A/N: Much thanks to those that reviewed! Encouragement is always appreciated… Also, for some reason my emoticons aren't showing up when I upload my documents, so just imagine a happy-eyed smiley at the end of every A/N, okay?

Disclaimer: I forgot to put this into the prologue. Oh, well. You all know perfectly well that the wonderful world of Kishimoto belongs to him, not me. What does belong to me are Sabaki, Yuumoya, and all other OCs in this fanfic.

"Sabaki, pay attention!"

She had been staring rather dreamily at Kanake-kun, head resting in the palm of her right hand, eyes half-shut as she sighed. He was the cutest hunk of thirteen-year-old Genin she'd ever seen. How could she not have an immense crush on him? Fortunately, Kanake in turn seemed to think the same about her, because Tomeko, her other teammate, had revealed that sometimes, when Sabaki wasn't looking, he would also stare at her. And why wasn't Tomeko jealous? She liked a certain dark, mysterious boy from Team 4.

So she hadn't exactly been paying attention to Gasumi-sensei's instructions, but that was hardly a plausible reason for him to yell at her, right? Wrong. Knees buckled, shoulders shaking, and grinning apologetically at her teacher, Sabaki quailed as he scolded her again for daydreaming. It was a recurring problem, but she was trying to fix it! Really!

"Now, back to what I was saying. In order to successfully climb these trees like I've told you, you'll have to focus chakra into the soles of your feet, like so, then keep it there while you- Sabaki!"

With a jump, she blinked innocently at her sensei. "What?" Kanake-kun and Tomeko-chan snickered.

Gasumi-sensei shut his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if on the verge of having a bad migraine. "Sabaki, come here for a moment. We need to discuss something..."

As considerable as her headache had been when she woke up the first time, the throbbing in her temples was really bad this time around. Sabaki opened her eyes for a split second, then shut them tightly, groaning. She couldn't even think, much less see straight. After half a minute of lying against the wall and resting, the pain ebbed.

Had that been a dream? Just before she regained consciousness, she recalled the scene where Gasumi-sensei had been trying to teach them how to wall-walk, yet she was distracted by Kanake-kun... At the thought of her deceased teammate, her throat grew tight. Sabaki fought back tears and let out her breath in a hiss.

Those murderers. Those stinking murderers. It was their fault. That intimidating stalker man, Yuumoya, and his two subordinates, the redheaded boy with the kunai whip and the dark-haired one with the emotionless face. All their fault. Why hadn't she died along with her teammates? It would've been better to have passed on to the afterlife in an honorable fight, not be captured and left alone in a dark prison to rot and be tortured...

But Sabaki remembered something Yuumoya had said. He required her 'services'. She hadn't the faintest clue what he meant by that, since she was far from being the best Genin in Hidden Cloud and had no special skills to offer. Heck, even Tomeko-chan's ability had been better than hers. Truthfully, she was always relying on their support to get by.

But they're not here now, are they? They're dead, and you're going to have to fend for yourself against who knows what dangers...

Suddenly, the steel door opened. Thinking it was the creepy Yuumoya come to suck memories out of her brain again, Sabaki leapt her feet, instinctively reaching for a kunai but brushing only empty air. Right, they'd confiscated her weapons... Gritting her teeth, she prepared for the worst.

However, it wasn't Yuumoya standing in the doorway, but that dark-haired boy. He was wearing a shirt with a thick collar, the sleeves extending just a little past his elbows. His pants reached just above his ankles, where the rest was bandaged to his feet. His whole outfit, including his sandals and two belts looped around his waist, were dark brown like his hair. A weapon pouch was tied to his left leg.

He stepped into the room, glaring at her for some reason, and make a noise that sounded suspiciously like a condescending 'feh'. Then, much to her shock, he tossed two very familiar holsters and a cloth bag in her direction. They landed at her feet.

She glanced at the offered objects, then back up at him. "What?"

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head slowly as if dealing with an especially ignorant child. "Those weapons are yours, aren't they? Yuumoya-sensei told me to return them to you. But I warn you, try anything funny and I won't hesitate to widen those cuts in your arms."

Voice as cold and compassionate as ice, kind of like Yuumoya. So, the tall, silver-haired stalker had students? Sabaki quietly swallowed at the thought of how the boy might go about reinforcing his threat, and knelt down to re-strap her holsters to her thighs. The cloth bag contained her missing senbon and explosive tags, which she gratefully put back into the pockets of her jacket.

"Um... thanks, I guess."

"Hn. Well, you're being moved. Follow me."

He turned to go, but stopped as she asked, "Moved? Moved where?" They couldn't blame her for being wary. For all she knew, he was about to lead her off to be killed, like a lamb at the slaughter. Or for some painful method of interrogation, in which she doubted she would survive, since her endurance wasn't all that great and besides, she had no information to give up.

The boy blinked once, then narrowed his eyes, obviously irritated. "Are you always this stupid or is it a special day?" One eyebrow was raised.

"What did you just say?" Despite having her life in reasonable jeopardy here, Sabaki couldn't help but be insulted by his rhetorical question. Kidnap her, hurt her if you want, but nasty comments like that weren't needed! But she was quickly stared down, and smiled nervously while cautiously shuffling towards him. "Uh, s-sorry. I didn't mean that. I'll come." She gulped again and discovered newfound interest in the floor.

Appearing to be satisfied by her resignation, the boy nodded curtly and led her out of the prison.

She'd been expecting a dark, stony hallway lit by torches that curved into an underground labyrinth, where any captive that tried to escape would only become hopelessly lost and die of starvation. Sure enough, she saw a torch when she took the last step out of her cell, but it was situated on a metal wall, and to her right was only a dead end with a large painting of a bloody rose, not a maze of doom. To her left was a staircase leading up, presumably to the rest of this place.

No words were exchanged as the two Genin climbed the staircase, each step creaking heavily as they went. Thanks to her slight limp, the stairs creaked even more loudly for her.

Sabaki followed him through an empty room with peeling red paint, underneath an indoor arch with words eroded by age, down a corridor with two tapestries depicting peasants at their daily work, and finally, up a second staircase where her new home was waiting for her, behind a door that bore a large 'X' scratched in by a sharp object. She noticed that the door was wooden this time... In fact, a quick look around confirmed that the other half dozen or so doors on this floor were all made of wood.

Patience was not a virtue with the boy, for he grabbed her roughly by the upper arm, wrenched open the door, and shoved her inside, closing it firmly behind them. Wincing, she backed away and took care to keep at least five feet from his person at all times... And then she noticed the furniture in this room.

There was a white mattress on the floor, no springs or support of any kind, just a mattress. A tall cabinet stood beside it, but whether it was locked or even contained anything she wasn't sure yet, and a single lamp, a tall gray one, sat in a corner. It was lit but curiously unplugged. What interested her the most however, was the window. A set of bedraggled curtains hung limply over it, and she could see that the glass had not been polished in a long time. It was dark out, meaning it was nighttime...

If there was a window, and it could be opened, perhaps she could escape from this place.

Unfortunately, the boy seemed to read her thoughts and cut in, "Don't even think about leaving." He added darkly, "Chinji and I went through a lot of trouble to catch you, and if we have to chase you again, well... Let's just say I can't guarantee the merchandise won't be harmed." And he tapped the pouch on his leg.

Something in his words told Sabaki he was serious. Maybe it was that icy edge, or the bare hint of sadism riding along his tongue, or the sheer calm with which he spoke, but she knew that she was putting her neck on the line if she so much as touched that window. Trying hard to smile, she walk-limped over to the mattress and sat down, sending up clouds of dust. She coughed.

Silence. She looked at him, waiting for him to leave, but he didn't budge, only stood there with his hands in his pockets, scrutinizing her. Kami-sama, did he learn to stare from Yuumoya? It was unnerving. In an attempt to stop him and bring some sanity back to herself, she asked, "...So, what's your name? I'm Sabaki. Nice to-"

Nice to meet him? Oh, puh-lease. It was an awkward moment, one that made her think she shouldn't have opened her mouth at all. His glare decisively hardened, and she offered another apprehensive smile, a bead of cold sweat rolling down the side of her head.

"...Tsuimaru."

"Huh?" It came so abruptly it took her a moment to realize that that was his name. "Oh!" Damn, she looked so intelligent right now...

His eye twitched. Sabaki gulped. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't... I mean... Er, what I meant to say-"

"You asked me for my name and I gave it to you, yet you were too slow-minded to realize it, right?"

"Right. Wait, no!" She frantically shook her head, then glared at Tsuimaru. For the briefest of moments, a very crazy and brief moment, she felt as if they were friends, teasing each other, and she almost stuck her tongue out at him. But of course the weight of reality came crashing down on her, and Sabaki grew nervous again, chewing on her bottom lip.

It could've transformed into something nasty. But their little conversation was interrupted by the spontaneous opening of the door. It slammed into the wall, painful squeaks emitting from the hinges, and sent more dust flying up. Sabaki tensed.

It was the other boy, the one who'd cut both her arms and her ankle with his kunai chain. The same boy with a head of fiery red hair, formed into thin spikes that were swept messily backwards. He wore no shirt, but a pair of loose black pants, a sash the color of gold dust around his waist. There was a brown scarf around his neck, and Sabaki could see a fang earring dangling from his left earlobe, so white it gleamed and made his pale skin look almost sickly. It was Tsuimaru's companion, Chinji.

He wasn't carrying the whip with him, but the expression on his face was enough to scare the wits out of her. His pupils were dark and ridiculously tiny against the whites of his eyes, giving him a crazed, predatory gleam that was only helped along by his smirk. Chinji had long canines. Very long, very sharp-looking, very vampiric canines...

Raw fear swallowed Sabaki, rendering her unable to move as he turned his unsettling gaze on her. She might have very well fainted, again, had Tsuimaru not spoken up.

"Did you bring it?" he inquired in a bored tone.

Chinji nodded and held up his white hand, showing that he was holding... a cup of instant ramen? What on earth? "Hai, Tsuimaru-san. Dinner for the girl is served like Yuumoya-sensei commanded."

She was thunderstruck. Cup ramen? Dinner for her? Sabaki's mouth remained in its same slightly-agape position as Chinji set the food on the floor of the room and lay a pair of unbroken chopsticks on top. Now, she was puzzled beyond belief. She was a prisoner in this place, right? Meant to be tortured and interrogated, put under extreme duress and broken so information could be extracted? Yet, the injuries they'd inflicted on her had been bandaged by them, they had moved her from a cell to a nice room with a window, had brought her food, and weren't even hurting her...

Yuumoya must've needed her 'services' more than she thought. But what did he want?

"You should eat it before it gets cold," Tsuimaru cut in. "Or before Chinji decides to eat it." The aforementioned boy laughed in the same insane manner as Sabaki had heard the night she was attacked.

Despite feeling fatigued and having no appetite, she nodded and picked up the ramen, quietly breaking the chopsticks. As she was about to dig in, she realized they were still in the room. A definite staring problem they had, all of them. "What?" she asked, maybe a little more rudely than would've been wise.

Chinji was laughing again. The corner of Tsuimaru's mouth curled into a smirk, as if he knew something she didn't.

"Why is he laughing? What... What's so funny?" Sabaki's eyes shifted from one to the other. Had they poisoned the ramen! Why, those dirty, sneaky-

"Nothing," Tsuimaru said over Chinji's chortling. "We just want to make sure you do eat. You'll need all the strength you can get. Tomorrow, we're sparring."

She didn't like the sound of that.