Nyah… chapter 20 time! (Well… 21 until I decide whether or not I'm going to take off that note thing…) I'm surprised! This story seems to be getting popular o.o… I was on Deviant Art and someone who's SasuNaru doujinshi I had been commenting on knew about GNMK. I was like, "Whoa…" since I figured this story was only known by like… seven people… ;-; you all spoil me so…

And don't you all love how I totally ripped the name of this chapter off of 'The Phantom of the Opera' song? xD I thought so…

Review Corner:

Itachi-rin: xD Hai, Orochimaru is scary like that. About the chapter twenty that you saw last time I updated, I had some issues putting up the last chapter so I put it up twice on accident and that's what made the alert thing say I had posted chapter 21 already. Hehe, gomen, I wish I could update that fast x3.

OokamiHanyouGurl: Haha, I know. Orochimaru sneezing seems so different but it was in my mind so I figured 'what the hey…' :3.

Alana-StarSugarCat: Squee is it really that good? Haha, I still think it could use some work –nod nod- I'll try my best!

Ky0Kichi: Hehe, "E" works for everything, ne?

Chocobaby: Haha, I like your name x3. I'm glad you like the way I describe Orochimaru, I try to make him freaky cuz he can be… a lot…

Hibiskus: Wai! xD Your review made me laugh. And don't worry! Itachi will not be doomed to sit at the desk the entire time. Haha, I could never do that to Itachi (he's too cool to leave out of the action x3). He'll either be in this chapter or the next… probably this chapter…I haven't really decided yet :p. Thanks for your support :3.

Ookamiko: I'm so violent to myself o.o… xD. I'm glad you don't think the chapters are that short (still short, but not enough for you to throw a shoe at me or something, hehe). Yay ;3.

Insomiak: (Reviewed Chapter One) Haha, thank you. I hope you'll continue to read.

Thank you all! I love you (not in a weird way… well… maybe! xD you never know with me…) Haha, thank you all for your reviews, support, advice and ability to make me laugh every once and a while!

Warnings: slight Itachi OOC-ness xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Seeka ;p… take that.

Recap:

"We have news from Seeka. He has spotted the group not far from here. He will be challenging them."

"Seeka… that fool…" Orochimaru spat, "How far are Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun's little friends exactly."

"We've estimated about five miles, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru's face twisted into a sick grin, "Perfect."

Good Night My Knight!

Chapter 20: Past the Point of No Return

Dodge. Block. Punch. Block. Dodge. Punch. Breathe. It was all Sakura could do against this guy. Seeka. She had been fighting him for only a few minutes but she was already starting to get the pattern of his attacks. Jumping backwards she avoided another one of his punches. Getting hit by his fist would mean a world of pain. Each of his knuckles was covered in a silver kind of wrapping guarding his skin and making his punches even heavier than normal. If she could just find his weak point now…

She skidded behind him and threw a kick to the back of his head. Bam! Solid hit. But it only served in making him angrier. He turned to face her and cried out as he lunged for her retracting leg. She couldn't pull her leg in fast enough from her kick and it ended up getting caught. He jerked her up and swung her towards the nearest tree. Sakura felt the wind flying past her until she hit the bark with a loud crash.

'Damn it…' She thought coughing up a little bit of blood, 'Guess that wasn't his weak point…'

Looking up from her heap on the ground she saw him advancing on her. She looked over his entire body, there had to be some sort of weak point… some sort of bone that was just waiting to be broken. She looked over his legs; the armor covering them wouldn't be any good. The face, his face was basically covered as well, that stupid armor must be covering him every where. Even with her almost super-human strength, she hadn't been able to make a dent in the chest armor when she had punched it before…the black cloak that Seeka wore made it hard for Sakura to determine where to hit.

'But… there has to be some weak point. There always is. If I can just find the spot on his armor that is most worn down or the thinnest then maybe I can break it. It's worth a shot…' She stood quickly and dropped back into a fighting stance continuing to look for a point to break.

Looking towards his mask once more she saw it.

"Time to die..." The guy laughed.

Sakura smirked. 'More so than you think…'

Jumping up she flew towards his face and stretched out her fist. This was it.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Naruto looked back from the spot they had just left from.

"Ne, Sasuke? Do you think Sakura-chan will be alright?"

Sasuke looked over to the blonde, "Of course, dobe. You shouldn't doubt her like that. Anyway, we should start to focus more on ahead of us. Orochimaru's palace is just up ahead…" (1)

Naruto nodded and looked towards where they were headed. Sure enough, there was Orochimaru's palace. It was small looking from the top. A simple entry way made of some sort of gray stone. About thirty steps plunged into the ground before leading onto a dirt pathway that went into almost complete darkness. The group stopped a little before the hideout to look and make sure there were no traps set up for them. Seeing none they boldly approached the entrance.

"Think there's anything down those steps waiting for us?" Kitsune asked suspiciously.

"Who knows?" Jiraiya said crossing his arms looking as if in deep thought.

"I'll go." Shukaku offered and before anyone could say anything he'd already begun to travel down the steps.

Collectively everyone held their breath as he took each step with a confident pace. He kept his guard up after each step and did not let it falter after reaching the bottom. Shukaku looked around to make sure nothing was lurking in the shadows. After conforming that the coast was clear he motioned for the others to follow. They did and soon the small group of six stood at the bottom of the stairs staring into the darkness that awaited them.

Kitsune grinned trying to lighten the mood, "Well! Shall we?"

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"It would appear that our guests have arrived." Orochimaru hissed as he sat in his dark room.

"Orochimaru-sama? Would you like me to begin our plan?" Kabuto asked.

"Yes."

"Then it shall be done." With a bow Kabuto exited and started down a dreary hallway.

A few doors down Kabuto turned to his left and entered a room with many screens and computers that clicked and whirred as they monitored the area around and inside of the palace. Kabuto walked over to the screens and pushed a few buttons before looking up to the screens. He gave a smirk, they would have trouble getting anywhere now…

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He was bored…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Not just bored… booorreeddd…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Uchiha-san?" There was only one thing to do in these kinds of situations.

"Hai, Gaara?"

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Would you please, stop tapping that god damned pen?"

"Hn."

Tap. Ta--.

And that was to annoy the hell out of anyone around. Itachi gave out a sigh and turned his chair to face the window behind his desk. This wasn't for him. If he had to sit in this god forsaken office for another twenty minutes he thought his head was going to explode. He should be out there, who the hell was Tsunade to put him in charge of not only his work but her work as well?

'Ahh… that's right. She's a Sennin… damn her.'

As soon as this was all over he was going to get someone to do his paper work for him. That was for sure.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A smirk crossed Itachi's face as he saw Gaara twitch with each light tap on the desk. He shook his head; he shouldn't piss off Gaara too much. He'd wait and bother that Ino girl later… probably…

He stopped, 'Chotto matte…' He smirked.

"Perfect…"

Gaara turned around from his place rearranging books on the shelf, "What was that?"

"How would you feel about a raise?"

Giving Itachi a blank look he stopped his movements on the ground, "Go on…"

"Get that Ino girl and Shikamaru and bring them up here. I have a job for you three."

Well… it was one way to get out of paper work…

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Taking another tentative step, Sasuke felt the soft dirt underneath his feet as he walked down the dimly-lit corridors. He was clutching onto Naruto's hand. Down here he didn't trust anything…

Which was fortunate for them both because what happened next through everyone off balance. The ground shook and the walls began to move.

"What the hell?" Tsunade shouted as she tried to balance herself by leaning against a wall.

Kitsune let out a yelp as she felt herself falling into the ground. Shukaku looked over and saw Kitsune's shocked face before reaching out and grabbing her hand. He pulled her towards him but the ground shook violently once again and he tumbled into the pit with her. Naruto tried calling out to them but his voice was drowned out by the rumbling all around them. Tsunade and Jiraiya had already disappeared and were no where in sight. Sasuke had pulled Naruto close to him and was shouting in his ear to not let go as they stumbled along the path as best they could. They about to go back out of the palace until the earthquake type commotion stopped but their way was blocked when a giant stone followed by a bolder fell down to cover the entrance. Sasuke pulled Naruto along next to him as the rumblings died down and refused to let go of the blonde's hand. Soon enough the rumbling had stopped. The two ninja's breathed a sigh of relief.

"Think it's over?" Sasuke asked.

"I really hope so."

A sudden 'bang!' came from behind them.

"Now what…" Sasuke muttered looking behind them.

The two watched wide eyed as the bolder began to shift and wobble in its spot.

"No way in hell…" Naruto groaned as they watched the bolder.

The bolder stopped and the two almost breathed a second sigh of relief but had no time since the bolder suddenly began to roll towards them.

"SON OF A BI--" Was the last thing Naruto got out before being yanked in the opposite direction by Sasuke.

"Run now, swear later, dobe!"

"Fiinnee! But you totally owe me ramen for this, bastard!"

"Like hell I do, baka! It isn't my fault Orochimaru put that damn bolder there."

"It is your fault that you didn't let me jump down the hole after onee-chan and Shukaku though!" Naruto protested.

Sasuke would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't trying to concentrate so hard on running, "Whatever, just keep running."

The two kept at a sprint with the bolder about ten feet behind them before Naruto's eyes widened.

"Uhhh… Sasuke? We have a major problem!" Naruto said pointing in front of them.

Sasuke looked up ahead and sure enough… there was a dead end.

"What the hell does Orochimaru do in his spare time!" Naruto yelled.

"Apparently the same thing your brain is good for…" Sasuke yelled back.

"What?"

"My point exactly."

"Hey! Screw you!"

"Gladly."

"NO! I didn't mean it that way! Argh! You bastard! You owe me a lot of ramen after this!"

"Look, dobe, stay behind me." And with that Sasuke stopped.

"SASUKE! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Naruto stopped to look back at Sasuke but noticed that even if they did keep on running they were already about four feet away from the dead end.

Naruto's eyes widened as the bolder got closer and closer. He ran over to Sasuke's side and grabbed his arm.

"Sasuke! Come on! If we try and fit into the corners or something then we--"

"Dobe! Get back! I know what I'm doing!" 'I hope I know what I'm doing at least…'

Naruto didn't budge so Sasuke pushed him back far enough until he was at least a good three feet behind him.

'Let this work…' Sasuke prayed before grabbing his left arm with his right hand, "Chidori!"

The bolder got closer and dirt began to fly towards them as it flicked off of the giant mass.

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke ignored Naruto's cries and flung his left hand forward. There was a giant explosion that seemed to echo in Naruto's ears before bits and pieces of the bolder flew around the room. Naruto shielded his eyes and fell back to protect himself from the exploding rock. Dust had stirred and flown into the air, clouding Naruto's vision, but as soon as the dust settled Naruto stood up and looked around the room desperately for Sasuke. Naruto couldn't see him anywhere. Panic flooded over him, this wasn't supposed to happen. He ran towards the rubble and began moving left over chunks of rock from the pile they had formed.

"Sasuke? Sasuke!" Naruto called out as he looked through the rubble.

Suddenly he stopped and a gasp escaped his lips.

It couldn't be…

(…This is a grreeeaaattt place to end the chapter, ne? xD I won't do that to you this time so be thankful ;p)

"Sasuke!" Naruto reached down and pulled up the pale arm from under the rubble… Naruto was happy to find the body still attached to the arm he had pulled up, "Sasuke?"

His body now out from under the wreckage Naruto looked over Sasuke's body for any bad wounds. Seeing none he shook Sasuke's shoulder gently.

"Sasuke?"

"D-Dobe… don't do that. My shoulder hurts…" Sasuke scolded gently.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's face broke out into a grin before he hugged Sasuke's body tightly.

Sasuke hissed in pain as he felt Naruto clutching onto him. He smiled lightly as the blonde rapped his arms around his neck and sighed in relief.

"You bastard…" Naruto mumbled into Sasuke's neck.

"Yeah, yeah… I know… I owe you lots and lots of ramen."

"Damn straight."

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

"Make sure to get all the paperwork done before I return. It should be only a day or two…" Itachi instructed.

Shikamaru sighed, "Why are we doing this again?"

"Because I'm your boss." Itachi said flatly.

"Che. This is so troublesome." Shikamaru whined as he glanced out the window.

"Shut up, Shikamaru. We have to do this too you know. I'm sure Gaara-san and I want to do this as much as you." Ino said with a scowl.

"Now, now." Itachi soothed, "It's not that bad."

"Then why aren't you doing it?" Gaara asked innocently. (haha, Gaara... innocent? Pft.)

Itachi gave him an I'm-going-to-fire-you-when-I-get-back-look and decided to leave that question unanswered.

"Alright. I'm counting on you guys." Itachi said.

"Hai." The three chorused.

And with that Itachi disappeared into the forest. Some stupid pile of paperwork wasn't going to keep him held back from getting a chance at a good fight. Not at all. He smirked in excitement and quickened his pace. This was going to be fun.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Her hand flew through the air. This was it! Sakura pushed her fist as hard as she could into Seeka's face and without any problem the mask split straight down the center. Seeka growled and threw off the remains of the mask. He kept his head bent but Sakura could still see the bottom of his face. Sakura gasped as she saw what was underneath the steel mask. His skin was dark but there were at least thirty scars running down his face and neck and each one stuck out. The scars had changed the skin so that it was light where the scars where and made them look all the more threatening.

"You shouldn't have done that girly." Seeka said raising his head so that she could see his entire face.

There was blood running down his skull from where Sakura had cracked the mask and around his eyes were some sort of cursed seal, but it wasn't exactly like the ones Orochimaru had given to Sasuke, Anko and the others. Seeka grinned evilly showing off his gleaming fangs.

"You really shouldn't have done that…"

Sakura could only stare wide eyed as he approached her for the second time. She got into a defensive stance and gulped as he came closer and closer. She wasn't sure what to do now… just keep attacking, she guessed. Now that he didn't have his mask she could easily injure his face, or neck. Two sensitive areas. She reached down to her leg and pulled out a shiruken from her bag. Quickly she threw it quickly and aimed for his jugular vein area on his neck. He caught the shiruken before it hit and laughed lightly.

"You're going to have to do better than that." He said mockingly.

Sakura bit her lip, "Watch me then."

"Oh? Confident are we?"

Sakura smirked and threw a kunai at his chest. The kunai flickered off his armor like a bug to a windshield and he laughed deeply.

"Are you getting stupid? There's no way that will do you any good!" He roared.

"Or will it?"

He stopped and looked down on her like she had seriously gone crazy, but it was that moment that he noticed the small pieces of paper floating down on to him.

"What the? What's this?"

He looked down to see a few of the pieces of paper sticking to him.

"Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu." She called and sent another kunai with an explosive note attached to the end strait and Seeka.

She jumped back and hid behind a tree before the explosion went off but Seeka had no such luck. The explosive tag went off and Seeka became caught within the flames. Sakura stepped out from behind the tree and looked down at her fallen enemy.

"That's what you get for underestimating me…" she said sticking out her tongue.

'I'll catch up with you soon… Sasuke-kun… Naruto…'

End of Chapter 20

(1) Orochimaru's palace, hideout, whatever. I don't know what to call it but I remember it being called his palace in one episode so that's just what I'll call it :x.

YES! Hahaha, I think this chapter was longer… sort of! Lots of action at least… and stuff :B. And now that I think about it; Seeka and that guy that Sakura fights in the Naruto Movie could be considered the same ;-; but they're not! I assure you! I don't imagine Seeka anything LIKE the guy in the Naruto Movie xD. I noticed that when I was trying to remember the name of Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu; I had to go back and watch that part of the movie and then I was like, "Hey… they both have really strong metal armor… DAMN IT!" but I didn't want to change it so… nyah. There you go. Chapter 20 is DONE. Muwahahaha… it's all thanks to a high off of Fig Newton's and grape juice and techno. Yes. A lurverly combination xD.

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Anukis