(Author's Note: If you're reading, please review! Warnings and disclaimers apply to all chapters.)

And the Beat Goes On
Chapter 18: If By Snow

"Well, this bites," Orochimaru grumbled, settling down in his seat.

Itachi merely glanced at him, then returned to looking out of the car window. Snowy scenery rolled by. In between the two teens, Konohamaru bounced excitedly in his seat. "Vacation, vacation!" he cried, clapping his hands, which he'd been doing for the last hour and a half.

"Konohamaru, can you please quiet down? I have a headache." Iruka said, twisting around in the front see to smile tersely at his nephew, who shut up for all of ten minutes.

Kakashi drove on, blissfully unaware of anything, and everything, even other cars on the road. Iruka wondered how the older man had ever got his license. Sure, it was snowy and all, but in the last half-hour alone, he'd had to scream at Kakashi to veer out of the way of four on-coming tractor trailers. It was starting to grate on his nerves.

Not to mention that Sasuke and Naruto were sitting in the back of the SUV, amid all their luggage, which just happened to be slightly illegal. They'd been pretty quiet, and Iruka couldn't help but wonder what they were up to. All he could see was a few dark strands of hair sticking up over the back of the seat, and a few blond ones. Other than that, the two boys were hidden from view.

He glanced at Itachi and Orochimaru, both who were sulking and glaring out the windows of the car. He had no clue why those two were here, or why he'd even let them come along, but, it didn't really seem to be harming anything.

Itachi, on the other hand, knew exactly how they ended up in the car, with two teachers, an annoying brat, his little brother and his boyfriend. Orochimaru had somehow thought it would be excellent to leave the large, empty house, venture up north with a bunch of people, and somehow have fun. Itachi suspected Orochimaru was hoping for a romp in the snow. However, he forgetting one key factor: Itachi hated snow, hated it with a passion, and was happier when he was warm.

He had no desire to get frostbite on the. . .more sensitive areas of his body.

He returned to watching the snow covered landscape roll by, and shivered. Gods, winter was. . .disgusting. It was snowy, and it was cold, and it was cold and snowy all at once and. . .ugh.

He was going to kick Orochimaru's ass when they got wherever they were going. Which happened sooner than he expected, because after a moment or two of being jolted around by the SUV on rough terrain, Kakashi parked the car, cut the engine and exclaimed happily, "We're here!"

Konohamaru bounced right over Itachi and out of the vehicle, screaming, "All right!" He landed in the snow, fell over and rolled over several times, giggling like an inane idiot.

Itachi got out of the vehicle carefully, intent on stalking around the other side and kicking Orochimaru in the shins, until he fell over, then in the ribs, until he rolled off a cliff. However, this murderous course of action was prevented by a rather large gob of snow deciding it rather liked Itachi's shoe, and would like to get better acquainted with his foot.

Pausing, he took off his shoe, hoping to empty it out, only to be tackled by Orochimaru, and pushed into the snow. "Augh!" Itachi cried, trying to keep Orochimaru off him.

"Isn't the snow fun!" the older boy cried, to which the younger responded by slapping him, then pelting him right between the eyes with a snowball.

Itachi threw his boyfriend off him, got up, and stalked toward the house, trying to shake the snow from his person before it had time to melt.

Orochimaru sighed. "What a stick in the mud. . ."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I can't believe they sent us grocery shopping."

"Hn."

"I can't believe you actually have your license and never told me."

"Hn."

"Is that all you can say?"

"Hn."

Itachi looked decidedly bored, scrutinizing the shelf and trying to decide between the cheap cereal, which was a knock-off of the expensive cereal, and the expensive cereal itself. Orochimaru was standing a few feet behind him, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Well?" he asked finally.

Itachi didn't even look at him. ". . .How much money do you have on you?"
Orochimaru looked baffled, before taking out his wallet and checking. ". . .Eighty," he muttered finally.

Itachi practically threw the cheaper cereal into the cart. "Wonderful," he muttered. "And I don't have my credit card."

"You have a credit card!" Orochimaru cried, stupefied. "How come you never told me this! How come you're so friggin' stingy?"

Itachi rolled his eyes and kept moving, while Orochimaru chased after him, still ranting about how he was never told anything.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was about four o'clock when it started snowing. Ino and Sakura were sitting in Ino's living room, drinking the hot chocolate Mrs. Yamanaka had made for them. Ino had stopped suddenly in their conversation, and pointed at the window.

"Look, Sakura," she said, softly, almost shyly. "It's snowing."

Sakura nodded with dumb recognition. "So it is," she responded, just as quietly.

Slowly, they turned their attention away from the window and the dancing, dazzling snowflakes whirling on the wind, and back to each other. Their lips met softly, almost without effort, and they glided into the kiss.

They parted, and Sakura sat back, smiling, tucking her hair behind her ear. "So. . .we're forgiven then?" she asked, a faint blush spreading over her cheeks.

"I guess so," Ino murmured, setting down her drink.

"I guess we should. . ."

"Commemorate. . ."

Sakura set down her drink and gently took Ino by the hand, leading her to stand, and then, to walk with her toward the stairs. They went slowly, each keeping her thoughts to herself, not wishing to voice that they were entirely unsure of this to the other, when she seemed so eager.

Their footsteps seemed to echo all too loudly in the empty hallway. The door at the top of the stairs seemed to creak with age, and it squealed on its hinges, deafening both, who were already deafened by the thudding of their hearts in their throats.

They shared a nervous look and they giggled, nervously, trying to break the tension.
Did they really want to do this? Were they really ready for it?

They slid inside the room together, careful to shut the door, and the blonde girl went so far as to lock it.

Now they were alone and there was no way to get away, other than to continue.

Still giggling, Sakura sat down on the bed, feeling it give beneath her. She said nothing, just blushed and giggled a little harder, her nervousness destroying any rational thought she could have held. Her heart thudded away in her chest, raising her blood pressure, making sure she knew she was nervous.

Ino was standing at the door, her eyes steadily fixed on the ground, as if she was in deep thought. Sakura waited for her, but the longer she waited, the more nervous she became and the more fidgety she became.

Ino still stood there, as if she'd been frozen.

Impatience won out and nearly tripping over her own feet from the rush of adrenaline she was finally receiving, Sakura made her way noiselessly from the bed to the blonde girl.

"Ino," she murmured, almost breathlessly, her fear stripping away most of her voice.

The other girl didn't look up. Gently, Sakura placed two fingers under the blonde's chin, lifting her head and her gaze. There was no resistance; Ino wanted to look at her.

She smiled, closing her eyes when blue met green and she leaned in as tenderly as she could, without being clumsy and falling, and pressed her lips to the blonde girl's.

It was a surprise, for both of them, because they had never expected Sakura to be the one to initiate anything. Ino was the bossy loudmouth, Ino was the controlling one, Ino was the dominate in this scenario.

Both girls blushed and though they kept their gaze locked, neither could find the words to say anything. Taking the lead again, the pink-haired girl took the other by the hand and lead her to the most fearsome piece of furniture in that entire room at that moment: the bed.

Sakura sat down, still holding Ino's eyes with her own, smiled a crooked little smile and patted the bed beside her. Ino did as she was told, and sat down. "Are you scared?" she said finally, her voice sounding a little more shaky than reassuring.

"A little," Sakura admitted, her voice equally wobbly.

"Me too," Ino whispered, taking Sakura's hands and entwining them with her own.
Their lips met again. Short and chaste, then they parted. "I'm glad," Sakura murmured.

"Why?" Ino returned, kissing the tip of Sakura's ear, parting her lips a little to let her tongue brush the skin.

"Because at least we feel the same," the other girl said, turning her head so that their necks were tangled with each other's, like giraffes.

Ino brushed Sakura's hair out of her eyes. "I suppose we do," she murmured.

Sakura smiled, and lifted her now free hands to pull the elastic out of Ino's ponytail. "You wear your hair up all the time," she whispered.

She pulled at the loose strands of blonde hair, making them cascade into Ino's eyes. "You look better with it down," the older girl whispered, dragging her counterpart down on top of her.

- - - - - - - - - - -

When he thought about it, Naruto could remember quite clearly the memories that often seemed too far away to grasp, lost in the mists of his youthful unawareness.

He had been only three when his father had left- died, as he knew now. He could remember a few days, when the sky had been bright and sunny, and he would toddle out the front door of their home, which was a small house, almost like a cottage, to greet his daddy, who had just come home from work.

He remembered how he'd been swept up in strong arms and tossed up toward the wild blue yonder, squealing with laughter, feeling like a bird or a butterfly, before gravity took hold and he fell back to the ground. Before he could hit the ground however, those arms caught him again and laughing, father and son would head toward the door, where mother was waiting.

One day, however, those arms didn't catch him.

He knew something was wrong, he had known, and known it all along. Every day, those arms seemed to get a little weaker, until one day, they couldn't catch him, and they let him fall. He'd been cut and bruised all over, and he'd never been held in those arms again. They were too weak to keep him safe.

Eyes grew dull, like the blue sky grows pale in winter, and the face became drawn and thin, and as white as fresh new snow. The body was wasting away, and with it, the man, and one day, his father left and he didn't come back.

Naruto didn't remember a funeral, he didn't remember his mother crying, or anything like that. She seemed to be sad, however, and whenever he'd tried to hug her about the legs, because he was too short to do anymore, she'd pushed him away, and covered her eyes, saying that it hurt her to look at him.

At first he wondered what she meant by that, because she had never said he was ugly. In fact, before his father had gone away, she'd called him the most beautiful little boy in the world. So why did it hurt her to look at him?

And every day it seemed to get worse, until she wouldn't stand to be in the same room with him and locked him up inside his room all day, or sent him outside to play.

One day, she had called him inside from his play outside. He had wondered if something was wrong, or if something had happened, so he came as quickly as his short little legs would let him. She had put his coat on him and given him his teddy bear, and she'd picked up a small bag, which he could only presume had held his belongings.

He had asked her where they were going, and she had told him they were going for a walk to meet some new friends. Cheerfully, he had gone along, all the while believing that he would return home with her. He realized later that her belated getting rid of him had been due to the tricky process of legally giving up a child to adoption.

On the way, as they drew closer to their destination, he noticed that she was crying and had asked her, innocently, as only a three-year-old can, "Mommy, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," she'd said. "This is as hard for me as it is for you. Please try to understand."

She'd hugged him tightly, and then they'd continued, with not another word passing between them. They'd entered a building, and there, they'd met another grown-up, and the grown-up and his mommy had proceeded to talk about grown-up things.

Then the other grown-up had squatted down and offered him his hand. "Are you Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked in a gentle voice.

He had nodded shyly and the man had taken his hand and said, "I'm very glad to meet you."

They had been taken by the man to a big room, full of lots of kids, who were playing and colouring and laughing. He remembered how much he'd wanted to join in the fun. He didn't know what was going on.

His mother had hugged him again and told him to be a good boy, and to play nice, and so on and so forth. Then she had stood up and waved goodbye to him, and turned her back.

He'd called to her, asked her where she was going, but she just kept walking away, without so much as a backward glance, lest she regret what she was doing.

He'd screamed at her, and he was crying, because he was scared, and he wanted his mommy to come back and protect him, just in case the bigger kids here were mean. He didn't realize that everyone had stopped and was looking at him now.

He'd asked for his mother every half-an-hour or so, tugging on the teachers' skirts, asking when she was coming back. They'd just patted him on the head and smiled, almost sadly, saying "Soon."

When nighttime came and his mother hadn't returned, he was worried. He'd asked more persistently. Still, he only got the same answer. He'd grown tired of play a long time ago, now more worried about going home than having fun. He sat at one of the colouring tables, alone, and dejected, hugging his teddy bear tight.

When he'd been tucked into bed that night, he'd still be holding his teddy. When he was sure that the other children were fast asleep, he'd tried to comfort his teddy bear, his voice sounding cold and unyielding in the empty rooms. "Don't worry," he'd whispered to the stuffed toy. "Mommy will come back soon. She hasn't forgot us."

He'd eventually cried himself to sleep, his teddy bear never answering him, and never changing the melancholy expression that had been sewn onto his face.

In the morning, he'd asked for his mother again, and this time the nurse didn't say soon, but merely remained silent. When he persisted, she told him to be a good boy and eat his breakfast, and not to ask anymore questions.

He'd nearly started crying, but he'd stuffed his mouth full of the gruel they called porridge, and chomped down hard on his tears. He had to be strong, for his mommy, and for his teddy bear. They needed him.

When the nurse had left the room, one of the older kids had sneered at him, "You can quit your snivelling. Your mommy ain't ever coming back."

He'd stared in horror at the other child, his eyes wide with shock. He'd swallowed the mouthful he'd nearly choked on and said, "No," with such conviction that he almost believed it.

The older kid - he forgot his name now - had laughed at him, and said, "Yes."

That one word had condemned him to the life where all the parentless children had played day in and day out, all the while with huge grins plastered on their faces. It seemed that the kids had almost been brainwashed to act that way, to hide their sorrow and continue playing.

He eventually adopted their ways, and the huge grin was oft still plastered on his features 'til this day.

He had watched children come and go, one by one, and he had eventually given up on learning their names, and making friends, because they all went away in the end. They left him alone, never to return, and never once did they look back at him, just as his mother had before them.
One year, and then two, and slowly, all he remembered was playing, and all he knew was a few jumbled faces. The nurses changed too, some quitting and leaving, others being hired to take their stead.

There were volunteers too, and during the summer when he was five, before he turned six, a man named Umino Iruka had volunteered and helped out with the running of the orphanage. Iruka had been an elementary school teacher, and he'd just been let go from his old job. He was in Konoha now, and he was going to work at the local high school, teaching music.

Iruka had been nice enough to him, but he was too wary now of people getting close to him, then leaving. He was well aware that once the school year started, whenever that was, Iruka was going to leave again and he'd have lost another friend.

Iruka was a persistent pest, and when September rolled around, as expected, Iruka disappeared. However, it came as a great surprise, when the brunet man returned nearly every evening during September, even after a long day at work.

The greatest surprise was just before the blond boy's birthday. Iruka had returned, just like every other evening, but this time, he was waving a paper. And in a startled moment, Iruka had told Naruto that he was going home.

At first, Naruto had thought Iruka meant that he was going home to his mother, and he wasn't really sure he wanted to go and see her, not after she had left him all alone for so long. It took a moment or two for him to realize that Iruka meant that he was going to Iruka's home - to his new home.

He would never return to his old home, with his mother. It had dawned on him then, and sent him into bittersweet tears. He cried for the loss of something dear and beloved, but also for the chance of leaving, of going home.

Everything else beyond that was history.

Smack!

The blond boy snapped back to reality and glared at Sasuke, who merely looked at him in that 'I'm-annoyed-at-you-watch-me-be-annoyed-because-I'm-cute-when-I'm-annoyed' way of his.

"What?"Naruto cried, rubbing the spot on his head where Sasuke had smacked him.

The dark-haired boy shrugged. "You zoned out," he said, rather nonchalantly.

Naruto glared. "It's midnight. I'm allowed to zone out."

Sasuke glared. "I really would appreciate it if you didn't zone out right after we have sex. It makes me feel rather. . .boring."

"You are boring," Naruto countered, rolling over in a huff. "You're acting like a girl. We're guys. We sleep after we screw. So shut up and sleep."

Sasuke sighed and rolled over, so that his back was to Naruto. "You're such a pain."

Bam!

Both boys sat up in a flash, staring at the door, where there was a muddled heap that one might have called OrochimaruandItachi, which had to be said like that, because at the moment, one was not distinguishable from the other.

They were having a rather hushed argument between themselves. Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sasuke looked at Naruto and both looked over at the heap on the floor and deadpanned. Sasuke sighed and said, "What the hell are you two doing in here?"

Orochimaru had successfully detached himself from Itachi at that point, though he was still sitting on the other boy. "Well," he said, his eyes flashing in the dark and making Sasuke shiver. "The brat's in our room, so we were wondering if we could crash in here. Wouldn't want to disturb the brat's beauty sleep, eh?"

"So you can disturb ours?" Naruto questioned, looking stupefied.

Itachi made a muffled sound into the carpet, and dug his nails into Orohimaru's leg, signifying he couldn't breathe.

Sasuke deadpanned again. "Get out," he said blandly. "Now."

Both boys in the bed gave a startled jump when they found a third settled in their midst. Orochimaru slung an arm over either boy's shoulder. "Aw, c'mon. There's room enough in the bed."

Naruto and Sasuke just stared at him. Itachi was still on the floor, thanking heaven for the wonders of oxygen.

"Get out of my bed," Sasuke growled and pointed at the door.

Orochimaru stuck his tongue out at the younger boy and flopped down onto the pillow. "So, what you two been up to? Been busy?"

"You're not leaving, are you?" Sasuke said, feeling slightly annoyed.

Orochimaru shook his head and grinned. Sasuke sighed and hung his head. "Why me?" he groaned.
Orochimaru leaned over the moping boy, deliberately pressing against the younger as hard as he could and waved at Itachi. "You-who! Itachi-dearest! We're all up here you know, so you can come and join the party anytime!"

Itachi glared at him, and funnily enough, so did Sasuke. Orochimaru backed off the younger Uchiha, retreating. One Uchiha glaring was bad enough. Both of them was terrifying. He turned to Naruto. "So, Foxy! How are you!"

Naruto just blinked. "Foxy?" he asked dumbly.

Orochimaru sighed in almost defeat. He wasn't going to get anywhere like this, was he?

He flopped back on the bed, taking Sasuke and Naruto with him. Both boys cried out in annoyance. "What the hell is your problem?" Naruto yelped.

"Get lost!" Sasuke cried.

Orochimaru just grinned.

He ruffled Sasuke's already mussed hair. "Oy, Short Stuff! You weren't too unwilling last time!"

"Last time?" Naruto said, glaring across the older boy at his boyfriend.

Sasuke went red in the face. "When. . .you. . .were. . .um. . .sick.."

Naruto's glare increased tenfold. "You've been cheating on me?" he growled.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say it was cheating," Sasuke started, trying to defend himself. He'd been hoping that Naruto would never find out about that and it would just sort of fade into the darkness of oblivion.

He glared at Orochimaru as if saying, in the most sarcastic voice he could muster, "Thanks."

The older boy just grinned in return.

The argument was interrupted by something falling across their legs. Itachi rolled his eyes at them. "Oh, shut up, and get it over with," he growled, lighting the cigarette that had mysteriously found its way into his mouth.

They all stared at the normally reclusive Uchiha for a moment. Naruto finally cried, "Hey! No smoking in the house!"

Sasuke deadpanned. "I didn't know you smoked anyway."
Orochimaru took the thing out of his boyfriend's mouth, snarling, "You're not supposed to smoke that until after we have sex."

Sasuke and Naruto shuddered at the mental image.

Itachi shrugged and rolled over, making all three of them wince. Despite his frame, the elder Uchiha was heavy. "I don't see anyone having sex here," he said, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

As the three boys later found out, Itachi was incredibly flexible, given his age and the fact the most boys generally did not bend very well. Surprisingly enough, Itachi was the catalyst, with his mouth on Sasuke's toes, his left hand wandering up and down Orochimaru's leg, and his own leg rubbing against Naruto's. Talk about multi-tasking.

The three boys shared a rather bewildered look, utterly surprised by the elder Uchiha's behaviour. Sasuke glared at Orochimaru and hissed, "What did you give him?"

Orochimaru shrugged, trying to look innocent. "I have no clue."

Sasuke shook his head in dismay, covering his face with his hands. "You drugged him, but you don't know what you drugged him with!"

"I didn't drug him!"

Itachi sat up, and Naruto and Sasuke thanked the Lord, because they could finally feel their feet again. Orochimaru, however, wasn't pleased with his boyfriend's new position. The elder Uchiha had his arms crossed and was glaring at Orochimaru. "You three are no fun," he grumbled, pouting.

"We're no fun?"

Orochimaru and Naruto both looked incredibly insulted. Sasuke just looked incredibly embarrassed. He had the 'I don't believe this is my brother' look on his face.

To his left, Orochimaru and Naruto were plotting, he could tell. There was a moment of confused movement, and Sasuke found himself at the top of the heap, with Naruto on top of Orochimaru, who was on top of his brother, who was pinned to the bed.

Itachi was squirming incessantly, which obviously wasn't helping Orochimaru's cause. Surprisingly enough, it took all three of them to hold Itachi down. Orochimaru tried to sit up, forgetting he had two boys on his back.

Naruto fell off the bed, and landed with a whump on top of Sasuke, who suddenly found it very hard to breathe. "He had vodka," Orochimaru reported. "And I forget what I put in the vodka, but I put something in it."
Itachi giggled stupidly, which was a very, very, very scary thing. Sasuke was ready to head for the hills, but Naruto was still dazed on top of him.

"Orochimaru," Itachi was saying now, his voice having gone back to its normal pitch, thankfully. "Fuck the blond."

Naruto was up in a flash. "What?" he screamed, staring at the older Uchiha, who had dissolved into another bout of school-girlish giggles.

Orochimaru just stared.

"No, wait," Itachi gasped, having recovered from his laughter. "I want you to fuck the blond while he fucks me."

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto squealed, clinging to Sasuke's arm for dear life.

Sasuke tried his best to be invisible and hoped that Itachi would forget about him. "And little brother, I want you to fuck Orochimaru."

"No," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth, surprised to hear Orochimaru admonish the act too.

Itachi frowned. He yanked hard on Orochimaru's hair, then clambered over him, glaring at Sasuke. "Do it bitch," the older boy growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Blondie!" he barked, rounding on Naruto. "Get over here!"

Naruto did as he was told, looking regretfully back at Sasuke. The younger Uchiha watched in disgust as his brother kissed Naruto, crushing his face against Naruto's, bruising their lips for sure.

The older boy dragged them downward, until his back met the mattress, keeping Naruto still by locking an arm about his head and keeping him silent by keeping their mouths pressed together.

Orochimaru threw Sasuke an apologetic look, while the younger boy just glared at him impassively. He couldn't believe this was happening. . .

"Sasuke!" was the barking command from his brother, who he couldn't see because of the tangle of bodies above him.

Sighing, and knowing better than to disobey his older brother, the younger clambered onto the bed, sure he was about to meet his demise.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Six a.m. mist was something most unpleasant, Hyuuga Neji had decided. Beside him, his cousin Hinata had her arms wrapped about her. She was shivering, though she had refused to complain.

Neji placed a hand gently on her shoulder. He disliked the girl, but he couldn't really be cruel to her right now, not when she'd just spent the entire night searching the streets of Konoha with him. They were looking for TenTen, even though the police were as well.

"Let's head back," he said softly, recognising that they were both tired, hungry and cold. They had searched most of Konoha, and there wasn't really much more they could do, except for wait and hope that the girl was okay when she was found.

Hinata nodded curtly, her breath rising into the cold air. Neji turned away, walking back down the alley, retracing their footsteps, which were still visible in the snow. It took him moment to realize that he couldn't hear the sound of Hinata's shoes, and he whipped around to see if he could find her, but she was gone.

He stared at the misty alley behind him, eyes wide. "Hinata!" he called, irritated with his cousin. Wasn't she more mature than this?

There was no answer. "Hinata!" he called again. "This isn't funny!"

Still, the mist was silent.

"Hinata!" he cried, running back to where he'd left her, the mist thinning as he went. There was no trace of her, except her foot prints in the snow.

- - - - - - - - -

Shikamaru grumbled. He hated being up at six a.m. He hated misty mornings. He hated snow. He hated having to dig his parents' car out of the snowbank so they could go see his annoying grandparents for the holiday. He hated holidays. He hated hating so many things. It was incredibly troublesome.

He sighed, ditching his shovel in the snowbank. "How troublesome," he murmured.

Just at that moment, a figure clad all in green came jogging by. He recognized it to be Lee, who was ever energetic. Only Lee would go jogging at six a.m. on a misty winter holiday morning. He prayed the loser-ish boy didn't stop.

Too bad for Shikamaru, as Lee did stop. It seemed that the gods didn't like the lazy boy much. "Good morning, Shikamaru!" Lee cried, waving enthusiastically.

Shikamaru sighed. "Good morning Lee," he murmured. How troublesome.

Lee was jogging on the spot. "You haven't seen Sakura yet, have you?"
Shikamaru could barely believe that Lee was so incredibly persistent. He supposed it went with the high energy warning that should have come on the green-clad boy. "No," he replied. "Generally, most people don't get up at six a.m. on a holiday."

This was so troublesome.

Lee frowned. "Why ever not? You're wasting the youthful day!"

Shikamaru would have wondered if that sentence made any sense, if he could have been bothered to think about it. Thinking was too troublesome.

"Ah! Well, I'll be on my way!" Lee said, starting to jog away. "I'll see you when we get back to school!"

And with that, Lee was gone, and Shikamaru could only be. . .bothered. Lee was so bothersome. He was going back to bed.

- - - - - - - - - - -

At six forty-three in the empty Uchiha household, the phone rang. It rang several times, until the answering machine finally picked up. However, its message was wasted, as whoever had been on the other end of the line hung up, figuring that their message was too important for a machine.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Gaara was roused from his unrestful sleep by a persistent knocking on the door. He sighed and hauled himself from his bed, and to the door, rubbing at his eyes.

"What do you want?" he growled, without really looking at who was standing on his doorstep.

"Long time, no see Gaara," said a voice, that he recognized instantly, and he bolted awake and stared at his visitor.

For the first time in his life, he stuttered. "T-t. . ."

- - - - - - - -

He was glad to be back in Konoha. Though he had only been there once before, when he was very small, he had liked the place a lot more than he had liked his own home in Kiri. There was a war being fought there now, and for some reason, people thought that it was not right that he fight for his own country.

So, here he was in Konoha, wandering the streets. He had once had relatives here, or so he thought, but he wasn't sure where they were now. They might have moved away, or died for all he knew.

Hoshigaki Kisame was in Konoha.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -