Sasuke and Shanan ran the whole way to the outpost town that Naruto said he and Jiraiya would be at. Shanan left all of the talking to Sasuke, though. She felt ok today, but she didn't want to chance a bad spell coming on this far from home.

They ran from hotel to hotel and finally thought that maybe they had the right one, only to find a pair that resembled Naruto and Jiraiya.

Sasuke had started to panic a little, but Shanan decided to take the lead and that seemed to help him calm down.

The first building Shanan led them into was where they found Naruto, along with Itachi and Kisame.

Shanan suddenly felt sick with worry for both of the boys. She didn't care what happened to her at all, but she didn't think she would be able to do anything to protect them in her state.

Itachi looked back at Sasuke, as if he had sensed he was there and started speaking to him in a monotone voice. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

Shanan could feel Sasuke's hate and anger and fear radiating from him, but he was ready to fight already as he gripped her hand tight and tried to keep her from moving any further into the hallway they were standing in.

Itachi turned all the way around to face them and smirked. "Oh, so you brought your girlfriend to witness your f-?" But then Itachi stopped when he recognized Shanan. "You're that crazy brat Kakashi and I met that night, aren't you?" he asked disdainfully. "If I remember correctly, you and Kakashi share quite the bond..." he said as he moved closer.

Sasuke moved to shield her from both Itachi's gaze and his words.

Itachi chuckled dryly at Sasuke for his efforts. "Are you sure you have enough hatred in your heart to protect her from me?"

Before Shanan had a chance to react, Sasuke had activated his Chidori as he ran towards Itachi. He was unable to land the blow, though. Even though Sasuke hadn't used any hand signals, Itachi stopped him easily and then broke his arm. Shanan ran towards Sasuke and was blocked by Kisame just as Jiraiya showed up.

"You guys really must not know me," Jiraiya said.

"Please help Sasuke, Pervy Sage," Naruto started yelling at him.

"No," Sasuke yelled before Itachi kicked him hard into the far wall.

Itachi looked back at the four of them over his shoulder as he made his way to Sasuke. "Yes. Stay out of this, I need to teach my baby brother a lesson."

Naruto tried to run towards the fight, but Jiraiya grabbed him, "Stop, Naruto, you have to let Sasuke fight his own battle."

Shanan stood there in front of Kisame feeling overwhelmed. The boy she loved was already really hurt and she knew she couldn't just stand there and do nothing to help.

"Shanan, don't. I don't want you to get hurt," Sasuke said shakily. He was already in a lot of pain, but he knew Shanan would still try to help.

Itachi walked towards Sasuke and kneed him hard in his stomach and punched him in the face causing blood to fly from his mouth. "You're still just as weak as you were when I left you," he said calmly. Then he picked him up by the throat and spoke to him too quietly for anyone else to hear before looking back and smirking at Shanan and then looking back at Sasuke.

Sasuke let out a loud scream and Shanan was positive that he had been caught in a genjutsu. Before she could even think she turned herself into the finest mist she could manage and went straight for Itachi's head. She surrounded his face in a thick cloud of water until he dropped Sasuke. In her rage, she continued to attempt to suffocate and drown him as Jiraiya activated his own jutsu.

Kisame, being from the Village Hidden in the Mist, also had water chakra type and was able to pull Shanan off of Itachi easily, which made her turn solid again as she hit the floor.

"Shanan," Sasuke groaned, "please just... run away." He looked at her, eyes pleading.

Shanan couldn't leave him. She couldn't see him beaten and she couldn't hear him scream again. So instead, she fell on top of him to shield him from any more blows.

Kisame walked over to where they were and stomped on Shanan's head and body a few times to try and get her to move, but she was holding Sasuke tight and didn't care how much it hurt.

Itachi was still trying to catch his breath as Jiraiya started laughing, "You both might want to start running," he said tauntingly as the walls, which were now the stomach of a mountain toad, started closing in around the two of them.

Shanan continued to cling to Sasuke with her eyes closed. Her headache was blinding suddenly, but she was ready to die if she had to to protect Sasuke. She couldn't stand him being hurt.

Naruto and Jiraiya chased after Itachi and Kisame, thinking they had nowhere to go until they inevitably escaped.

"Shanan, they're gone," Sasuke said through groans. "Are you ok?" He wasn't really able to move, but he did reach a hand up to caress hers as she was still shielding him.

Her whole body was shaking and she had tears streaming from her eyes and onto Sasuke.

"Shanan..." Sasuke whispered. "We're safe now," he tried to assure her.

"Alright, Shanan. You can let go now," said another familiar voice. It was Guy Sensei.

Shanan opened her eyes, but stayed where she was as she looked around to be sure.

Guy Sensei grabbed her hand to help her sit up. "Come on. You're safe. Sasuke's safe. Everyone's safe."

Shanan sat up, tears still pouring silently down her face as she looked at Sasuke. "Are you ok?" She was surprised anyone had heard her, she could barely get the words out.

"I'm ok," he said rather unconvincingly.

"You screamed," Shanan said pathetically.

Sasuke sat up very slowly. "He... put me in a genjutsu. He was showing me the massacre of my clan again. Until you stopped him, Shanan. You did what I was unable to," he said appreciatively. He went to grab her hand, but suddenly grabbed his chest instead as he started coughing up blood before passing out against Shanan.

"Sas-" Shanan started to say. But just as suddenly, her eyes rolled back and she passed out into Guy Sensei's arms.