A/N: Here is chapter 9. Sorry for the delay, I have been insanely busy the past few months. I expect to resume my weekly updates now that I am moved and situated comfortably. Please enjoy!

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"...Or they could have been shot...or got into an accident with a bus...or shoved off a bridge...or they are being dangled over an active volcano right now..."

Itachi sighed. Kisame had been going over the many deaths of Sasori and Deidara for the past twenty minutes and it was getting on his nerves. Though he had to admit, Kisame was getting quite creative. He decided not to mention the fact that there weren't any active volcanos near by.

"Or they could have just forgotten the the time. Christ, Kisame. When did you become so paranoid?" Itachi drummed his fingers on the wheel as he waited for the traffic light to turn green.

"If it was just Deidara, I'd agree with you, but he has Sasori with him. Sasori's almost never late."

"Kisame, they're fine", Itachi replied in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

"Every minute that passes that we can't find them is another minute they could be dead" Kisame hated feeling so helpless and frustrated. Someone wanted them dead, their friends were missing, and Itachi was as calm as though they were mearly lost on a busy road.

"I think that's them right there...", Itachi offered, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

Kisame shifted his gaze and spotted Sasori's pale skin and Deidara's golden hair glinting in the darkness. "They don't look too good. Sasori's holding Deidara up...why aren't they in Sasori's car?"

"Dunno...but you never said they had to be healthy-just alive", Itachi said, pulling his new car up along side the two soaked teenagers.

Kisame jumped out of the car almost as soon as the vehicle stopped-and was punched in the face by Deidara.

"I told Itachi you two had been attacked", Kisame said as lightly as though he were commenting on the weather, holding his nose. Deidara's hands may have looked delicate, but he was still a man and could hit just as hard as a man with hands twice the size of his. It also didn't help Kisame that the blond's ring had caught his nose.

The blond covered his mouth with his hands and pulled away from Sasori. "kisame! I'm so sorry, un!"

Sasori crawled into the front seat next to Itachi and cranked the head way up. "I don't think in eighteen years I've ever been so cold", he murmured, pulling his soaked sweater off with trembling hands.

"Well, you're melting me", Itachi pushed the vents towards the shaking redhead.

Kisame and Deidara slid into the backseat of Itachi's car. The blond rested his head against Kisame's shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

"Hey, Deidara?", Kisame asked nervously

"Let him sleep. We've had a hard night", Sasori said, stiffling a yawn.

"So what exactly happened?", Kisame asked. "You two are soaked".

"Well, we got abducted by one of the killers-yeah, there's more than one...and she pushed Deidara off a bridge..." Realizing he had his friends' full attention, Sasori started to tell them the events of the evening.

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"Oh, my god! Fuck! That's a tree! Fence! Fence! Fucking psycho, that's a dog! We're gonna fucking die!"

"Tayuya, please...", Kimimaro whispered. They drove in silence for a few minutes, then Kimimaro said "You never did tell me what you and Kabuto-Sensei found at the coffee shop"

"Nothing. Well, outside of the ordinary anyway. There appeared to be a bit of broken glass under a table, but whatever had been broken was cleaned up"

"That's to be expected"

They fell silent a few minutes longer.

"FUCKING DUCK!", Tayuya suddenly yelled.

"Duck? Honestly Tayuya, there are better things than-woah!" Kimimaro swerved to avoid a duck that was crossing the road and stopped short. Kabuto's head snapped up and smacked back against the window he was leaning against with a dull thud.

"Fucking brilliant, Kimimaro. Crack his head open, too. He didn't loose enough blood from his arm".

Under any other circumstance Kimimaro would have just let Tayuya's harsh words slip down his back. Tonight, though, his nerves where shot. He was trying, damn it! Still managing to maintain some sense of calm, he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and climbed out. "It's all yours", he said, motioning to the driver's seat.

"What? You want ME to drive?"

"You seem to know so much about it"

"Both of you be quiet. You're giving me a headache", Kabuto suddenly snapped.

They turned to stare at him. He'd been so quiet, they'd been sure he was unconscious, or atleast asleep. He was neither, but his face was very, very pale, sweat beaded on his brow, a look scarier than any they'd ever seen on Orochimaru on his face.

"I'll drive the damn car."

The younger kids watched in awe as he struggled out of the car and staggered around to the driver's side. Without so much as a hiss of pain, he climbed into the driver's seat and started up the car.

"Fucking weirdo! Get out of there, you goddamn psychopath"

"Tayuya." Kabuto's quiet voice was warning.

"Kabuto-Sensei, as a medical student you should know you can't drive. You're going to make your arm bleed."

"Well, obviously no one else can do it. I don't see what's so hard about driving. Orochimaru-San taught me how to drive in two days."

"Not everyone's as brilliant as you are." Tayuya muttered. She knew Kabuto was in pain, but that still didn't calm her down when he was being an ass.

"Please get down", Kimimaro whispered

"Hey! You guys alright over there...Oh. You're a girl" It was Toby's voice. He was walking towards them, Sakura in tow.

"Nice of you to notice", Tayuya spat at him acidly.

"Hey, can you drive, Toby?", Kimimaro asked casually.

"Well, I'm not supposed to, since my arm's in a cast, but I do it anyway" Toby looked confused.

"Great! You can drive before Kabuto-Sensei bleeds himself to death. We'll explain everything along the way."

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Tenshi watched Temari as she walked into the kitchen. Weird, she'd always thought Temari's hair was longer, probably because of the pigtails she wore. Down, her hair didn't even reach her shoulders. Temari was wearing plain white pajamas and appeared to be humming to herself as she poured herself a glass of milk from the fridge. It appeared insomnia was a problem shared by all of the members of the Sabaku family.

The orders had been clear-kill Temari and Kankuro Sabaku, and if Gaara or their uncle got in the way, kill them, too. Itachi was going to know what it ment to suffer, that was for sure. After all, while she killed off two of his closest friends, her partner was on her way to the hospital to take care of Sasuke. No one who'd been attacked would get away this time...

Temari sat down at the table and rested her head against her head, appearing deep in thought. Occassionally she sipped her milk or brushed the hair from her eyes. Tenshi pulled herself away from the window and crept quietly around towards the front door. Don't move she whispered into the darkness.

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Something was wrong-Yashamaru could feel it in his heart. Something was seriously wrong with his nephews. He was used to Gaara's distance-that was nothing new-but usually the redhead could be coaxed into a small smile or have a short-lived laugh pulled from him. These days, however, Gaara wandered around like a zombie. He was even paler than normal with deep, dark circles lining his eyes. Yashamaru desprately wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he was worried that the boy would pull further away from him. At least he still went places with Lee, that provided Yashamaru with some comfort. If he was still going out with friends, then surely his moodiness wasn't anything to be too worried about...

What bothered the young uncle even more than Gaara's behavior was Kankuro's. Sure, Kankuro hadn't exactly been what Yashamaru would call "talkative", but he was far more sociable than Gaara. After the attack on his sister, though, the boy had become withdrawn, often sitting brooding and alone. He stopped trimming his hair so his dark locks poked wildly from under the hoods of the black sweatshirts he wore and he'd taken to applying Kabuki makeup in such a way that he resembled a demonic teddy bear.

He certainly had his hands full, that was for sure. He yawned, suddenly tired, and glanced at the clock. It was two in the morning. If he went to bed now, he could get a few hours of sleep before he had to go to work. He stood from the table and went to put his empty glass in the sink. He could wash it when he got up. The young man froze at the sound of a door creaking open. "Gaara?", he called softly, wondering if perhaps his youngest nephew had gotten into a fight with Lee and had come home. "Ga-mmph". His second call was cut off by a hand clamping firmly over his mouth and something sharp being pressed against the small of his back.

"You've certainly grown calmer, Temari", a voice hissed in his ear. The glass in his hands clattered unnoticed to the floor. The voice sounded like a girl's, but the person holding onto him was definitely taller than he was. She thought he was Temari. She'd be disappointed, though. His niece was not home tonight, she was spending the evening at her friend TenTen's house.

"Do you think if you're calm and collected, your brothers will come help you again? You're sadly mistaken, girl."

Yashamaru threw out his arm, hitting the girl. He gave a hiss muffled by her hand as the blade slipped against his side. Ignoring the pain, he lashed out again, this time getting her off of him and knocking the knife from her hands. "Don't try that again"

"Wait...you're not Temari!", the girl cried, taking in his purple eyes for the first time.

"No", Yashamaru agreed, smiling. "I'm not."

The girl chuckled. "I had no intention of killing you, but you're in my way...".

Yashamaru's eyes grew wide as she pulled a gun out from the inside of her jacket.

"Sleep well", she said, and aimed the gun at him.

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Mwahahahaha. I am evil. CLIFFIE. Don't you all worry your pretty little heads off. I won't make you suffer long. Check back Sunday night for Chapter 10.