(( I LIIIIIIIIIVVVE!

Yes, chillin's, it would seem it's time for an update. Working on Whatsherface inspired me to be more efficient, so from now on I'll try to do this quicker.

Anyways, I believe this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. But that shouldn't stop all you great people from enjoying it, am I right? ))

CHAPTER 3: BLOOD AND RAIN

"How may I help you this evening?"

A young woman in her twenties addressed the small group, still having to look up at them in her ridiculously tall high heels. She was similar to the other waitresses in the lounge and bar area; petite, dressed in a matching black blouse and miniskirt, both of which looked too tight. Makeup had been applied heavily to her eyelids and cheeks, and lips that were entirely too red curved into a sultry smile. Quite the charming ensemble, if you were a sleazy bum with nothing else to look at.

Uchiha Sasuke was by no means a sleazy bum. He was a grumpy, tired, fed-up ninja ready to kill the next unfortunate person to get on his nerves.

"Two rooms for the night, please," he said composedly, withdrawing the appropriate sum of money from the bag slung across his shoulder.

"This way, then." She lead the weary travelers a small distance into the hearth of the tavern, blonde curls bouncing as she stepped on to the platform behind a tall, narrow entrance desk. Hazel eyes roamed to the marked headbands adorning three of her four customers' foreheads. Another flitting glance confirmed the pale hue of the shortest of the group's pupils, but she diverted her attention quickly back to the bill as she filled it out, preparing a receipt en suite.

Sliding the thin slip of paper across the raised platform, she handed her customer a pen and said in a sweet voice, "Sign here, please."

For a fleeting second, Sasuke considered not using his real name. He was still on edge from the string of encounters in the forest, and it was possible that the Hidden Sound ninja that had assaulted them was targeting him, or one of the other three. But he dismissed the idea; if he wasn't safe in his own country, he wasn't safe anywhere. So he scrawled his name on the indicated spot quickly, still a small bit uneasy.

The woman thanked him and accepted the document and writing instrument, executing a short bow before withdrawing two pairs of keys from a drawer and handing them to him. "You have rooms 122 and 124," she explained. "They are located right up the stairs, and a couple of doors over to the right. Enjoy your stay."

He nodded, turning back to the others. They were a small distance behind him, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Compared to the other throngs of people, smoking pipes and playing cards, they looked quite out of place. Feeling the waitress' gaze still upon him, he chose to ignore it and approached.

Any hushed discussion between the three stopped, and they turned to look at him. Naruto pointedly snorted and faced the other way, while Hanabi remained silent, perhaps out of respect, but most likely queasiness. Sakura, as usual, attempted to break the ice.

"So?" It was more of a statement than a question, an effort to rekindle any conversations.

The woman from before was still watching him. Although she had moved from the entrance desk to behind the bar counter and was serving drinks, her hauntingly mirthful eyes rested on him. But why? Was she spying on him, or was it something else? He shot a sharp glance in her direction, and she didn't avert her gaze. Their eyes locked for a split second, before he turned back to the pink-haired kunoichi that had addressed him.

Talented as Sasuke was at gathering information and making observations, he didn't notice the awkwardness in the situation or her voice. Dropping a set of keys into her hand, he remarked, "Those are for room 124." Withdrawing his own set, he started towards the short staircase at the back of the lounge. "You all can do as you will, but I'm going up." With a lot on his mind, he was focused on getting to his room without incident and mulling things over, until a painfully familiar voice resounded from the entrance area behind him.

"Hey, there you guys are!"

Cringing, the dark-haired man reluctantly turned to face the latest wrench that had thrown itself head-first into his plans. Said nuisance stood beaming in the doorway, grinning widely with pointed teeth, rain from outside dripping down his ruffled brown hair and face. He strode towards the surprised shinobi, earning a number of confused or skeptical stares, most of which directed at the dog perched on his shoulder.

"Kiba!" Naruto exclaimed, brightening up at running into an old companion so unexpectedly, although baffled as to exactly why. "Why're you all the way out here?"

"Well, I--" He stopped, then shifted slightly to face the Hyuuga standing idly by. Scanning her profile quickly, as if to verify something, he asked, "Hanabi, why are your--"

"Kiba-san!" She protested, turning bright red at the realisation of what he was talking about and bringing her arms up to her bound chest. He seemed to become aware of what he had implied and flushed as well, appologizing hastily.

Conscious of the odd looks they were recieving from all ends of the tavern, Sakura inquired in a hushed voice, "What's going on, here?"

Kiba turned and looked at the various men eavesdropping on their conversation, then got a look resembling the mental equivalent of smacking himself in the forehead. Lowering his voice considerably from what it had been before, he answered, "I'll explain. But is there anywhere private?"

A rather stupid question, she thought, but responded to anyways. "We have two rooms upstairs, if that's good." Seeing a nod, she jangled her keys absentmindedly and turned towards the staircase to address her upperclassman about the situation.

"Sasuke, do--" The jounin stopped. There was no trace of him.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Sasuke sat with his elbow propped against the windowsill, watching the rain slide down the panes. There were two beds behind him towards the door, separated by a small bedside table with a reading lamp and electric clock on it. The lights were out, and the room seemed to resonate with a faint, dark blue glow. The gray clouds overhead moved aside to reveal a full moon, shedding silver light through the thick glass and on to the carpeted floor, creating strange patterns through the twisted design on the window.

Just like that one night, he found himself thinking.

Pouring rain, some splashing into the room from the windows left open. Everything was as it had been earlier, perfectly in order. There were signs of living; the indent of a form left in the cushions around a low table, a sliding door left ajar, and the sound of a kettle whistling from the kitchen. But none of that registered to him. All there was was two forms, one laying over the other in a steadily growing pool of blood. And the figure standing over them, face hidden by the deep shadows until he stepped forwards and into the light.

He closed his eyes momentarily to clear the memory from his mind, resting his thumb and middle finger on his temples. He had seen that moment so many times in his dreams that it had become something he could see at the slightest mention of the events fifteen years ago, a part of his subconscious that haunted him endlessly. He knew he could never change what had happened, and he could never forget. He wouldn't allow himself to until he had paid back the one responsible, and he embraced the responsibility as something that couldn't go without being accomplished. Only then could he let what had happened pass from his memory.

His mind drifted to other things, much more recent. There wasn't much point in dwelling on past dillemas if there were plenty of unresolved ones in the present, as much as they had to do with each other. He was well on his way to forgetting already, while remembering as well.

It looked as if there was another person interested in joining in on his little "quest". They all seemed intent on helping him, even if most of the four had no clue what this particular mission entailed. It would be his own fault if he didn't return. He had no intent on dying, but that was most likely the consequence of failure. It would all be revealed in time, whether or not he was finally strong enough to carry out the oath he had made so long ago.

They would all have to be sent back to Konoha. Kiba, Hanabi, Naruto... Especially Sakura.

She walked a ways ahead of him down the forested path, humming an odd tune. It sounded strangely familiar, but before he had time to think of where it came from the motif ended, another lower, calmer one beginning. It was a little perplexing, recognizing the song but not knowing it, and entirely unimportant. He was about to dismiss it as such and think about their next route when the kunoichi stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Sorry," she said, blushing a little. "I usually only do that when I'm by myself."

He continued walking and passed her, shrugging. "It's fine."

Sasuke began to think she had stopped following him until she called from behind him, "Do you recognize it?"

"I may have heard it somewhere."

"I wouldn't be surprised." She stepped up beside him, but not too close. She knew him well. "Ayumi Hamasaki's songs get played a lot."

Rather uncaring of the situation, he commented, "Never heard of her."

There was a short exhalation from his right side, almost like a laugh. He turned his head slightly and saw Sakura looking down at the ground as she tread along it, twiddling her fingers behind her back. There was a strange expression on her face. She was smiling, but didn't look terribly happy.

Unsure with how to deal with something of that nature, he payed her no heed and sped up his pace. And that was the end of that.

He had absolutely no clue how to handle their conversations. Whenever they talked, it always seemed to end awkwardly, but neither of them would bring it up the next time and the outcome would repeat itself. He didn't doubt her fighting skills, nor the others', for a second, but it this mission was his own business. He would complete it himself, without any intervention.

Beginning to think of a way to get them to go back, he decided to watch the rain for a while longer.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Once the four of them had stationed themselves comfortably in room 124, Kiba began his explanation.

"There's somethin' going on back in Konoha," he said, brow furrowing slightly. The others exchanged worried glances, and he continued, "A few chuunin ran into two jounin from the Hidden Sound on the way back from a mission and were attacked. One of them ran to get reinforcements, but when he got back to the scene, there was nothin' left but a huge snake skin."

"People are starting to think the Hidden Sound is doing reconnaissance and looking to start a war with the Fire Country. Nobody really knows why, either, and that's why everybody's starting to get so worried. Like maybe one of our ninja did something to start this situation."

At that, an uneasy look circulated the room and nobody talked for a while after. Eventually, Hanabi tenatively asked, "So, you're not here because oneesan got worried about me?"

"Well," the rough-around-the-edges shinobi commented, "I'm pretty sure Hinata was a little worried. But she trusts you and Naruto, and she said something about getting a letter."

At the mention of his name, the blonde straightened up in his chair a little, as if snapping out of a daydream or just realising then that a discussion was going on. Both he and the Hyuuga leaning against the wall opposite him looked relieved at that piece of information.

Unforgetting of the matters at hand, Sakura inquired, "So, why are we getting called back, anyways?"

A shrug met her question. "Dunno. I overheard your Kakashi-sensei and Godaime saying something about an Oro-whatsit "being on the move again"."

The kunoichi didn't say anything back, but she was puzzled as to the nature of the whole string of events she had just heard about. The similarity of the encounter of Otogakure shinobi to theirs was alarming, but it still made no sense to call in all Konoha ninja on missions after two similar occurances, one of which hadn't even been reported yet. This "Oro" figure's name did seem somewhat familiar, like it had been mentioned in an old story, but held no revelance whatsoever to the withdrawal orders. The whole situation was rapidly becoming confusing.

I shouldn't think about it, she eventually resolved. We'll just go back to the village, and get more information there. I should go tell Sasuke.

Thinking of the Uchiha brought another reality to light, however. She didn't know much about what had happened between him and his brother, barring the clan's massacre, but it was obvious how determined he was to get even. He wouldn't take kindly to returning on such short notice at all. For a moment she considered the means she had to persuade him, but they were not many. Even if he did refuse the withdrawal order and she was left with no other choice, a small part of her knew she couldn't bring herself to get in the way of his ambition.

But maybe that wouldn't be necessary. Standing up, Sakura saw Naruto already at the door, obviously with the same thing in mind as her.

oooooooooooooooooooo

"Childish, isn't it?"

Sasuke looked up from the dirt road. Sakura had somehow gotten ahead of him again, and had turned completely around to talk to him this time. Traces of the vexing expression she had worn before still lingered on her face.

"Hm?" he replied intelligently. She was acting odd.

She nudged the ground with her heel a few times, then turned slightly red. Stuttering at first, the answer came unsurely.

"How I always call you Sasuke-kun. It sounds childish, doesn't it?"

He shrugged his shoulders, and stopped walking to converse properly. "I've heard it so much I hadn't really noticed."

"I see." A downcast look now clouded the jounin's features as she averted her vision. Definitely odd. He decided to pursue the matter.

"Why?"

She looked up at him again, surprised. "Well," she said eventually. "I don't really know. I was just thinking."

He almost asked, "About what?", but decided against it. Things were already sufficiently awkward.

Just as he started down the path once more, he heard, "Is it okay if I just call you Sasuke from now on?"

That was probably one of the strangest questions he had ever been asked. Even so, he continued walking, deeming the discussion finished. He shrugged again as he passed her.

A small smile crept on to Sakura's face as she followed behind him.

The door creaked open and Sasuke jumped, jolted from his reverie. In the doorway stood Naruto, then Sakura, followed by a befuddled looking Kiba and Hanabi. He stood, and was about to ask what was going on when something crashed through the thick window behind him, scattering glass on to the carpet in large shards. The familiar shape of a smoke bomb bounced and rolled for a foot before stopping dead, purple gas spilling out of two equally placed holes.

"Cover your face!" he ordered out of pure reflex, putting a gloved hand over his mouth and nose although having already inhaled some of the tear gas. His eyes watered and his throat burned, and he barely managed to fight back the choking fit that threatened. From the other side of the room, Kiba may as well have not listened to him with all the coughing and sneezing he was doing, but the others seemed relatively unharmed.

Taking a deep, muffled breath from behind his palm, Sasuke made the appropriate hand-seals as quickly as possible and concentrated on the centre of the room. He heard the remainder of the broken glass at his back shatter as a solid wave of sound pulsed in all directions from the space he'd focused on, dispelling the thick smoke. He took a step and his whole field of vision spun, head pounding behind his eyes. The floor seemed to move under his feet and he fought to stay upright, knees buckling under an unknown weight.

Confused exclamations and noises from the other side of the room confirmed that the others were as affected as he was. He had never chosen to use that technique for the number of years he'd known it, and now he knew precisely why he wouldn't ever again. It had rendered them completely compromised against whoever had thrown in the smoke bomb, he realized, trying to regain his balance. He closed his eyes in attempt to clear his senses.

A pale glow coaxed his eyelids open again, and there across from him was a steadily growing sphere of energy, concentrated to the point at which it was actually visible. At its origin sat Sakura, her hairline growing sleek with sweat.

He noticed that the glow was in fact not coming from her palms like a normal healing technique, but ran down the length of her arms in three long branches before dividing into many thread-like strings of chakra. They seemed to be controlled by her, and crisscrossed into a large circular shape. He noted, as one of the threads broke off and floated away, that such a technique probably required a huge ammount of concentration. The nature of it was still quite unknown to him, however.

After a moment, she spread her arms and appeared to be holding the luminescent sphere between her palms. Then suddenly it burst, scattering sparks of light all across the room, the tendrils following them closely like tails. One of them touched Sasuke's skin, and his dizziness vanished instantly. Naruto, Hanabi and Kiba stood, their symptoms cleared as well. But Sakura, suddenly overcome by some sort of head-rush, slumped over exhaustedly.

Kiba withdrew something small from a pouch that had been in his pocket and flicked it at her, and she brought up a slightly trembling hand to catch it. Recognition dawned on her face, and she gave him an appreciative look before swallowing the soldier pill. Akamaru yipped in response, poking his head out from the neck of Kiba's hooded shirt.

Naruto looked around the room, puzzled. "I don't get it," he stated. "Why haven't we been directly attacked yet?"

Sasuke was trying to figure that out himself. "Hanabi," he said, turning to the younger girl. "Could you check if there's anybody outside?"

She apprehended his question, and made a quick hand seal. Nobody spoke, and the only sound was the rain steadily pouring in through the broken window and beating down on the carpet.

"There's no-one on the outside of the building," she eventually said bewilderedly, indicating past the wall. "But..."

Everyone in the room watched as she quietly made her way to the closed door. She peered at it for a moment, before wrenching it open by the handle and stepping brusquely aside. With a short squeal, a woman fell forewards on to the floor, suddenly deprived of that which had supported her weight as she leaned against it, listening in on previous happenings.

Before anyone could start menacingly towards her, she jumped up, revealing herself to be the woman from the counter earlier in the evening.

"I can explain!" she exclaimed, waving her hands feverently. "Don't hurt me!"

Sasuke noted one of his short swords lying on the table behind him, just in case. "We're listening," he said impatiently. It was just one thing after another.

The woman began wringing her hands nervously, and glanced around the room. "I..." She paused, swallowed, and began anew. "I was just making a short check of the rooms, and I heard glass shatter, s-so I just, you know..."

"Eavesdropped?" Kiba suggested sardonically, raising an eyebrow. Akamaru barked in agreement.

The woman flushed. "Look! We never get any interesting customers here, just the same old guys who don't want to be hassled by their wives. Nobody even uses the rooms."

"So you decided to spy on us?" Sakura inquired, regarding her suspiciously. There was something very off about this woman. She couldn't seem to get her facts straight.

"W-well, I--"

Her answer was cut off by a hideous shrieking noise. It was far from human, and sent chills crawling down the ninjas' spines. It grated at their ears like nails on a chalkboard, reverberating in their minds.

And then it sounded again. Louder, this time. Closer. Sasuke dove for his sword as the others assumed fighting positions, knowing fully that whatever was capable of making such a cry was by no means docile.

The raven-haired ANBU captain had just unsheathed his blade and tossed the sabbard to the side, when a shadowy figure darted into the room through the window. Hanabi was the first to reach it, and instantly recognizing human movements, thrust her palm harshly towards where its face would surely be. The assailant proved to be very much human and staggered back ungracefully, howling in pain. He dropped to the floor, writhing, and a thick, dark liquid that could only be blood seeped from the cloth mask covering his face.

Sakura, nearest to the shaken youth, noticed the tight leather gloves on her hands. Her gaze was answered with a short explanation.

"Training," Hanabi recited, obviously accustomed to being questioned on the topic. "If I can transfer chakra smoothly through the gloves without breaking them, my precision and capacity should increase."

Getting more and more irritated by the second, Sasuke sharply faced the both of them. "This is no time for--"

The wall in front of him groaned and began to crack, long marks snaking up to the roof and branching off. Small chips of plaster began to fall out. A tremor shook the room, and then another.

"Get out of the way!"

His warning had barely been issued when the wall crumbled completely, pieces of the roof falling away with it. He barely caught sight of a scaled muzzle drawing back, before it vanished into the swirling dust clouds.

"There's another snake," he half-whispered, so not to draw its attention. Naruto, Sakura and Hanabi exchanged a grim look, while Kiba could only glance repproachfully between the three of them.

And then another ear-splitting shriek echoed all through the room, and they knew where it had come from. The sleek form of the anaconda surged into the remainder of their previous lodging, maw opened sickeningly wide to reveal foot-long fangs. It lunged for Naruto, who dove out of the way and quickly drew a kunai from its pouch. The snake hurtled itself towards him again, hissing viciously, and he feinted to the right to drag the tip of the small weapon across its side. The blonde's arm lurched away, and the ineffectual blade flew from his grasp.

"Normal weapons won't work!" he shouted, leaping out of the way once again and nearly crashing backwards into a bed.

Sakura threw a wild punch at the serpent and it twisted away, turning around and launching itself back at her. She threw all her weight to the side and barely managed to evade it, walking into the corner of a desk. Gritting her teeth, she cried frustratedly, "There's not enough room in here!"

"Then make room!" Kiba hollered back, taking a swipe at the snake's hide. His claws managed to penetrate it and the serpent turned towards him, hissing furiously.

"That doesn't even make sense!" came the heated reply.

"Stop arguing and concentrate on the fight!" Sasuke growled, losing the last of his patience. He plunged his sword between two monstrous scales, blood erupting from the wound, and hastily withdrew it as the anaconda lunged at him to dive out of its fangs' reach.

Hanabi's attack came next. She sidestepped a swipe from the serpent's tail and rushed after it, drawing her elbow back behind her. She skidded to a halt just as the beast turned its head to behold her, and pitched forwards with all her might to land a crushing blow on the side of its face.

The snake twisted and roiled madly, thrashing around and dislodging every piece of furniture in its long reach. Naruto took the chance and focused the energy to his palm, watching it blossom into an ever-growing sphere of blue light. It continued to grow like a balloon being inflated, and then aiming carefully, he heaved it straight towards the snake's head.

The anaconda caught the full brunt of the attack, and froze. It was deathly still, and nothing seemed to happen until its slim pupils contracted to the size of sheets of paper. Then it gave one last bloodcurdling shriek, and the back of its spear-like head literally exploded. Blood, brains, and other ghastly fluids and components sprayed on to the floor and out into the rain.

The five of them barely had time to turn away in disgust when numerous darkly-clad ninja appeared in a circle around the weary group. They wasted no time in attacking, and the night air was filled with sounds of weapons clanging.

Sasuke ducked under a well-aimed stab and brought his elbow up into a man's windpipe, eyes dyed crimson as twin Sharingan spun. He slashed at another on-coming shinobi, and his sword met with cold metal. Sparks flew as he dragged the blade from the spiked arm-guard just in time to step away from another lunge, guiding the bloodstained blade under his assailant's arm and across its chest. He dispatched another enemy with a quick slash across the neck, and then another with a series of shallow stabs.

He felt a presence behind him and whirled around, only to see the ninja fall into a heap. Sakura drew away and placed a roundhouse kick into the face of another enemy, ducking under a wild swing and driving her fist into his chest. The others were having no problems either, making quick work of the remaining shinobi. Soon, only bodies of the assailants littered the ruined carpet.

Sasuke was in the process of considering the next course of action when he felt the cold edge of a knife pressed up against his throat. He froze, heart hammering. He hadn't even noticed anyone was there until it was too late. About the only person who could still catch him off-guard in such a manner was Kakashi.

"It's terribly fun to act, Sasuke-kun," a voice whispered tauntingly in his ear. The voice was that of a woman's. He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn't budge. The others seemed to have been caught in a similar stasis, standing perfectly still as if frozen in time.

He heard a delighted giggle from behind him, and a pale hand hovered next to his cheek. Delicate fingers reached out and traced the length of the cut made earlier that day.

"Don't touch me," he snarled, rage boiling inside of him. He fought desperately to swing his arm around and chop off the offending hand, but still it stayed reluctantly glued to his side.

There was another infuriating laugh, this time hearty and full-throated.

"You have quite the nasty temper, Sasuke-kun," the voice said, still giggling as it spoke. The speaker drew close behind him again, whispering.

"Still... I want you."

Sasuke had no time to react as what could only be fangs bore deep into his lower neck, piercing the skin and drawing blood. An enormous chill passed through his body.

And then everything started moving again.

White-hot pain spread through him like wildfire, and he dropped to his knees. Shaking uncontrollably, he broke out in a cold sweat, teeth beginning to chatter as his body tried to figure out what was happening to it. Clutching the ground, his back arched. And the waves of agony came crashing against him again and again, never showing a sign of stopping. A cry ripped itself from his raw throat.

He began to lose any sense of self as the mind-numbing pain became him, flooding his veins and clouding his vision. A small part of him could faintly hear footsteps, then someone distantly calling his name as everything faded to white.

(( Yeah. I still suck pretty bad at battle scenes, but it's an area I know I'll improve in.

That being said, why is Sasuke so... I dunno, rape-able? XDDDD ))