Dawn slowly walked back towards the main house. She could hear the lively laughter and chatter emanating from within. When she was directly in front of the sliding door, she heard Asuka yell out. "Yay! Dawn's back!"

Smiling slightly, she opened the door and entered. "Yeah, I'm back." Everyone had already begun eating. Dawn sat in the empty spot next to Temari, who was fighting with a blond girl with blue eyes.

"Ino!" she yelled. "Shikamaru's mine! Hands off!"

"Excuse you!" Ino grabbed Shikamaru. "Get your hands off of him!"

Shikamaru looked bored. "Let go of me so I can eat..."

She shifted her attention to the others in the room. Kankuro was busy applying more makeup. "I'm so pretty..." he sang. A girl with two brown buns was moping about. The others seemed to be having fun.

There was a whine, and she turned her head so she was facing forward.

"H-hey! Akamaru!" They boy was trying to comfort his dog, who was hiding in his thick jacket. He looked up at Dawn. "Um...hi, I guess. My name is Kiba. Sorry for Akamaru's behavior." Akamaru whined even louder.

"You know, that dog would be great with some hot sauce." a chubby boy sitting next to him commented.

"Choji! You know it's because..."

Dawn just watched with half interest. She kept thinking of the incident at the onsen. Remembering his crimson eyes, jet-black hair, pale skin, and husky voice, she blushed. She couldn't help replaying the scene in her mind.

"Is Sasuke here?" he asked.

She was busy staring at him. She took in every detail, how his hair comes across his eyes and frames his face, how his flawless skin complimented his dark looks.

"Well? Where is he?" he asked again while leaning in towards her. "You won't tell me?"

She had finally regained her speaking abilities. "And what is your business with him?" she asked defiantly.

"Hmm...so he is here." He released his hold on her and stood up. After smirking at her, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving her alone. She sat up quickly and looked at the spot where he was last sighted. She stared at it and drifted off into a daze.

"Eeeaagh!" A scream brought her back to the present. She looked to her far right and saw Asuka hugging Naruto. Eh? she thought.

Asuka screamed again, and Naruto was getting scared. "A-Asuka! W-w-what are you doing? W-what's wrong?"

She pointed at an individual seated in front of her with wild hair. He seemed to be shoving his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. "Him! He's just all wrong!"

Emi tried to calm her down. "Now, now Asuka, don't be mean...I know there's something...different about him, but still..."

"Hah! Different? He's got no eyes! He's a freak! A scary freak!" She buried her face in Naruto's shirt.

The boy with the sunglasses spoke. "Uh, the name's Shino, not freak."

Dawn just looked at them. Seeing Asuka and Naruto act all close made her depressed. She stood up and went to the nearest corner. The more she got depressed, the colder the atmosphere got. Soon, everyone in the room was to too afraid to move.

"D-Dawn?" Emi voiced out to her.

A sudden knock on the door startled everyone. The looked at one another and gave a nervous laugh. When the knocking grew persistent, Kiba opened the door, and in walked a boy and a girl.

Kiba smiled at the girl. "Hinata!"

"K-Kiba-san!" she exclaimed, equally happy.

"Neeeeeeji!" The girl with two buns who had been moping about earlier stood up and ran towards him. "Where were you? I, TenTen, have missed y-"

"What the hell!" he shouted. He ran past TenTen and activated his Byakugan. "You three nins!" He pointed to Asuka, Emi, and Dawn. "You're the same as Naruto and Gaara!"

He struck Asuka, the nearest to him, with his Gentle Fist, then moved on with blinding speed to Emi and Dawn. He returned to his previous location. "Heh." He smirked. "Seems like the demons in you are no challenge."

After a few moments of silence, everyone burst out laughing. His head snapped up to look at everyone. "Eh? Eh?" He looked around in confusion. "What's so funny!"

His demand made them laugh even louder. Kankuro approached him with his handy-dandy, full sized vanity mirror. "Take a look for yourself!" He snickered.

Neji glanced at himself. The word LOSER was written on his forehead, makeup was applied, and a huge spot on his left cheek was beginning to darken into a bruise. "Aaaahhh! H-how...?"

He turned to look at the 3 girls. Asuka was laughing while tossing a marker. Emi had the 'I-didn't-do-anything' look. Dawn was still in her emo stage, but she left her fist up.

He pointed at them. "You guys did it!"

"Who? Me?" they asked innocently, save for Dawn who responded in monotone.

"Yes, you! Look at your hands!"

Asuka looked at the marker she was holding. "Uh...oh! You mean this little thing? It-it...it's a microphone!" She started singing random tunes.

Emi looked at her hands. "Oh, dear me...how did these smudges of makeup get here?" She sighed dramatically.

"Hey!" Kankuro screamed. Everyone turned to look at him. "My makeup's been tampered with! Emiiiiii!"

"Sorry, Kankuro!" Emi stuck out her tongue at him.

Dawn looked up at her raised fist. "Oh, I was just stretching!" She flexed her arm.

I-I can't believe it! Such speed..., Neji thought. He stood there in shock. Another knock befell the door. Whoever it was was clearly having a great time, banging out rhythms and beats. Sasuke opened the door. "Hello?" He peered outside. Seeing no one there, he turned around. "Strange...there's no one-"

"ITACHI GO BOOM!"

Dawn gasped. Th-that voice! She turned around to witness his entrance into the room oekaki style. It's him! The crimson-eyed man from earlier...