Hewwo again! Here's chapter 3 for everybody who wished for it! Yay!

Chapter 3: Sasuke and Yubaba

Sasuke glared in the direction of an old woman with a strangely large head. He cringed at the sight of her face, as every wrinkle was distinguishable. Despite this, she wore tacky make-up to make herself look younger. She had failed miserably. She held a cigarette along with the extension between her teeth, savoring every toxic puff of smoke she inhaled.

"Ah… so the great Uchiha boy is back…" Her raspy voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Sasuke stayed silent as smoke flared out of her nostrils. "It's been a while, Sasuke."

"Too soon, I'm afraid." He bit back. He despised this old hag. She was a greedy old bat whose head was too big for her body and brain. Yubaba frowned, letting a smoke ring float gently across the room towards him.

"You've grown strong, I see." She pointed out. "No doubt with your shinobi training?" Sasuke nodded. "And that girl…"

Sasuke hesitated. He needed to hold her back… give Sakura a chance to make it to the top floor.

"She's my teammate." He explained quietly. "She grew worried of my disappearance and came searching for me. She accidentally came upon this place and thought I was on the other side.

"So you ended up finding her instead." Yubaba laughed. She coughed slightly, but ignored it. "And you want me to spare her." Sasuke frowned, but nodded. "Heh… why should I spare that pathetic child?" She asked.

"What has she done?" He countered cooly. Yubaba froze, causing Sasuke to smirk. Since Sakura hadn't done anything, and her happening on this place wasn't intentional, killing her would be pointless murder.

"Ah… so you're protecting this one, huh?" Yubaba sneered. "What is she to you? Teammate? Friend? Or… more…?" Sasuke's eyes thinned at the statement.

"Shut it, Yubaba…" He warned in a low voice. "You don't know what I'm capable of." Yubaba chuckled, her raspy voice echoing in the room.

"Really, Uchiha." She said, letting the smoke stream out of her nostrils once again. "I do know that you are a full-fledged ninja now. I have been watching you. I know of your Sharingan technique… along with the curse Orochimaru gave to you." Sasuke growled, clutching the mark on his neck. It stung slightly, reminding him that it was there.

"You witch…" He snarled. "Why spy on me after I left?" Yubaba smirked, revealing teeth that were larger than his fists.

"I had a feeling that you would return to me." She chortled. Sasuke glared at the old woman.

"I didn't return to you. I returned for Sakura." Yubaba laughed again.

"Yes, but now you're both trapped here!" The large-headed woman continued to laugh hysterically, while Sasuke stayed silent.

He needed more time… if Sakura didn't make it up here, she would most likely be killed by Yubaba. Just a few more minutes…

Sakura opened the door silently, stealthily walking down a hallway covered with pipes and gauges. Blasts of warm air and steam blew at her, causing her to jump slightly.

Suddenly, a bell rang at the other end of the hall and a cry of anger followed suit.

"Stupid bath tokens!" The raspy voice of an old man cried. Sakura looked inside and gasped. There was an old man with a moustache and four extremely long arms furiously grinding herbs together. Once he finished, he would jerk on the funny wooden tokens with different symbols on them. Another bell would ring and the token would shoot up and disappear inside a hole. Every once in a while, an arm would stretch out and open one of the drawers on the wall to her right, taking out some strange herb as he did so.

"Um… Komagi?" Sakura said quietly, stepping inside the boiler room. She couldn't believe how hot it was inside. How did he survive in here?

The old man turned to face her. As he leaned over in her direction, she realized that he wore small, black sunglasses. They were most likely for the glare of the fire.

"Yes, I'm Komagi." He muttered, looking back at his work. "If you're looking for work, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. I have all the workers I need." He gestured to the lower part of the floor at her feet. Sakura raised an eyebrow, but then looked down where he had pointed. There were little black balls of soot with large, buggy eyes carrying heavy bits of coal over to the furnace. They were the most adorable things she had ever seen. She bent down and caught one of the soot-things as it returned and let it rest in her hands. It squeaked in excitement and bounced slightly, causing Sakura to giggle. She released the soot ball and dusted the black excess off of her hands as she watched it disappear into one of the many holes that lay in a row in the lower platform.

"Sasuke said you'd say that." Sakura said quietly. Komagi paused, turning to her.

"Sasuke… he's returned…?" Sakura nodded hesitantly, curiosity flooding her mind once again. "I see…" He jerked the last token and then shouted at the soot balls to have a break.

"Um… excuse me… Komagi… how do you know Sasuke?" Sakura asked quietly. Komagi chuckled.

"Sasuke… he came here a while ago… I believe he was nine human years old…" Sakura's eyes widened at this. So Sasuke was here before! Had he chanced on this place just as she had?

"Now tell me…" Komagi piped up. "How do you know Sasuke?" Sakura smiled.

"Oh… he's my teammate. We're shinobi now." She replied quietly. Komagi nodded, although she could see a slight hint of surprise on his face.

"Komagi! You're supper's ready!" A cupboard near the corner, which Sakura had not noticed before, slid open, revealing a young woman with long brown hair tied back loosely. She wore a pink uniform, and in her hands, she carried some ramen and a basket of colourful star-like candies. "Lunch time, little guys!" She called in the direction of the holes. As she said this, the giant mass of soot-creatures flew out, swarming around the woman's feet as she sprinkled the candies over their heads. They leapt up in excitement, catching as many of them as she could. The woman turned her head in Sakura's direction and gasped.

"Another human!" She cried in disbelief. She then laughed. "I take it I'm supposed to take care of her?" Komagi nodded.

"Yeah… she came with Sasuke." He explained. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Sasuke, huh? Impressive…" She leaned closer to Sakura, her hands on her hips. "Is he your boyfriend?" She teased. Sakura, blushing furiously, shook her head.

"No… my teammate." She replied quietly. The woman smirked.

"Right." She said, rolling her eyes. Sakura scowled at her, making the woman laugh. "My name's Lin, what's yours?" Sakura smiled and told Lin her name.

"Sakura, huh?" Lin chuckled. "Matches your hair." Sakura smiled. At least she had one friend now.

"Alright you two. Now that you've finished your little chat, you better go." Lin frowned.

"Hey! I've already helped a girl up there once. I don't need to again!" Komagi chuckled.

"How about for this roasted newt?" He said, holding the fried gecko in front of face. Lin drooled as he twisted it around, letting the aroma reach her nose.

"Gimme that!" She snapped, snatching it away. "C'mon, Sakura. Follow me." She said as she dumped the rest of the candies on the soot balls' heads. "Leave your shoes behind too." Sakura nodded, pulling her shoes off and leaving them in the corner.

"Good luck!" Komagi hollered before turning back to his work. Sakura bowed before crawling through the cupboard.

"We need to go get to the top floor," Lin explained, "…so we'll make it easy and go up the elevators." Sakura nodded in understanding, looking up at all of the massive gears and pulleys.

"Wow…" She murmured as she looked up at the never-ending shaft. Lin scowled.

"What's your deal? It's just an elevator." She growled. "Now come on!" Sakura, noticing her impatience, ran after Lin into the elevator. Lin let out an exasperated sigh as she pulled the lever down. There was a sudden lurch and soon the elevator was rising upwards.

"There's the baths… the baths… oh, a party floor… baths… baths… and that's it. The sleeping quarters and the kitchen are out of sight, of course. Nobody wants to see those." Sakura smiled. Lin had turned out to be quite the character, and she enjoyed her company.

The elevator slowed down and eventually stopped.

"Crap…" she growled. "We need to get into another elevator." Sakura nodded. Lin turned her head and gasped. There was a giant vegetable-like spirit with a shallow bowl for a hat standing in front of them.

"The radish spirit!" She exclaimed, trying her best to look cheerful. "Nice to see you again!"

The radish mumbled something, pointing one of its root-like fingers upwards. As it spoke, the smell of radishes overwhelmed Sakura's senses, causing her eyes to water.

"Sorry, this elevator doesn't go any higher." She said sweetly. The radish spirit nodded and stepped aside for them. Lin walked briskly, dragging Sakura behind her.

"You know, I'm having the largest case of déjà-vu right now…" She muttered. Sakura felt curiosity rise inside her for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"You mean… you've helped someone before?" Lin nodded.

"Yes… Sen was her name… she was my assistant."

"I see…" Sakura glanced around. "So… is Sen still here?" Lin shook her head.

"No…" She replied softly. "Sen's contract was torn up and she managed to leave. Haku left shortly after her."

"Who's Haku?" Lin's eyes narrowed.

"He's who your friend Sasuke replaced." She replied darkly. "Yubaba's henchman."

This answer only led to more questions. But before Sakura could ask, they had arrived at the next elevator. Lin opened the door and stepped inside.

"You coming?" She asked expectantly. Sakura nodded quickly and ran into the compartment. The elevator shifted once again as they headed upwards.

"I'll take you to the top floor, but from then on, you're on your own." Lin instructed.

"Alright." Sakura replied. Hopefully, Sasuke would be there too.

The elevator slowed down to a stop. The door slid open and Sakura stepped out.

"Good luck, girl." Lin said as the door closed. Sakura bowed and turned towards the door. The giant double-doors were painted white with gold edges. The center was decorated with painted flowers and birds and from the looks of it, the door was mahogany.

The pink-haired shinobi walked up the steps to the door. She reached for the handle when something caught her attention. It was a golden doorknocker in the shape of a head.

Turning her direction back to the actual door, she reached for the handle.

"Aren't you even going to knock?"

Sakura jumped and turned to the direction of the voice. To her surprise, it was the doorknocker talking! She gasped and took a step back, gaping at the ugly face.

"You're more pathetic than Sen!" She snapped. Sen. It was the second time she heard that name! Who was this girl?

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as the lock clicked and the door creaked open. The lights in the room behind her turned on, followed by another door opening and so on. Glancing at the rooms, she noticed massive painted urns and even taller paintings.

"Come in." A raspy voice echoed through the halls. Sakura hesitated, reaching for a kunai.

"I said, come in!"

Sakura felt a jerk in her chest as she was dragged against her will into the halls. She glanced down at the floor, and gasped, realizing that her feet weren't touching the carpet. She didn't have time to worry about it, though, as she was jerked to the right and down another hall.

One last door opened as Sakura was hurtled into what looked like a mix between an office and a fortune-teller's tent. She lifted herself from the carpet and dusted herself off.

"So you're Sakura." That same voice from the door was back. Sakura turned to the desk and gasped. It was an old woman! A REALLY old woman. She cringed at the sight of her. Sure, Sakura had seen ugly, but this was beyond ugly! And the size of her head didn't help either. Her hair was tied back in a bun and she wore a blue dress with puffy shoulders. Multiple rings adorned her chubby fingers and her tacky make up reached up to her eyebrows. Her nose was bigger than her hand and what looked like a wart sat between her eyes. The old hag chuckled.

"Ah, yes. Sasuke has told me so much about you." She laughed. Sakura looked around to find the raven-haired boy standing in a dark corner of the room.

"Sasuke…?" She breathed. He opened his eyes momentarily to look at her, but averted his gaze. Sakura's eyes thinned in question. What did she mean by that?

"I take it you want a job?" The old woman asked. Sakura nodded slowly, unsure of what was ahead. "I see…" The hag let out a sigh and waved a hand. As she did so, a piece of paper and a pen drifted over to her.

"Sign there and you'll be put to work." She drawled, absentmindedly fiddling with one of the jewels on her rings. Sakura caught the paper and pen and glanced over at Sasuke, who said nothing. Biting her lip, Sakura crouched down and scribbled her name down.

"You done?" The old woman barked. The paper slipped from under Sakura's hands and flew over to her. "Oh, So you're name's Sakura. Such a pretty name."

"Yubaba…" Sasuke growled. The old woman paused. So she was Yubaba! The old woman chuckled.

"Sorry, Uchiha. It's part of the contract." Yubaba sneered, turning back to the paper. Raising a hand over Sakura's name, she closed her eyes. To Sakura's horror, the characters of her name started to shift. Some of them lifted entirely off of the page while others rearranged themselves.

"Your name will be Rin from now on." Yubaba informed Sakura, letting her see her contract. Sakura looked down at the paper and gasped. Most of her name had been taken away, all except for a few characters which had been rearranged to form her new name.

"Rin! Answer me!" Sakura jumped and replied hastily.

"Y-yes ma'am!"

TBC…

Tadaaa! And there you have it! More fluff to come!
Any questions u have, I shall answer!

One more thing! I know the lines are different from the movie! I MADE them that way! Kapeesh! Okay!

Eek! I said Kapeesh! That reminds me of peaches…