Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But, I probably could if I um, bought it. All I need now is a couple hundred thousand dollars, maybe a couple million, and um… does anyone know what else I'll need? Or a couple hundred thousand dollars to start me off?

The New Annoyance

Sasuke woke up in the middle of the night. He could feel Keitorin's breath on his face. Then he realized. He fell asleep holding Keitorin! Sasuke blushed. He pried her fingers off of his shirt and reached for a flashlight.

Keitorin didn't even move. That was a bit strange. He shined the flashlight in her face. No, she wasn't awake. But she was sweating. He dropped the flashlight and it boomed right in front of her face. Sasuke cursed under his breath. But still she didn't move. Sasuke thought was pretty strange. She looked like she was dreaming, from the expression on her face. But it wasn't very peaceful. It looked kind of scared. He figured he should wake her up. He shook her gently. She didn't wake up. Sasuke's heart leapt into his throat.

He shook her again, a bit harder this time. "Keitorin-chan, wake up," He called softly.

She still didn't move. "Keitorin, wake up!" He cried trying not to yell. He shook her more forcefully. She still didn't move. She didn't even twitch!

I'd better get Sensei! Sasuke thought. He ran outside and went into Kakashi's tent. He wasn't there. He was probably by the river reading his book. That was where he had last seen him. He looked, and sure enough he found Kakashi. But, he wasn't reading his book. He was holding something. Or… a thought crept into Sasuke's mind… someone!

"S-Sensei? Kakashi Sensei!" Sasuke called. Two figures jumped up. What poor, pathetic, lonely mesuinu could like perverted Kakashi Sensei?

"Yes, Sasuke?" Kakashi answered.

"It-it's Keitorin! Something's wrong with her!" Sasuke said.

"Is she hurt?" A second voice asked. Sasuke knew that voice from somewhere.

"Well, not exactly. N-no, well, it depends. I don't know!" Sasuke said. If they weren't so far away from the others, they would have been woken up by now.

Kakashi and another figure ran past Sasuke into the tent. Sasuke followed them, and when he stepped into the tent, he got the shock of a lifetime.

Who was the poor, pathetic, lonely mesuinu that liked perverted Kakashi Sensei? Tsunade, the sixth Hokage, was the poor, pathetic, lonely mesuinu that liked perverted Kakashi Sensei.

"Wow, didn't see that coming!" Sasuke said under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tsunade looked confused. "Kakashi? What's wrong with Keitorin?"

Kakashi looked confused. "I don't… Oh! Chikushou!"

Tsunade and Sasuke both looked surprised.

"Chikushou! Chikushou!" Kakashi muttered. He looked around desperately. Then his eyes fell on Sasuke.

"Sensei, why are you looking at me like that?" Sasuke asked, backing away.

"When is the last time you kissed Keitorin, Sasuke!" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, that would be la- Wait, why?" Sasuke asked.

"Because if you don't tell me, Keitorin could die!" Kakashi yelled.

Sasuke was shocked. "Okay, then last night."

"Really? When did you-" Kakashi shook his head. "Perfect! Come here, Sasuke!"

Sasuke obeyed. Kakashi gave Tsunade a white towel and she had no idea what to do with it.

"Now, give me your arm," Kakashi ordered. Sasuke stretched out his arm.

To Sasuke and Tsunade's horror, Kakashi took a kunai and pricked it into Sasuke's arm, the same place the doctor sticks a needle in. Kakashi held out his finger and caught a drop of Sasuke's blood. He pricked Keitorin in the same place (she still didn't move) and placed the tip of his finger in the cut. It got smaller! He repeated this until the cut completely disappeared.

As soon as that happened, Keitorin had the strangest look on her face. Her eyes fluttered open and she jerked upright. Tears came streaming down her face. "S-Sensei-san, it happened again!" Keitorin sobbed.

Kakashi bent over and hugged Keitorin. "Calm down, Keitorin-chan, it's okay now…" Kakashi soothed her.

Tsunade put the towel on Sasuke's arm to wipe off the blood. By now, the others were standing in the doorway.

"K-Kakashi-Sensei? What's going on?" Naruto asked slowly.

"Why is Sakura on the ground?" Sasuke asked.

"Sh-she p-p-passed out when K-K-Kakashi-sama cut you, Sasuke-kun," Hinata answered.

"Okay, everyone get to bed," Kakashi ordered.

Sasuke stayed. "Kakashi-Sensei, what just happened?"

"Sensei-san, thank you!" Keitorin said, still crying.

"Not me; Sasuke," Kakashi told her.

Keitorin blushed. "Really?"

"Sasuke, show her your arm," His Sensei said. Obviously, he was teasing Keitorin, but Sasuke didn't know what he did that was so... um, tease worthy. He turned his arm over and showed it to her. There was the mark on his arm and fresh blood was coming out.

Keitorin blushed harder.

"Would someone please tell me what's going here?" Sasuke said.

"When Keitorin was little, and the Hidden Rain Village attacked her family, they put her under a curse. Some nights, and you can never tell when it would happen, she would get a very, very bad dream. If we didn't stop it in time, the dream would be that after her parents were killed, she begins to die. Anything that happens to her in her dream happens to her in the real world," Kakashi started to explain.

Keitorin held up her palm, which had a rather nasty gash in it.

Sasuke nodded to show he understood.

"But the thing is; she can't be woken up."

"Yeah… I noticed," Sasuke muttered.

"So we found out, by torturing one of the only surviving members the way to stop it. You had to utilize the blood of someone who loves her very, very deeply," Kakashi stopped and looked at Sasuke, smiling rather smugly.

Sasuke realized why Keitorin was blushing, and he felt himself glow.

"We had all thought that the curse wore off, because she hasn't had an attack in a long while. Not in, maybe… three months! But we've got to watch her, because she has a tendency to forget things…" Kakashi let his voice trail off. "She also usually experiences some behavioral changes. It's like talking to a completely different person. Or sometimes not. Sometimes, it's a simple change in clothes, hair style, likes and dislikes, etc."

"Oh," Sasuke said.

"Well, I should get going, Kakashi… Kakashi!" Tsunade said. She turned and left.

Now Sasuke smiled smugly. "Hn, Sensei…"

Kakaski turned to leave.

"Wait Sensei!" Sasuke called.

Kakashi stopped.

"Why did you need to know…" Sasuke stopped and blushed a bit harder. "…The last time we... kissed?"

"Oh, well, uh… I didn't quite know if it would work, and I figured the, uh… closer you were to her, then the more effective it would be," Kakashi said.

"Oh. Why didn't you use your own blood?" Sasuke asked.

"Part of the curse was that you needed to have the people who loved her very, very much. If that same person who gave her blood- who gave her basically part of their life- put it on the wound, it wouldn't work. The Hidden Rain ninja wanted to kill her, but they figured, what good would it do them if they kill a six-year-old? They didn't want to stoop so low as to kill a non-lethal six-year-old, so they hoped that curse would finish her for them. Understand?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, Sensei," Sasuke replied.

Kakashi smiled at his goddaughter and Sasuke. He sighed and left for bed. Or he could just read Come Come Paradise… yeah, let's go with that…

Keitorin turned to Sasuke. "Thanks, Sasuke-kun. I- uh! Did you hear that?" Keitorin said suddenly.

"No, I didn't hear anything, Keitorin-chan. Calm down, you've had quite a night," Sasuke cooed.

Okay, that was an okay ending. You'll never guess how the next- wait, does anyone have ESP? No? Okay. You'll never guess how the next chapter is going to start.