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And the Beat Goes On
Chapter 20: Messing Around

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Orochimaru watched as Itachi paced the length of the bedroom, tearing at his hair. Itachi was having one of his fits, so he knew better than to say anything, or risk being decapitated.

"I don't believe it! That stupid little! Why! Why did he have to come in the back door! Wasn't front door good enough for him? No. . .let's just walk into the kitchen and start making out with another boy in front of my great-grandmother, who I haven't seen in god-knows how long and will throw a fit, and then take it out on my brother! La-dee-fucking-da, yippity skip, I'm gonna fucking kill him!"

The younger boy flopped down on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the wall, taking a breath or two, as if having come to a conclusion. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

Tentatively, Orochimaru put hand a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "I think you're overreacting, Itachi -"

The younger boy whirled on him and practically tackled him. "Overreacting! Overreacting! Do you know what! You've got no fucking clue how this family operates, do you! She's the fucking head of us all, and I'm the fucking heir! You get it! Whatever she decides I need to do, it's for the good of the clan! I don't have a fucking choice!"

Orochimaru's eyes were rather wide, staring into the reddening depths of Itachi's eyes. He, in fact, knew little about the Uchiha family, except that the two brothers were part of the main family, and that their parents were dead, their relatives hardly ever saw them, and long ago, they'd developed some sort of . . .technique as they called it, which turned their eyes red.

Itachi huffed and threw himself from the other boy, and once removed, found himself unable to stop moving. He twiddled his thumbs a bit, then stood up, then flopped back down, then got up again and paced around, his anger destroying his ability to stay still.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he grumbled.

Orochimaru grinned. "I've got an idea."

Itachi glared. "If it involves sex, now is not the time."
The older boy shook his head. "No. No sex. At least, not yet."

Itachi sighed, letting the older boy take his hand and drag him out of the room.

- - - - - - - - -

Hyuuga Neji was startled to see his cousin, walking calmly out of one of the buildings in the slums. Only vaguely did his mind wonder what the hell she'd been doing there, instead allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief that his most hated relative was safe.

"Hinata!" he called, jogging toward her, his shoes churning up snow.

She didn't look up. She seemed out of it, almost shaky. He ran right up beside her and practically shouted in her ear. It satisfied that part of him that could not worry about her, to see her jump.

"N-neji!" she stuttered in surprise.

Neji didn't say anything to her, just ploughed on. "Did you find TenTen?"

She nodded, only after a moment of thought though, for she seemed slightly stupefied. "Y-yes. . ."

Neji shook her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Where is she!"

Then, he thought of something and asked, rather quickly, "Is she in there?" He pointed at the building Hinata had just emerged from.

The girl nodded, then grabbed him by the wrist. "Neji!"

"What?" he growled, trying to break her grasp and be free to go into the building.

Hinata shook her head. "She. . .she doesn't want to see you."

The older Hyuuga looked heart-broken, as he turned around to face his cousin. "What?" he asked, his voice considerably softer.

Hinata lowered her gaze. "S-she said she didn't want to see you right now."

"Why not?" Neji asked, trying to regain the note of indifference in his voice, but failing miserably. His soft spot really was his girlfriend.

Hinata was twiddling her thumbs. "Sh.. . .she's. . ."
The younger Hyuuga paused, unsure suddenly of how wrong or right it was to tell Neji, especially when TenTen didn't want him to know. But, didn't he have a right to know, since it was his child too?

"She's pregnant," the girl whispered, barely audible above the winter wind, and suddenly ashamed of her decision.

Neji stared blankly at her for a moment, then turned and dashed into the building, his cousin's soft words having unleashed the whirlwind of emotions that had been trapped since his girlfriend's disappearance. He barely registered Hinata's warning cry to him, as the door to the building slammed shut behind him.

He ran blindly, letting his instincts guide him and he scrambled up all the stairs, the snow being shaken roughly off his shoes as he went. He made it to the upstairs and he sprinted down the hall, then, realizing he didn't know what door belonged to his girlfriend, slammed himself into one and started knocking.

Someone peeled back the door and murmured a sleepy hello to the frantic boy, who asked desperately for his lover, but received only a blank stare in response. He moved on, moving at a frantic pace, and he swore that he'd knock on every last door until he found her.

Once, when the door rolled back, there was a girl who looked like the one he sought, only older and when he asked for Tenten, still in that desperate, weak tone, she moved aside and gestured for him to step inside.

He did, kicking off his boots and skittering down the hall, crashing into TenTen, who stared at him, her eyes wide. They tumbled to the floor in a confused mess. He was the one who untangled them, and it was then that he started to calm down.

He hugged the girl, as tight as he could, and he was sure it shocked her to no end, because it shocked him as well. "Gods! Oh, gods! I was so worried about you and -"

TenTen removed herself from his embrace, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "How did you- who - Hinata," she hissed, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

Neji shook his head, suddenly wishing to protect his cousin. "She only told me you were . . ."

He paused there, and there was an uncomfortable silence between them and they both looked down, and Neji reached out, gently placing his hand on his girlfriend's stomach, then retracting it almost instantly.

"Are you really. . ."

TenTen looked up at him, shyly, then nodded slowly, not trusting her voice to speak.
She was quite surprised when her boyfriend said nothing, but instead of being angry and leaving, or anything else she expected him to do, did the least expected thing and gathered her up in his arms and held her.

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

"How about that one?"

"Gran. . ."

"Or that one? She's pretty."

"Gran, please, I don't. . ."

"The blonde one! The blonde one! We all know you like blondes," the old woman said with a little glare in her grandson's direction.

Sasuke sighed, giving up. There was no use arguing with the old woman. She was head-strong and stubborn, just like Naruto. In all respects, he should have been used to it by now, but it still annoyed him to no end.

The old woman had her heart set on him dating some random floozy, or so it seemed, and she had dragged him down to the ice rink in the minus thirty weather, and was now pointing with her cane at any poor girl who happened to skate by.

He sighed again and rolled his eyes as she pointed at one of the girls who had already been pointed out to him at least five times before. "Look, Gran, I don't like girls," he said finally, growing too exasperated to let this little escapade carry on.

The old woman turned to him in the blink of an eye and shook her cane at him. "Do you like your dick where it is boy? 'Cause you'll be missing it shortly if you don't give up that little man whore you've got and pick a nice girl to settle down with!"

Sasuke paled visibly, not even the cold being able to make his cheeks red with wind burn. Who had known that the old woman could be so coarse!

She shook her cane in warning, then turned back to the ice rink. It was at that exact moment that Sakura and Ino, who had previously been on the other side of the rink having some hot chocolate with two girls they knew from school, came skating over.

"Afternoon Sasuke," Ino said, with a little wave of her hand, while Sakura meekly murmured something.

Sasuke felt almost sick. Sakura had turned into such a pile of mush, it was sickening. He was glad Naruto had retained his personality, and would at least fight with him. Though, as far back as he could remember, Sakura had turned into a little pile of goo whenever he was around.

He must have looked a little green for the pink-haired girl in question looked at him a little funny and said, "Are you feeling all right?"

He nodded numbly. The two girls shifted their gaze and saw the elderly woman sanding there.

He saw their questioning gaze and cleared his throat, a bit of embarrassment creeping into his voice. He could only imagine the conversation this was going to lead to. . .

"Ino, Sakura, this is my great-grandmother," he said, being as polite as he could possibly be.

The two girls smiled and said hello, and to his surprise, the old woman was just as courteous.

Ino happened to glance down at her watch after a few moments of polite conversation, and decided it was high time that she and Sakura departed. They bid the Uchihas goodbye, and skated back across the rink.

Once they were out of hearing range, the ancient woman turned to Sasuke and said, "Well, those two were certainly nice! Why don't you pick one of them? I'm sure they'd make wonderful mothers, and even better housewives."

Had someone offered Sasuke a gun at that point, he would have gladly used it to shoot himself in the head.

Oblivious to her great-grandson's suicidal mood, the old woman continued to blather on and on and on, about Sakura and Ino, and how wonderful they seemed. Finally, unable to stand the praise of the two girls any longer, he turned to her and growled, "They're lesbians, Gran."

The old woman stopped dead in her tracks, and Sasuke felt a faint amount of worry that she'd had a heart attack. She stared at him for a moment or two, then said, rather snidely, "Well, they wouldn't have to be, if you weren't gay, now would they?"

Sasuke was ready to tear his hair out by the roots. Instead, he stormed ahead, grumbling and swearing under his breath.

"Sasuke!" the old lady hollered after him. "Get back here! It isn't good manners to leave a lady stranded!"

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

Getting out of the house had been quite the task, but they'd done it and now, Itachi and Orochimaru, who was no longer masquerading as a girl, were walking down the street, Itachi glaring down at the snow on the ground.
Both boys had their hands shoved in their pockets, trying their best not to look very friendly with each other, even though they were almost desperate to, because they'd been abstaining since the whole foursome incident.

Itachi glanced up as Orochimaru paused in front of a rather bland looking building. Itachi studied it for a moment, unsure as to why they were stopping here. The building was old, just like the other buildings in the downtown core, and it was falling apart, its paint job made it blend right in.

The sign above the window said something like 'Black Magic Antiques'. Itachi glanced at Orochimaru, who merely smirked at him. "A friend of mine works here," he said simply, before opening the door and ushering his boyfriend in.

The shop seemed harmless enough, and, true to the word, the room was filled with antiques. Itachi could only wonder why Orochimaru thought that looking at old, useless junk was going to soothe his ruffled feathers, friend or no friend.

It took Itachi a moment to realize that while the antiques in the first room were normal, there was a second room, with the doorway cut off by a curtain of beads. Still, he could vaguely see the antiques in the second room, and he did not know what most of them were.

Orochimaru walked over to the counter and rang the little bell there, startling Itachi, who scooted nearer to him.

There was a rustling from somewhere inside the other room, and a moment or two later, the beads of the curtain clinked together and a silver-haired boy walked out of the room. The light glinted on his glasses, before he took them off and polished them on his sleeve.

"Good afternoon," he started, the glanced up, and noticed who was standing at the counter. "Oh. Hello, Orochimaru. I haven't seen you here for a while."

Orochimaru grinned and Itachi felt suddenly very nervous. "I've been rather busy, Kabuto," he said, and his gaze shifted to the younger boy beside him.

The silver-haired boy, Kabuto, glanced at Itachi, then smiled. "Ah. I think I understand," he said, then turned back and made as if to go into the other room. He paused in the doorway, then gestured to them.

With a little prodding, Itachi nervously went forward, Orochimaru following right behind him. The whole thing had an occult feel to it, and Itachi would have bolted, but Orochimaru was right behind him.

They continued into the second room, and Itachi could now see that the antiques housed here were not normal. A blackened cauldron, with feet fashioned out of claws, not in the likeness of claws; a mirror that he couldn't see his reflection in, and on an so forth.
The air seemed to be choking him, because it was dusty and thick. There was a door, a little wooden door that looked like it could fall to pieces at any second. Kabuto opened it and ventured inside, then glanced back at the two other boys. Attempting to swallow any fear he had, Itachi followed, and found that he was going down a dark stairwell, presumably into the basement. The foundation stones were beside him and they were damp and old, and the entire place smelled of old. 'Kind of like Gran', he thought, and nearly started laughing.

Orochimaru nearly tripped and sent them all down the stairs, and Itachi could only be glad when they landed on the floor. Candle light flickered all around the room. There was a small table set up in one corner of the room, and a deck of tarot cards set upon it, beside an orb - the classic crystal ball. There were shelves upon shelves of herbs and mixtures, half of which Itachi thought had to be illegal.

There were a few seats in the far corner of the room, and the silver-haired boy gestured for them to take a seat. They did as they were told, and almost immediately, Orochimaru's hand was in Itachi's lap. The younger boy deadpanned.

Kabuto sat down across from them, and there was silence for a moment or two as he studied them, or more importantly, Itachi. The younger instinctively curled into Orochimaru, fear getting the better of him.

Kabuto sighed after a moment or two, then sat back, and smiled. The smile did nothing to comfort Itachi, nor did Orochimaru's hand running along his spine. Kabuto looked at him, though it was almost impossible to tell, because of the light flickering off his glasses.

"You seem tense," he said.

Itachi said nothing. Orochimaru had found a knot in his back and was letting his fingers try to work it out. "Kabuto's a healer," the older boy explained gently, waiting for Itachi to uncurl and become bold again.

It didn't happen. Kabuto stood up and wandered over to one of the shelves, apparently looking for something. "He's rather uptight, huh, Orochimaru?"

The older boy shrugged. "He can be."

Kabuto had clambered up an old, and what looked to be unsafe, ladder. "I take it you'd like him to relax a bit?"

Itachi watched as his boyfriend nodded, and Kabuto pulled something off the shelf, then clambered back down the ladder and handed whatever it was to Orochimaru. Itachi perked up a bit in curiosity and stared at the powder in the bottle.

"What is it?" he asked, forgetting his former fear. Screw it, he wanted to know what the fuck Orochimaru was planning on shoving down his throat or injecting into him.

Kabuto waved his question off. "Just a couple of crushed herbs, nothing dangerous."

Itachi eyed him skeptically. If this guy's mind worked anything like Orochimaru's, it was dangerous to trust an answer like that.

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

Naruto hammered on the keys of the piano in frustration. He was having trouble getting these last few bars, and he knew he needed to have the song perfect for Monday so that Iruka could work out the bugs with the rest of the band's playing.

He'd been at it for the last hour and a half on and off, just because Konohamaru kept bugging the shit out of him. Iruka had left some time ago, to go to a 'meeting' with Kakashi, although Naruto had told him to stop lying about what he was doing with the other man. Naruto swore up and down that Iruka would always see him as a five-year-old.

He screamed and banged on the keys, the piano making a sick noise at the abuse. Konohamaru glanced at him from the living room, then went back to his loud and noisy T.V. program. Naruto slammed his head down on to the keys.

There was a knock at the door, and Naruto was tempted to tell whoever it was to go to hell. Now was not the time to make him mad.

"Coming," he grumbled, hauling himself up from the piano, and wandering to the door, unaware of the marks the piano keys had spitefully left in his forehead.

He opened the front door and found none other than Sasuke, who stumbled into his home, seething with rage. "I'm.. . .I swear, I'll kill her! I can't stand her, and if she says one more thing, I'm going to kill her, string her up by her neck and-"

Naruto poked Sasuke, blinking stupidly. "What are you ranting about now?"

Sasuke threw his hands up in annoyance. "My great-grandmother! I wish you had decked her! At least I wouldn't have to put up with her ranting about how I have to get a girlfriend! I don't like girls!"

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Aren't you a little old for the 'girls are icky' stage?"

Sasuke glared. Naruto cheered triumphantly, in his head of course. What better way to snap him out of his bad mood than to piss Sasuke off even more?

"No," the older boy was grumbling. "Because I like you."
"And who wouldn't?" Naruto asked, trying very much to act vain and fluffing his hair a little bit, sticking his nose up in the air.

Sasuke stared blankly at him.

Naruto sighed and moved aside. "Take of your shoes, and come sit your ass down," he growled, then stalked into the kitchen. Honestly, Sasuke was no fun at all.

The dark-haired boy did as he was told and sat down at the kitchen table. Naruto had put the kettle on the stove, and was waiting for the water to boil so he could make hot chocolate for his "twoo luff". He snickered when he thought that.

"So, what's bitten you in the ass now?" he asked, sitting down as well.

Sasuke sighed. "Gran's a bitch, she threatened to take off. . .erm. . .certain things if I don't get a girlfriend, and Itachi's in a snit. I think he might try killing me."

Naruto nodded sagely. "Seems like you have a bit of a problem."

Sasuke glared. "Well, thank you for noticing, Doctor Obvious," he sneered.

Naruto frowned. "Hey, hey. I think patient 'I have a stick up my ass' needs more of his medicine."

Feeling childish, but unable to resist, Sasuke stuck his tongue out at Naruto. Naruto grinned insanely. "Oh-ho," he chuckled, sounding very creepy and Sasuke wished he hadn't done that. "Someone needs that stick surgically removed, eh?"

The blond boy got up and turned the kettle off. "I do not have a stick up my ass, Uzumaki," Sasuke huffed.

Naruto was still grinning. "Not now, but you will in a few minutes."

Sasuke paled for the second time that day and found himself in Naruto's arms, bridal-style, and the blond was struggling because the older boy was heavier than he'd expected.

"Uzumaki! Put me down!"

"Gonna have to get you some sedatives," Naruto grunted, struggling his way to the stairs, Sasuke clawing at his shoulders and neck, in a vain attempt to get away.

Konohamaru peered out of the living room and watched in semi-amusement as Naruto wobbled his way to the upstairs, nearly killing himself from trying to carry the other boy. He listened, waiting to hear them fall back down the stairs, but fortunately, that didn't happen.
He turned his attention back to his program, and when it went back to commercials again, he muted the T.V., only to quickly turn the sound back on again as the squeaking of bedsprings and groaning reached his young and innocent ears.

Grinning devilishly, the eight-year old got up, as noiselessly as he could, making sure to leave the T.V. on to cover any noise he made. He snuck out of the room, cursing the floorboards that creaked as he tip-toed through the dining room, and to the stairs. Today, he was finally going to find out what the hell the boys were doing that was such a secret thing.

He tip-toed up the stairs, going slowly, making sure to keep quiet. It seemed to take him forever to get to the top. Slowly, he reached out and put his hand on the door knob. The sounds were even louder than they had been downstairs, and he felt almost nervous as he started to open the door.

Finally, he just shut his eyes and flung the door open, then stared wide-eyed at the two boys on the bed, who had paused as soon as the door hit the wall, and were staring wide-eyed at him.

Konohamaru wanted to scream, but somehow, his voice wasn't working at that moment. Naruto was lying under Sasuke, who had his legs spread wide over Naruto's hips, and. . .

They were both naked. Konohamaru stared blankly at the two nude boys, wondering what the hell was wrong with them, because he was pretty sure that those parts weren't supposed to stand up like that. Nor was Naruto's supposed to be anywhere near Sasuke's ass.

"What the hell are you two doing!" he screamed, finding his vocal cords again.

"Get the hell out!" Naruto screamed, practically throwing Sasuke off him and grabbing the sheets off the floor.

He wrapped himself up as best he could and proceeded to chase Konohamaru from the room, screaming at him. The brat was in tears. Naruto slammed the bedroom door. "Fuck," he muttered.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Temari glared at Gaara. "Hurry up," she grumbled, watching the red-head tug on his shoes, then wrap himself in his jacket.

"I don't see what the big rush is about," he grumbled, glaring right back.

Temari tapped her foot impatiently. "Gaara, I know you don't see the rush, but I do. We have to find that Uzumaki kid, before. . . you know."

Gaara muttered something incoherent and stalked outside. "This way," he said, blandly.
Temari followed her brother, watching him carefully, noting the way he seemed almost depressed every time she mentioned the Uzumaki kid.

As they stalked down the snowy street, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened, if anything at all, between them.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Lee was plotting. Yes, that was right. Lee was plotting.

He was sitting in his room, on his bed, with his knees curled up to his chest, thinking.

His beloved Sakura was with Ino.

How unfair was that? He'd chased after her for so long, and now, to be crushed by the fact she was with another girl. . .

He wasn't going to let Ino win. He was going to win Sakura over, even if it took him another thousand years! He wouldn't give up!

The only problem was of how to wrest Sakura away from Ino? In an instant, he knew he had to ask Shikamaru for help.

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

Kakashi and Iruka were snuggled down on the couch that doubled as Kakashi's bed in his small, crowded apartment. It wasn't that Kakashi couldn't afford a house, or an actual bed, it was just that he was cheap and didn't see the need for things like that.

Iruka was glad the couch had a fold-out bed. Otherwise, he'd probably have been a little more cramped. As it was, he was comfortably cozy, still buzzing from afterglow. Who needed drugs?

The blankets had been drawn over them almost immediately after, and even though they had still been warm at that point, the heater in the apartment building was broken, or malfunctioning or something and the air was cold and bitter.

Iruka closed his eyes and cuddled a little closer, sighing when the sleeping man beside him slid an arm about him lazily, and rolled over, muttering something about that filthy book he was always reading.

The afternoon wore on, but neither one paid attention to the time, far more enthralled with the eternity that was now.

- - - - - - - - - -
Uchiha Itachi had never been so high in his life. Oh, of course, he'd been high before, because he hung around with 'wrong' people, but never had been so. . .incredibly. . .

Fucked up was the only way to describe it.

The room was spinning and everything was blurring in and out of focus, but he really couldn't care less. He felt like laughing out loud, but found he couldn't, because he was so incredibly tired, and so. . .

Relaxed.

Orochimaru was so warm and comfortable, and he felt almost like he was just floating there. He let his eyes fall shut, leaning against Orochimaru, feeling every time he shifted. He could hear the muddled murmur of his and Kabuto's voices, but he didn't understand what they were saying.

If he could have remembered, he would have been able to compare the feeling to being in his mother's womb.

But, he could remember, so he just stayed there, unable to speak, and unable to do much more than glance lazily around the room, but not really wanting to that because he felt so incredibly tired. . .

Orochimaru and Kabuto were moving now, getting up and leaving him there. He didn't really notice when he was allowed to stretch out on the sofa; all he noticed was that the warmth was gone. He giggled stupidly to himself, then closed his eyes, feeling sleep crawling up on him again.

He would spend the next few hours like that, drifting in and out of consciousness and sleep, never really awake, but never really asleep, just high.

Orochimaru glanced back at Itachi when he giggled, and found that the other boy had closed his eyes and seemingly gone to sleep. "Are you sure he's okay?" he asked the healer, for even though he trusted Kabuto, he wasn't entirely sure this was how Itachi should react.

The silver-haired boy nodded and picked up the tarot deck. "Yes, that's what the drug is supposed to do. He'll be as high as a kite for a little while, and then, relaxed for the next couple of days."

He spread the cards out on the table, then picked them back up again, then spread them out again. "Now, let's see what the cards have to say about you today."

Orochimaru fathomed another glance back at his boyfriend, then turned back to Kabuto.

A few minutes later, Kabuto glanced up, toward the upstairs, then glanced at Orochimaru. "Excuse me," he murmured, then started back for the upstairs. Orochimaru hissed idly, and decided to see how Itachi was.

Meanwhile, Kabuto emerged into the first room of the shop, and nearly fell over in surprise. In his shop, towering over him, was someone he'd thought he'd never see again in his life. Hoshigaki Kisame grinned down at him.

Kabuto nearly started shaking. Kisame was not a person he wanted to deal with. "H-hello," he managed, trying to keep himself in check.

Kisame glanced about, as if he was looking for something - or someone. Kabuto knew for a fact that Kisame and Orochimaru had a sort of feudal rivalry, one that nobody wanted to be caught in the middle of.

Kabuto had long been a friend of Orochimaru, and apparently, Kisame knew that and thought that the shorter, smaller boy could help him find his old enemy. "You know where that stinkin' snake is, don't you?" Kisame growled.

Kabuto glanced around nervously, then nodded timidly. "D-downstairs," he stuttered, and pointed.

Kisame brushed by him, heading in the direction he pointed. "Thank you," he said, still grinning.

Kabuto sighed nervously and took off his glasses, polishing them on his shirt, then, resettling them on his nose, scuttled after the other, hoping maybe to prevent a fight.

Kisame grinned as he saw Orochimaru's back, turned to him, illuminated in the candlelight. It looked like he was helping someone to their feet - how sweet - and Kisame got ready to tackle his rival, and catch him by surprise, because they still had a score to settle.

That was, until he saw the person the damned snake was helping to stand.

Kisame swore his heart stopped. The kid - he was younger than both himself and Orochimaru that was for sure, and probably Kabuto for that matter - was fucking beautiful.

His long, dark hair was bound back, and his bangs cascaded around his porcelain face. His eyes were the same shade as his hair, and his eyelashes looked like they belonged to a girl. Unfortunately, his demure image was ruined by the fact he was stumbling and completely out of it - probably Kabuto's doing.

Orochimaru turned sharply when he heard the intake of breath and his eyes narrowed when he saw Kisame standing there. "You," he hissed.

Itachi stumbled against his boyfriend, trying to focus in on what he was glaring at, but he couldn't. He hid his face in the folds of his boyfriend's coat, collapsing and giggling stupidly. "I can't see," he laughed. "I can't see!"

Orochimaru stared at his helpless boyfriend for a moment or two, before glaring at Kisame, then helping the other boy back up. "Lie down," he hissed to the Uchiha, who did as he was told, with some help, merely because he couldn't do much else.

Kabuto had returned downstairs by now, and seeing that there hadn't been a fight yet, sighed in relief. He glanced down at the table and found that someone had turned over the cards. He scanned them over quickly, then swallowed nervously, and glanced back at the impending fight before him.

The cards were predicting life-changing events.

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