry. He hadn't known he had upset her to a certain extent until the droplets had actually begun to fall. Shikamaru had hurt Zeo, unintentional or not. So now he was here, cradling the girl in his arms, trying not to scowl. To him, this seemed…. A little awkward. Here he was, being affectionate to an older girl. To him, this seemed strange. To him, this was a new emotion. And yet, Shikamaru didn't care, really.
Zeo had obviously been thinking the same thing. But she still rested in his embrace, allowing his chin to rest on her head. The boy who was holding her stared idly out at the rain, counting the raindrops that fell. Of course, he wouldn't get an accurate amount. It just kept falling. His jacket was laid on the girl's shoulder to keep her warmer. As if it wasn't cold enough in the cave generally, the rain just made the temperature even more. Shikamaru had been on autopilot when he gave her his jacket, really. Right when he felt her shiver… the jacket was on. Really he didn't know what was running through his brain right now. "So Orochimaru's after you, Zeo?" Shikamaru asked, annoyance stripped from his voice.
"Yeah…"
Shikamaru twitched slightly at this. No, he didn't like-like Zeo. He simply cared about her as a teammate right now. Now he knew he'd have to protect her. Whether he liked it, or not.
---
Mitsarugi smiled slightly at the Uchiha's comment. "I guess so…" The fire had started, enlightening her facial characteristics. Sasuke took this as the time to see how she'd grown and what changed. He looked at her eyes; they were different. Her cheekbones had given them more of an upwards slant, and their original soft blue color had turned to more of and icy aqua shade. Her hair had grown longer, no doubt. When he remembered seeing her last, she had shoulder length hair. Now, let's put this simply. She sure as hell had hair longer than should length. Everything else pretty much was the same facial wise; the bandage on the cheek, the small scar near her lip which she had gotten from having shuriken practice with him when she was five… Yes, nothing else had changed.
"You guess so?" He continued a little playfully with a smirk. This took Mitsarugi by surprise slightly. Sasuke's acting playful? Looks like the world's stopped revolving. But nonetheless, she continued to play, too. "Alright, alright. I know I'm still the same." She replied, using her trademark eye-roll and quirked brow. Mitsarugi then continued, "I guess I'll have to change, then. Besides, when I have to do everything perfectly, people get annoyed." The eleven year old poked the fire with a stick, ignoring some raindrops that –somehow- had managed to get inside the cave. As the water droplets inched down her skin, the raven haired boy looked away. No…
"Hey, Mitsa?"
She looked over, "Mm-hmm?" Sasuke looked back over, shifting his gaze towards the chestnut-haired leaf kunoichi. "Don't…" Mitsarugi blinked. What was he saying? "…. Poke the fire too much." Oh. Okay. There we go. She gave a slight nod, then put the stick down. "Okay…" The conversation thus ended, and Mitsarugi hugged her knees from being cold. Although the heat from the fire was keeping the two ninjas warm, then rain cancelled out the heat which radiated. Rain drops continued to fall, and they still continued to trickle down Mitsarugi's face. She shivered slightly, then adjusted her position where she was sitting. Sasuke gave a quick glance over to his former 'friend', then hoisted her up onto his lap. This, indeed, slightly surprised her, and she just got even more surprised when he wrapped his arms loosely around her mid-waist. "Calm down, this is just to keep us from freezing to death." Oh. Fun.
However, had she been listening closely, she would have listened past the slight irritation in his voice and heard the amusement.
---
Zeo had eased down a bit, while Shikamaru's grip had slowly tightened. All this was new to him, really. But only slightly. He had seen the way Ino gawked over Sasuke previously, so he had the idea of what this 'romance' thing was all about. Of course, he considered that troublesome. And, of course, he still did. This, technically, wasn't 'romance'. This was just a friendly little gesture or something of the sort that he did to calm Zeo down. It was odd; originally, he would have thought this as troublesome, too. Shikamaru just isn't the kind of guy to get all 'mushy', per se, on someone. But oddly enough, he didn't. And knowing this, he immediately assumed that this was going to be a very bad day…
… Just like every other day.
Zeo's white hair rested on her shoulders, and down her back. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned the area outside still. The rained continued to pour, and she noted that. It would probably still rain all night. She had gotten that upset, really. Personally, she was used to being harassed. But Shikamaru had just said it so coldly, so… well, uncaring, because he didn't care, that it struck a nerve. He had said he was sorry though. I guess Shikamaru just doesn't realize when he's hurting someone really badly. But he had said that he'd protect her from Orochimaru just to apologize. Maybe he's not such a lazy-ass bastard after all? Shikamaru had also been staring out at the rain. He had been counting the drops still, 205, 206, 207… Gah, I lost count. How troublesome. 1, 2, 3….
After awhile, counting droplets got boring. So idly, he played with Zeo's long hair. Semi-drowsy, young Zeo didn't mind. So she let him continue, still watching the rain go. Eventually, she wondered if it would stop. It was common sense to know that it would stop before morning, but since in some cases, she causes weather abnormalities based on her emotions… she didn't really know. Hopefully the rain would stop, though. They needed to get moving, really. Because after today, they'd only have four days left. And in all honesty? That wasn't much time considering the fact that….
… They were more than one hundred miles away from Sound village.
Submitting into slumber, Shikamaru relaxed his grip on the girl with the advanced bloodline. His eyes were closed, his scowl ever present. Zeo slowly shut her eyes, too, hiding the chocolate brown pools. And before they knew it, they were both asleep, resting up for the long days ahead of them.
---
Mitsarugi had leaned against Sasuke to use her body-heat to keep him warm. He didn't shrug her off. Hey, they needed to be warm, right? He rested his head on the wall of the cave, keeping his eyes shut. Sasuke would have to get up early tomorrow, and bring Mitsarugi along too, whether she was tired or not. So in all honesty, he had to get her to sleep. "Hey, Mitsa." The child let out a drowsy, "Mm-hmm..?" at that. Maybe he wouldn't have to force her into sleeping after all. He knew she'd eventually fall asleep, so he just started a conversation. "Are you going to be ready when we reach Sound village? We aren't going to stop to rest, you know that, right?" She slightly winced at these words, causing Sasuke to smirk. "Yeah… I'll be ready." Mitsarugi sounded somewhat unsure when she said these words. Sasuke quirked a brow, "You're afraid." Damn. He knows me too well. He catches every single emotion I try to hide in my voice.
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"
The raven-haired Uchiha smirked yet again. "No. I can read you like a book. I do remember knowing you as a kid?" She nodded at that. "Yeah…" Her eyes closed, and she leaned her head backward, thus making her head rest on Sasuke's shoulder. Yet again, he didn't move. He simply closed his eyes, then continued to talk. "You're afraid of Orochimaru." The boy said in a matter-of-factly tone. She nodded her head in answer. "I remember that new ninja girl…. Delana? Saying that Orochimaru is after me and Zeo. Maybe more people." Sasuke slightly twitched at that. Maybe more people. People like him. People with advanced bloodlines. People…
… Who, in a way, were dying for power.
Now, Zeo was the one with the power. She didn't need any extra strength, and that probably caught Orochimaru's eye. But for him and Mitsarugi… they needed that power to kill Itachi. And they'd get that power and kill him. Together. He slightly adjusted his position in which he was sitting. "Well, then. I can see why you're a bit nervous. This is somewhat a risky mission for you then." Another nod came from the shivering eleven year old kunoichi, and Sasuke tightened his grip just a bit. "I guess I'll have to protect you. Like I usually did, back then." Now, the Mitsarugi on the outside just nodded her head thankfully. The Mitsarugi inside of her was practically jumping for joy. "And I'll protect you, even if you don't need it." Sasuke smiled slightly at that. The eleven year old continued on, practically asleep now. "…. And don't say I'm too weak to help, 'cause I've gotten stronger…"
With that, she fell asleep. The raven-haired Uchiha smirked slightly, rested his head on the cave wall, then closed his eyes also. I wasn't going to.
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Day two of the trip; somewhere near the middle border of SoundVillage and Konoha; 3:00 PM
The rain had stopped, and the ground was slightly muddy do to the heavy downfall. This made things more difficult for Zeo, Mitsarugi, Shikamaru, and Sasuke. However, since they had been in the forest, they made their way by jumping from tree to tree. Both pairs had gotten out of their caves at different times; Zeo and Shikamaru got out around 9 AM, while Mitsarugi and Sasuke had made their way out of the cave around three in the morning. As you could probably assume, Mitsarugi was somewhat tired and grumpy, but she kept hopping throughout the forest without a fuss. The last thing she and Sasuke needed was a problem that was whined about.
Zeo had been following right behind Shikamaru, who had already had a map of the forest ready. He knew where to go, and that made life easier, really. "We're about… Sixty miles away from Sound village. We've made great time, but then again, we took some shortcuts. From here on out, there won't be a shortcut. It'll take longer, now." The white haired ex-Mist ninja nodded, brushing some of her hair strands away from her face. They were getting close to the village now; that was good. Her feet were starting to hurt anyway, and they hadn't stopped since. The same thing applied for Mitsarugi and Sasuke.
They were much closer to Sound village than Zeo and Shikamaru were. Of course, Mitsarugi and Sasuke had left a lot earlier than the other two did. They had been walking and jumping for twelve hours straight, without any breaks. The trip didn't faze Sasuke that much apparently, But Mitsarugi… Even she has limits. The raven haired boy paused on a tree branch. The chestnut haired ninja stood by him, panting slightly. From the view of the tree branch, you could see Sound village. "We have to be careful." The Uchiha commented quietly, resting a hand on the tree trunk. "We're in the Sound territory now. They most likely have ninjas surrounding the area." She nodded at that to reply. Quickly, they were off the tree branch and into the forest which led to the village.
Zeo and Shikamaru had certainly gotten farther through the forest. In fact, they were now in the forest were Mitsarugi and Sasuke once were. Shikamaru halted his movements, then scanned over the village, "The gates are heavily guarded. I'm not sure how we'll get in. No doubt, we'll have to sneak in. Doushite wazurawashii…" He scowled, then turned to face Zeo. "Think you could conjure up something to distract them? Maybe make lightning hit a building to occupy them?" The snow-haired female leaf ninja shrugged lightly. "Maybe." His gaze didn't waver from the ninja until he processed information that could effect Zeo's decision towards that. The young Nara didn't dwell upon the matter too much, though. "Alright. Let's get going." They both nodded, then hopped off further into the forest.
Mitsarugi had held up until they reached the wall barrier. There weren't any signs of Sound ninjas so far, but they knew they would appear soon. Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Alona had most likely taken care of surrounding outside ninjas. Both of those pairs were issued earlier to take care of the ninjas before the next two pairs came in. All four of them were most likely waiting to get in right now. Sasuke looked around the area, "… I don't know how we'll get in." The kunoichi rubbed her temple while thinking, then looked around the area. She saw a hole in the wall. "That's probably where they came in," she began quietly, attempting to figure out the size of the hole. "I'm sure of it. We were told to meet at the east gate, anyway. This is the east gate, and if they were supposed to be here before us…" Mitsarugi discontinued that comment, then turned to the raven-haired Uchiha. "You're about Naruto's size, just taller. You should fit through the hole." And so, the two crawled through the hole in the wall, sprinting over to the hideout where Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Alona were waiting.
Shikamaru and Zeo had also made their way to the wall. Zeo's hair was frizzed now from the damp weather and constant movement, but she didn't bother to fix it. "I guess I won't have to start a storm." She said hoarsely, trying to catch her breath. The lazy ninja gave a nod to reply to that, "Apparently so. They're most likely already waiting for us in the shack." A nod was then offered as a reply to Shikamaru from the older ninja. "Let's go." He said agitatedly, becoming quite frustrated as he failed to get through the hole. With a quick push, Zeo forced Shikamaru in, then followed along afterwards. They had also made their way over to the hideout.
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Somewhere in the main office in Sound village; 5:25 PM
"They're in the area, Orochimaru-sama."
The pale-skinned Sound village leader nodded his head knowingly, a grin planted on his snake-like face. "I know, Niraku. Is Zeo, Mitsa-chan, and Sasuke-kun with them?" The blonde was stretching out her arm, getting herself ready. She nodded, her silver eyes shielded by her eyelids. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama. They're all together. Only, the other five ninjas I'm sure you take no particular interest in unless you're after two lovesick ninjas, one obnoxious and loud brat, a lazy-ass kid, or a useless beginner medic-nin." At that, a dark figure pushed up its spectacles. It arrived in the room, then leaned on the door post. It was silent, quite irked that the woman had somewhat insulted Alona.
"What's bothering you, Kabuto?"
Kabuto had walked out of the shadows, his pony-tail, ever present. His face was streaked with hints of annoyance as he shifted his gaze off of Orochimaru and onto Niraku. "She's not a useless beginner medic-nin. I don't think you've ever read her information, Niraku-san." The muscular blonde simply shrugged. She didn't care, really. "It's not my job to analyze people, kiddo. I wouldn't know. Would you like me to go now, Orochimaru-sama?" The man with bandaged hands nodded his head, and at that, the woman hopped off, her senbon ready in a pocket. "Do you have any information for me, Kabuto?" The silver haired spectacled adolescent nodded, then tossed three cards to Orochimaru. "There's that information you requested on Sasuke-kun, Mitsa-chan, and that Zeo girl. It's quite… funny how when a person is drowsy, they tend to let out information." The snake-like Sannin grinned at Kabuto, "Who are you tricking now, Kabuto?"
"A girl named Nikko."
---
In the hideout, all eight leaf ninjas sat quietly. Sakura and Ino sat by Sasuke, of course, Alona sat by Zeo, Naruto sat by Sakura, and Mitsarugi just leaned on the wall. With a quick 'poof', a woman, around twenty three, appeared in front of the Genins. She had a smile planted on her face, with her hitai-ate tied tightly to her upper left thigh. Her auburn hair rested on her shoulders and went no further. The woman had quite tanned skin, and light brown eyes with hints of green and gold mixed in. This older ninja could clearly be identified as Nanji Mitashi; Zeo, Alona, and Mitsarugi's sensei. The emerald-eyed redhead beamed, "Nanji-sensei! What are you doing here?" The Jounin kept her smile plastered onto her fine face as she ignored her student's antics. "I'm supposed to be your temporary sensei here. Tsunade-sama sent me to make sure you all at least come back in one piece. I cannot help you while you are gathering information, however."
Every one of the Genins gave a slight nod at that, then were dismissed from the premises. Ino and Naruto had gone to search near the west gate, Alona and Sakura at the south gate, Shikamaru and Zeo at the west gate, and Mitsarugi and Sasuke at the east gate. They'd wait until sundown to go to the main office at Sound village; most of the ninjas needed to be off guard.
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In the forest clearing in Konoha; 6:00 PM
"So the Kazekage wants to make ties with Konoha?" This voice belonged to Tsunade. The Sand-nin trio stood in front of the Hokage, nodding. Delana stood next to Gaara; she was… well, assigned to keep Gaara in line. Tsunade had caught wind of the incident in the ramen shop. "That's right, Tsunade-sama." The blonde known as Temari began, leaning forth on her giant fan. Her blonde hair was down right now, due to the fact that it was getting frizzed from the pony-tails. Gaara shot constant death glares at Delana, his arms crossed. He still didn't like her too much, right now.
Likewise for Delana, she wasn't… that fond of Gaara. Indeed, she though he was cute. Indeed, she knew that he was a cold hearted bastard. Still, though, she wasn't too fond of Gaara personality-wise. Her deep black hair was styled into a tight ponytail, which rested in front of her shoulder, on her stomach. Thus, her braid was resting on her fish-net shirt-thing. Her face remained emotionless, and she remained silent. Delana wasn't allowed to talk about any of this. 'Special Hokage-business' was what Tsunade claimed it as.
Tsunade idly played with her Hokage necklace, "Give me about two days to decide this. You can just blame your absence and tardy arrival at the village on me. I have to think this through. You three may stay at the guest ninja quarters. Delana, continue to keep Gaara in line." The blonde nodded, gave a slight wave, then walked off. Temari nodded at the Hokage, then ushered her two brothers away to the ninja quarters. Delana returned a glare to Gaara, then walked off to her house. She'd have to get rested up. According to what she figured from Gaara, he'd make her life a living hell.
Well, for now.
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Sound village; 7:00 PM
"My, aren't you all comfortable?"
The pairs had gotten together. That, on their account, was somewhat of a bad move, but hey, they WERE supposed to gather information and they weren't given direct instructions how to do it. Niraku stood before them, her blonde hair now tied up into a ponytail instead of resting on her shoulders. In between the slits of her fingers were senbon, and Niraku, of course, was ready to strike. Yet, she could only hurt the five ninjas that had no importance to Orochimaru. Alona tossed her red hair, "My, you're quite annoying. Why are you following us?"
As if on cue, a familiar silver haired ninja came in to the scene.
K-Kabuto?! The redhead took a step back from surprise. Mitsarugi stood in shock. "You're working from Orochimaru?!" The child hissed, her words dripping with poison. Zeo glanced at the eleven year old leaf ninja beside of her, her face emotionless. She knew something like this would happen. From the beginning, she hadn't really trusted Kabuto. His smile seemed fake as it were, anyway. No one can keep a smile that genuine plastered onto their face without having a secret motive. It just… wasn't possible.
Sasuke twitched slightly. He had known of Kabuto's ties with Orochimaru, along with Naruto and Sakura. The spectacled nineteen year old nodded, pushing up his –ever so- circular glasses with his index finger. That was the only emotion he offered as an answer to that. Alona took this in slowly, processing the information through her brain. She couldn't believe this. All this time, she had been friends with… with a criminal, or something of this sort. Kabuto smirked, "Now, Alona. Even with that shocked face, you're still an unmistakably cute Genin. I guess it's too late to say, 'Don't take this personally.'?"
Damn right it's too late.
Alona's face suddenly changed from surprised to angry. The silver haired medical-nin snickered lightly. "Oh? Now you're giving me a scary face? I'm supposed to be afraid?" The old Yakushi continued to taunt, and sooner or later, Niraku snapped. "Stop it, Kabuto-kun. We aren't here for your personal entertainment." Quickly wiping the smirk off his face, Kabuto nodded, then fumbled with the scalpel hand jutsu. "As you can probably assume…" Niraku began, her low feminine voice ringing through the air. Nanji watched idly in the forest not to far from the scene. She'd be ready to get the students in case something bad happened. "… We're going to kill you all. Except for Zeo, Mitsa-chan, and Sasuke-kun, of course…"
Typical. They should have seen that coming.
Sasuke and Mitsarugi twitched. Mitsarugi hadn't been surprised when Sasuke's name turned up, and it was vice-versa for Sasuke. Looks like Sasuke's early predictions were correct, like they usually were. Ino looked quite upset, flailing her arms around in the air. "Well, why Mitsa-chan or Zeo-san?!" Take note, she didn't say Sasuke's name. The blonde woman didn't even answer the question. Kabuto had already hopped down to the Genins, and touched Naruto and Ino's legs, causing them to collapse to the ground. The spectacled Genin lifted a hand daringly at Alona. "So… Alona. You knew the would happen eventually. How are you going to act?"
In all honesty, Alona didn't know.
Sasuke, Mitsarugi, and Zeo stayed close together. They had each others backs. Niraku smirked down upon the three ninjas, twirling a senbon. "Well, now. Let's get ready to play, shall we?"
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A/N: Ugh. Yet again, I feel icky after this. Anna, I promise the next chapter will have lots more scenes with Delana and Gaara. This chapter sort of had to focus on Mitsa, Sasuke, and Zeo, you know? Gomen-nasai! Don't shun me, all-mighty Anna! Believe me, I have some good stuff planned, though.
Preview of the next chapter: "Play, huh?" The chestnut-haired kunoichi mimicked mockingly, changing her tone slightly. Niraku pursed her lips at this, then squinted her eyes in agitation. Sasuke let out a smirk, but Zeo kept her face emotionless. The old blonde through a senbon down at the Genins, but they easily side-stepped it. "She's just toying with us." The Uchiha exclaimed agitatedly, cracking his knuckles. Zeo had already clasped a kunai in her hand, and Mitsarugi was unwrapping her full bandaged right arm. She'd have to use some of her advanced bloodline jutsus in this situation. Sasuke had already summoned his Sharingan, the once onyx-black pupils now adapting to more of a blood red shade. Niraku's pursed lips molded into a smirk. Oh, yes. Let's test their powers to almost a full extent, shall we? "Are you ready, kiddies?"
"Bring it."
Okay. I TRIED to make this chapter really really long, and I'm VERY tired. Please don't complain about this being a short chapter. (--;) 'Till next time. Mada Mada Dane…