Hey! Sorry…I haven't much to say right now…except for the fact that Steve Irwin, AKA Croc hunter died! That sucks. He was cool. Sorry, randomness is my specialty. ANYHOO, read up, hope you like it so far!

Chapter 11

(Un)expected Visitors

"Stop it in its tracks?" Neji growled. "How do you suggest we do that?" Everyone nodded and looked to Akio.

"Simple," he said dangerously as he smirked. "You're going to break your seals." The teens choked up on this question.

"But…" began Hinata. "That's far too dangerous and difficult! We could kill eachother!" she protested, clutching her heart in fear of what Akio was asking them to do. Akio closed his eyes and sat on the dumpster.

"Hinata's right!" Sakura agreed with a serious nod. "Did you see what Ino did in the cafeteria? And that was only the pre-phase!" Ino shuddered as Sakura mentioned this and looked down at her ankle. How did I release it?

Akio nodded. "Yes, I understand what you are saying. But I'm afraid it's the only way," he said. "Don't worry," he added. "The seal's bind easily breaks at the face of the enemy." They all gasped and looked at Ino.

"Then that means Sakura was right," Tenten said through her teeth. "Temari is the enemy from the prophecy." Akio looked at Tenten.

"Yes, I had my suspicions of that one ever since she arrived here. But I also might add, if you think she is your only enemy, you are sorely mistaken," Akio worriedly told them. Ino fell sideways into the wall, supporting herself with her for-arm. This was obviously a lot of news to take on all at once. "With much sadness, I must also add that the longer you wait, the more control your seals have over your powers." He pointed at their seals. The girls checked their ankles as the boys checked their chests. They took in a sharp breath. The lines had grown even longer since a half hour ago.

The lines of the girl's seals had branched out as far as their mid-calve. The boys had branched out as far as their collarbones and upper-stomach.

"Oh my God!" The girls exclaimed in unison.

"How…?" Sasuke put his hand over his mark and ran his fingers along the line's directions.

"I should have noticed…" Neji balled a fist, but let it loose.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed as he hit the wall, causing it to crack a bit.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru growled down, as if speaking to his mark.

"Exactly," said Akio hopping off the dumpster. "You must break those as soon as possible before those lines envelop your entire bodies. When they do…" They all looked at Akio in horror. "You will no longer be able to harness your power, and if that should happen, evil will prevail."

"Yes, it certainly will." Yet another unknown voice sounded, bringing chills down the spines of all in the alleyway. "But that would happen whether you could harness your little powers or not."

The voice seemed to be coming from up above. Those in the alleyway all looked up, and atop of the edge of the cafeteria's roof was none other than Temari, staring down at them defiantly as if they were ants she was about to squash.

"Is this supposed to be a surprise to us?" Sakura boldly stepped forward, shouting up to Temari. "Because if it is, we have known for a while already." Temari tweaked an eyebrow.

"Blabbering again, are we pinky?" Sakura cringed at the annoying nickname Temari had apparently stuck to her. "Well, if you must know," she pulled off the large fan that had rested upon her back, and with a swift swing of her arm, folded it out, creating a breeze in the process. "I have not come alone." Temari smirked after saying this, then hopped onto her over-sized fan, which then carried her down to where the teens were.

"…If that wasn't going to be used against us, that would be really tight," Kiba said regarding the fan. His friends shushed him.

"Not the time!" Shino hissed at Kiba.

"Looks like you're right about one thing…this definitely isn't your time." A second voice sounded. It sounded closest to Ino. She spun around, and she was almost frightened to see Kankuro there. Where did he come from?

"K-k-kankuro?" Ino stammered as she backed away from the smirking boy. He stepping closer, making Shikamaru twitch in anger.

"Yes, Ino." Kankuro said evilly. "It's a shame," he sighed. "We could have worked so well together." He took Ino's hand against her will and twirled her into his arms lovingly. "But it looks like I'm going to have to kill you and your friends now." His lovingly hold turned into a deadly headlock, then he threw Ino over his shoulder. Her eyes widened to see that he no longer had his crow on his back. Instinctively, Ino's friends ran at Kankuro, only to be halted by a large puppet armed with venomous needles. Kankuro controlled it with the hand that wasn't holding Ino's legs.

"Don't think about it," he said as he manipulated the strings to raise the puppets needles even higher in a threatening manner. Sakura was far from doing what he said.

"So you're only in it to get back at Ino for not going out with you? How pathetic!" She blurted at Kankuro. Kankuro turned slightly red at this half truthful statement, but was not about to let it slide. He twisted the strings of the puppet, and released one. A needle began to hurl its way in Sakura's direction. She gasped, but knew it was going too fast for her to escape safely. Instead, she stood and waited for her untimely death to come. She closed her eyes tight. Why can't I ever keep my mouth shut?

Sakura continued to close her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a force knock her to the ground, bringing itself with her. It was certainly not the needle. She opened her eyes to see Sasuke over her. She looked at the wall opposite. A needle was stuck in the hard brick, venom dripping down from the point. She looked at Sasuke's sleeve, which had a tear in it. A near miss. A very near miss.

"Sasuke…" Sakura's voice quivered as she looked at Sasuke. "Why?" Sasuke, who rarely blushed, turned a bit pink. He got off of her and sat on his knees.

"Well…it's just…because I-" Sasuke was cut off by Temari's gust of wind. With much force, he, along with the rest of The Sentinels, was blown into the brick wall, the same one where the needle had hit. Sasuke could feel the venom dripping onto his head from the needle only feet above. Sakura clamped her hand over her mouth. No…Sasuke!

"See, it's those touchy feely moments that really set me off." Temari shut her fan. "And don't even think about helping your little boyfriend!" Temari scolded Tenten, whom was reaching out to Neji in a protective manner, about to attempt aiding him. Tenten hesitantly drew her hand back. Hinata bit her lip worriedly. Naruto, please be ok!

It was now that Akio stepped forward firmly.

"Ooh, what's this?" laughed Temari, as she put her fan back in it's place on her back. "The math teacher's going to fight me! Well this sure will be a laugh- AGH!" Temari was the one cut off now. Akio had punched Temari dead on in the face with little regret. She hurdled back into the dumpster, creating a rather large dent. To make things perfect, a leak of mystery stew poured on her head.

"Haven't done that in a few years…" Akio said to himself proudly, cradling his fist. The teens looked at him, shocked. They were certainly not expecting the cheerful happy Akio to use such force. They were glad it was in their favor.

Temari, clutching her bleeding nose, stumbled up. Her fan had opened as she was blown back and ripped on impact. "Urgh…Kankuro! Take care of these bitches!" She screeched at her brother. Kankuro nodded. With a swing of his hands, the puppet, which had not been silenced, gathered up the remaining teens in a tight bind, yet not tight enough to kill them.

"See Ino, I'm very good with my hands!" Kankuro said to the kicking Ino he still had on his shoulder.

"That was the worst pickup line I've ever heard!" Ino yelled as she began to hit his back. He turned pink again. Damn! I really thought that one would work.

"Dude!" Kiba shouted to him. "If you want a girl, don't use sucky pick up lines! It only enrages them!" Kankuro was getting angry. "Oh, and by the way, you're puppet is butt-ugly." Kiba added. Now Kankuro was ticked. He worked the strings once more and tightened the puppet's hold on the teens. They groaned.

"…Sorry about that." Kiba whispered.

"KANKURO!" Temari shrieked again, still stumbling around the dumpster holding her nose. "HURRY UP!" Kankuro was startled at his sister's outburst and quickly tended to his evil doing.

"Right…" he said as he tied up his strings, but still kept the teens bound up and the sentinels too weak from their impact to stand. Ino was still kicking. "Urgh…" Kankuro jammed his hand into his pocket and began to search through it. "Ah," he said as he took out a needle. He injected it's liquid into each of Ino's legs. Her fidgeting instantly stopped.

"What the…huh?" Ino tried as she might, but could not get her legs to budge.

"It's a temporary paralyzation serum," Kankuro told her. "It will keep you from moving about for a bit. Don't worry; it will wear off…once it's time. Same with that bind." Kankuro gestured his head to the puppet.

"What do you mean 'once it's time'?" Hinata, who had not been talking much due to fear, said.

"Well, looks like we'll have to show you," said Temari through her nose, on which she had put a tissue. "But let's take this to a place more…let's say…fitting."

"Fitting?" Chouji, who had been oblivious to what was happening, echoed.

"That's right." Kankuro smiled dangerously. With an assuring nod from Temari, he took out a device from his pocket. Temari did the same. With a press of the side buttons, a strong light that seemed to be visible in the day shined from the devices. The siblings held the lights above all in the alleyway, and they were immediately whisked out of it.

Sakura blinked as the wind began to sting her eyes. She could only see blurs going by, as if they were spinning through some portal to…somewhere else. She also thought about Sasuke. He saved me…he could have died! But he still did it. Sakura began to feel something in her stomach that seemed different for her. It felt like it was leaping. No! She thought to herself. I can't possibly…but then again…could I?

Tenten kept her eyes wide open. What ever they were going or what was going to happen to them, she was not about to miss it. She recalled a moment between her and Neji that took place seconds after Akio had given them the speech of their previous lives.

Tenten began to slightly shake at Akio's words. Tenten was always brave. She did not know why the concept of the prophecy scared her so.

Suddenly, she felt something enter her hand. She looked down at it, and she saw a hand placing a kunai in her own. She looked to see that the hand belonged to Neji. She looked at his face, but he seemingly continued to look forward at Akio, as if nothing was taking place between him and Tenten. Tenten was confused, but closed her fingers over the kunai. After she did, Neji gently let go of it and his arm casually fell back to his side.

"So you mean to say…history is repeating itself?" Sakura asked in a shaky voice. At this, Tenten closed her eyes. Then she brought up her hand to look at the kunai Neji had given her. It was scratched up incredibly, as if it had been through a lot in the past. She turned it over. Inscribed on the handle was "N. Hyuuga". Tenten realized then that what he had given her had been his luckiest and trustiest of kunai. She gripped it tighter before storing it safely in her weapon pouch.

Tenten smiled slightly after remembering this. Thank you…Neji.

Hinata was slightly squeaking as she held back tears. She did not want all this to happen so fast. She wanted to know what it was like to lead a normal life- not the life determined for her by the prophecy. But one of the most important at the moment to her was Naruto. Around him, she felt a sense of security, although she could not really work out why. She just felt like he wouldn't let any harm come to her as long as he was there, and she was happy for that. Please be safe Naruto. Please…

After numerous desperate attempts to budge her legs, Ino gave up. She hung hopelessly at Kankuro's back, her hair all in her face because of the wind, so she could not see her surroundings (or lack thereof). She did not fail to pinch or hit Kankuro in his back every so often, since her arms were in fine working order, but it earned her a smack in the butt. Yes, the butt. Man, this guy's a perv! Then Shikamaru came to her head. Shikamaru, Shikamaru, Shikamaru. She had no idea as to why she was thinking of Shikamaru of all things while she was being transported to where she would most likely be met face-to-face with her death, but she still thought of him. She thought of his face when she looked at him after her brawl with Temari in the cafeteria. The look of concern and worry he wore when Ino was being pestered by Kankuro. The defiant protective expression he had when he warded off the idiots from Ino's hair. So many moments she had shared with him in such a short amount of time clicked through her head like a slide show. What are you doing Ino? You've only known him for one day for crying out loud! She thought some more. But then again…we have known each other in a past life…so…agh! Pay attention to the current problems, Ino! Like that hard cement you are hurdling towards this very second!

All except for Kankuro and Temari, who had landed tactfully on their feet, hit the cold hard floor with a loud thump. They all whimpered. The fall alone was enough to make them woozy and delirious. The girls all looked up and around. The same thought flicked through all their minds at once. This place…no way. We're here…again.

The guys and girls looked up to see a blurry feminine figure above them, arms crossed. The figure spoke to the girls.

"It's nice to see you girls…again." The familiar voice said. With those being the last words interpreted, the girls slipped into unconsciousness.

Ok! Hey guys, sorry if that one was too goofy at some parts. Don't worry, I will make up for it. And sorry that Kankuro is in fact a bit of a perv. I know he's not really like that, but I had to create a character with that persona to fit the story. Now that I'm done with my normal clearing-up-what-was-confusing/offensive-to-readers is done, I will finish up with this little footnote thing. Hope you liked this chappie, the next one MAY be a little delayed due to homework onslaughts, but I dunno yet. So if it takes a while, don't worry. I'm done blabbering now, so I hope you enjoy it so far, R and R! (hehe…rhyme…not really)