A/N: A very happy new year guys. Hope your year is going better than mine. On the bright side I managed to finish this bad boy, a little... fine a LOT later than I expected to. But that's not why you're here. Just for the record this fic has now crossed the 100k barrier(excluding the A/Ns). So, I can safely cross that off my bucket list. Now if only I could get those thousand reviews(only 912 to go). Anyway enjoy.

Frenemies

Sasuke ducked under the haymaker before plunging his chokuto through the man's abdomen, making sure not to nick anything important. The curse seal marks faded and the man collapsed in a heap joining the rest of his... clique.

More than a dozen lay unconscious around him. Not a single dead, he noted with some satisfaction. It wasn't likely to change either. The curse seal gave an impressive boost to healing among other things.

It made one faster, stronger and damn near invulnerable.

On the downside it turned you into a complete imbecile, and eventually with prolonged use stripped you off all reason. Which meant they could be taken down relatively easily provided you knew what to do.

Sasuke did.

His rubbed the junction of his neck and shoulder unconsciously. It had been ages since he felt the pull, but being in close proximity to other curse-seal users had brought back memories.

That intoxicating mix of euphoria and power.

He repressed a shudder as he focused back on the task at hand. He pushed his way past the rubble that was blocking the hallway.

The stench of blood and feces helped him prepare for the horror that awaited him. Carcasses lined along the hallway in various states of decay. For a second he flashbacked to his clan home riddled with bodies of his kith and kin.

His curse seal throbbed violently. He grit his teeth. Now was not the time. The pain nearly sent him to his knees and he had to hold on to the wall to remain on his feet. He tried to control his breathing as he pushed the foul chakra out of his system.

Eventually the pain subsided, but it left him concerned... extremely so. That was twice in as many minutes that the seal had acted up.

He pulled himself straight and kept walking deeper into the hideout, occasionally checking the cells for survivors.

So far he had been disappointed.

Not so long ago this place was one of Orochimaru's most active laboratories for his twisted experiments.

And now it was just a remnant. One of several houses of horrors scattered across the continent with the bodies of the victims telling their tragic tale of pain and suffering.

It seemed like a good place to start getting some answers but that looked less likely by the minute.

CLANG

He might have come to his conclusions a little prematurely. He followed the source of the noise leading him to a closed steel door reinforced with bars.

But it definitely wasn't a cell.

Most likely the residential area or the laboratory of whichever sick bastard Orochimaru put in charge here.

Too bad the door was impenetrable.

Fortunately the wall was not.

He went through fifteen hand seals before as he changed the nature of his chakra to that of earth. It wasn't his element. A lightening technique of a similar rank would have cost a tenth of the chakra and not more than a couple of hand seals.

But he got what he needed as a portion of the wall collapsed in almost a perfect circle, just big enough to allow him through.

He was ambushed almost immediately. He didn't break a sweat in subduing his attacker, flipping him over his shoulder and pinning him to the floor with his foot.

His attacker wasn't a curse seal user. His clothes were in tatters, beard unkempt, and eyes wide with fear. Sasuke would feel almost sorry for the guy if it weren't for the headband. He could just about make out the insignia of sound.

"What happened here?" Sasuke questioned.

"Mon... mon..." the man stammered and seemed barely aware of Sasuke, "they ma... they made... monsters."

This man was no good to Sasuke, "Is there anyone else alive?" anyone who was coherent enough to give him answers.

"They... they said...that... that it would make them better," the man continued like Sasuke hadn't spoken, he was almost pleading now, "we... we brought them here to make them better," he grabbed Sasuke's arm with a strength uncharacteristic off his frail body, "but they created monsters... we created monsters," he was sobbing now.

"I know," Sasuke whispered as he wrenched his arm out of the man's grip and left him weeping on the floor.

A group of curse sealed monsters had now gathered outside the room trying to get in through the hole he had made.

He walked towards them and the agitated monsters made way for him. They hissed and snarled at him, but kept their distance and allowed him to pass unmolested.

He didn't turn around as they turned their attention to the sobbing man.

XxX

"So," the Kusa-nin said a little nervously, "a little heads-up as to what I should expect?"

"Nothing that couldn't have been picked up by your earlier examinations as far as I can tell," Sakura told him, "and if they weren't enough to keep you out of duty then I doubt I have anything else to add."

It had been over a week since she her meeting with Naruto in the nightclub. The lack of contact in the meantime had left her nerves frayed even more than usual. The scroll Naruto had given her hadn't done much to lower her anxiety levels either.

Along with a few brochures on the organization 'Sunshine' all it contained were a dress suit and a wig.

She could guess her next task and she would get to it too if only she had the go-ahead. She toyed with the idea of just taking the initiative and engage Sunshine herself, but she knew she had to wait.

She hadn't been entirely passive. She made a couple of trips to the club with her colleagues at the hospital enduring more flirtations of Daichi in the process. It was easy to ignore.

If only the same could be said about loud mouthed, orange wearing, blonde teammate, or rather his absence to be more precise in this case. She hoped for his sake he was doing something useful because she would be asking some questions the next time she saw him.

To top it all she now had a regular visitor in the form of a Kusa shinobi who was the reason for giving her sleepless nights when her shifts at the hospital wasn't. Though she had to admit after the initial apprehension of the first few visits she was beginning to at least get used to his company if not being outright comfortable with it. For some reason he insisted she give him a full check-up and Sakura obliged after some token reluctance.

It had to be said though that in all the time he spent with her he had not given any signs that he was suspicious of her.

She wasn't sure if she should be crediting his acting talents or her luck.

The jounin looked at her speculatively over his cup of coffee, "You don't approve of the way we do things do you Sakura-san?"

"You're missing three feet from your intestines, your lungs are fifteen percent scar tissue..."

"...perforated liver, damaged spinal column, a pelvis that resembles a jig-saw puzzle," he shrugged "mementos of the war... most of them anyway."

Sakura frowned at the casual way he just brushed aside the nature of his old injuries, "Frankly speaking its a miracle that you're alive. Most people would just call it a day and retire."

"Clearly I'm not most people," the man remarked.

"Don't you have a family Arakida-san?"

"Parents been dead for nearly a decade now," he said, "lost my elder brother during the war."

The man's shoulders dropped his eyes clouded with sorrow and despite herself Sakura found her heart swell with sympathy.

"What was he like?"

The man looked up to her in surprise clearly not expecting the question.

"I... I'm sorry," Sakura stammered after he failed to respond, "I'm intruding."

"It's alright," he said waving away her apology, "you're the first person to ask me that question. Most people just say they're sorry for my loss before awkwardly changing the subject."

"Guess I'm not most people either," Sakura said echoing his words.

"No," he said, looking at her rather thoughtfully, "you're not."

"So," Sakura said now that she was fairly sure that it wasn't a taboo subject, "were the two of you close?"

"No, we weren't," he said, "he was genin by the time I entered the Academy, and at the time I thought he was a pain in the ass."

"You miss him," Sakura stated matter of factly.

"Every morning before leaving for the academy he'd hide my shoes," he said, "used to take me hours to find them... and in all that time I never complained to my parents... not once"

He barely seemed aware of Sakura at this point, lost in his old memories. Sakura for her part felt like a voyeur, being witness to something so personal. It was a change from interactions with her teammates that was for sure.

"I always thought I'd get him back one day you know," he chuckled, "but the bastard was way too crafty... then the war began," he leaned back on his seat, "a border skirmish with some Kumo shinobi and my parents got to bury a finger, at least we thought it was his... we hoped it was his."

"When his friends and comrades were eulogising him at the funeral about how brave and great he was," he sighed, "all I could think of was how I'd never get him back for all the shit he put me through."

"I lost a patient once," Sakura found herself saying, "doing a high-risk procedure I'd never done before."

"Why did you do it?"

"Because at the time I thought that it was the best chance I could give him," she answered, "because I thought I could actually pull it off."

"You did your best to save his life then," he said.

"I did," Sakura said promptly.

"Then why do you regret it?"

Sakura wanted to deny it. This was something she had avoided confronting in all her sessions with Inoichi. She hadn't even talked about this with Ino and yet she found herself confiding in a stranger in a foreign land who was in all probablity an enemy.

"Because there was someone else," she said, "whom I could've saved. In the end I could save neither."

"That's rough," he said.

"Yeah," Sakura sighed, "it was."

"Can I take you to dinner?"

Sakura nearly cracked her neck in surprise at the question.

"Umm..." she tried to come up with something to say, "I'm not sure that'd be appropriate."

" Because I'm a shinobi?"

"Because I'm a doctor and you're my patient," Sakura said patiently, "this is the sort of thing that is considered unethical in my line of work."

"Fortunately," he countered, "'unethical' is my job description... at least some of the time."

"Maybe you're in the wrong line of work," Sakura smirked at him, while a part of kept screaming at her what the hell was she doing and the other urging her to keep going.

"Too late for regrets I'm afraid," he shrugged, "still haven't gotten an answer on that dinner."

"It's a bad idea."

"Still not an answer."

Sakura bit her lip, weighing her options.

"I can't do dinner," she said just as the expectant look on his face was about to turn into one of disappointment, "and its because I've got two consecutive night shifts."

"How about lunch then?" he persisted

"Fine," she conceded, "Saturday. Pick me up at eleven."

XxX

"You know you still have ten minutes before your break is officially over," the nurse at the reception told her as she collected the files for her next batch of patients.

"I just like to stay on top of things," Sakura smiled at the woman.

"And just for that you get this one," she said handing her an extra file on top of the pile she was already carrying before giving her a conspiratorial wink, "your next one is quite the hottie... you can thank me later."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she made her way into her assigned chamber. She studied the contents of the file with her brain barely beginning to register the familiar name staring at her.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," her patient greeted her cheerfully, "was hoping to see you here."

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed before she could stop herself before shutting the door to the chamber hurriedly hoping no one heard her.

"Where?" he said, his eyes widening comically as he looked around agitatedly.

"Cut it out," she snapped at him swatting his arm, "I nearly blew your cover... not to mention jeopardized mine."

"You need to relax," he said, theatrically rubbing the arm that she had hit, "my cover's fluid and yours is fine."

"I just screamed your real name to half the hospital," Sakura hissed.

"And no one cares," he shrugged, "a scream can get lost in the din here, I'd be more worried if you'd whispered, kinda like you're doing now because that's when people pay attention... and can you stop looking at me like that you're beginning to freak me out."

Sakura didn't ease up on her glare. But fortunately or unfortunately she was beginning to get used to his borderline reckless behaviour. He seemed to be the type that got off on prodding the sleeping dragon in the eye, just to see if he could get away with it.

This fact alone made him the most dangerous man she knew.

But she had her orders and she couldn't choose her teammates, so there was only one thing left to do.

"Did it ever occur to you that all this would be a lot easier of you could just meet me at my apartment," she said, "or if I could meet you... wherever it is you're staying."

"A stranger getting strange visitors invites a lot more questions than a doctor receiving a patient," he said sagely, "you still have a lot to learn."

"Excuse me for not being 'up to date' on spying techniques," she made air quotes as she spoke, "it got in the way of being a medic."

"You seem stressed," he observed, "when was the last time you had sex?"

It was probably Ino's influence and her own growing immunity to his antics that her only reaction to that quip was a roll of eyes. If that was the best he got...

"That Kusa jounin looked interested."

Sakura dropped her files in surprise, "You did not just say that," Sakura growled, "I'm not sleeping with a potential enemy even if its for the mission."

"I wasn't suggesting you do it for the mission," Naruto shrugged, "but if that would make you feel better about doing it I say go for it."

Sakura gaped at him, before shaking her head, "Yeah," she said, "I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Suit yourself," he muttered.

"Now," Sakura said trying to bring the conversation on track, "where the hell have you been and what have you been up to?"

"Jeez you're in a bad mood," he said, "but since you asked I'll have you know I was working on a way get inside Sunshine and take a look at some of their... projects."

"Couldn't we've just walked through the front door as interested donors?" Sakura asked, "and from the way they seem to be promorting their work it doesn't seem like any covert action is needed."

"You're right," Naruto agreed, "and that's why we... or rather you're gonna do, going in as legitimate donor."

Sakura could see the problems with this plan almost immediately, "To be a legitimate donor don't we need to make a legitimate donation?"

"Way ahead of you Sakura-chan," he said, "a sizeable contribution has been made by a rich but anonymous donor to the charity organization Sunshine. It should give them enough of an incentive to get a closer look at their books and projects."

"And exactly who am I going to be?" she nodded.

"You're the secretary to a rich and elusive noble with business interests in the country," Naruto said, "don't worry they won't ask you a lot of questions, they've got good incentive to not prod. They can't afford to offend their patrons after all... any questions?"

"What do I do if I need to contact you again?"

"That's not a good idea Sakura-chan," he told her gravely.

"Why?" Sakura demanded, "is it because I'm a liability on a 'need to know' basis? While the rest of your boy band is out kicking ass and taking names."

Naruto seemed dumbfounded at her outburst before he broke into a chortle.

"Boy band," he said trying in vain to stop the grin from breaking over his face, "that's a good one."

"I'm being serious," she swatted his arm but was struggling to contain her own laughter.

"You're not the liability Sakura-chan," he reassured her, "we are. Of the three of us you're the only one with a valid cover. We can't risk that."

Sakura felt like a petulant child and now felt guilty about her outburst. She felt she hadn't contributed anything to this mission and had in fact endangered it by attracting the attention of a jounin and she could only imagine the lengths Naruto was going through to ensure they had something to show for their efforts.

The money for the donation couldn't have come from Konoha's coffers which meant it was he who arranged it, most likely by gambling, not to mention working on giving her another cover and running investigation into Sunshine.

She had no idea what Kakashi and Sasuke were up to but she was sure they were being more productive than her.

"I know this hasn't been easy,"He handed her an identity card with her photograph on it along with... a kunai, "but trust me when I say we're almost done here."

"I have my own," she said handing the blade back.

"Keep it," he said, "that's a little more special than your regular off the counter kunai."

"What exactly am I supposed to do with it?"

"If you're in trouble without any backup," he said, his voice dropping as if revealing a secret, "just throw it."

"As opposed to?" Sakura said as sarcastically as she could but pocketed it anyway resolving to avoid using it. She hadn't forgotten the river kites.

"Trust me," he said, "it might save your life... any questions"

"Just one," she said, "when do I start?"

XxX

Kohaku couldn't help the smile on his face when he saw Sakura leave the hospital, looking harried.

"I'm sorry," she panted as she approached him, "work was murder."

"So was mine," he said, "I'm kidding," he added on seeing the look of horror on his companion's face.

She considered him for a while, a thoughtful look on her face as if wondering if she wasn't making a mistake.

"So," she said breaking the awkward silence, "where are we going?"

"Just a restaurant down the street," he said, relief coursing through his veins, "nothing too fancy."

He held the door open and she gave him a surprised smile, clearly pleased. He led her to a corner booth overlooking the street. They sat facing each other when the waiter arrived with the menus.

"You've got to try the chicken teriyaki here," he said, "its to die for."

"I'll take your word for it," she laughed, her brown eyes sparkling in the low light of the restaurant.

"I wasn't sure if this is the kind of place you'd like..."

"This is exactly the kind of place I like," she interrupted him, "its... nice."

"That's the last thing a man wants to hear on a date," he sighed.

"Its not you," she explained hastily, "its me."

"I take it back," he said, "that is the last thing a man wants to hear."

She smiled wryly at him, "I'm afraid I'm not being very good company tonight."

"What's on your mind?" he said leaning forward, "you do seem a little preoccupied."

"Just a little bit of this and that," she said airily, "I'm sure its nothing."

"Get it off your chest," he encouraged her, "I'm a good listener, I promise."

She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before finally surrendering, "I'm sure this is just me being paranoid," she said, "but have you ever felt like things are about to go wrong in the most colossal way possible?"

He held her gaze as he spoke, "Only every time I'm out in the field."

"Is that so?" she said, her weariness replaced by curiosity.

"It helps being paranoid in my line of work," he said, "It doesn't explain why you're feeling that way though."

His companion for the night reached for her glass of water and gulped down half the contents, "Am on a date with a shinobi in a near deserted restaurant in a country not my own away from family, friends or any kind of help," she said, "if your intentions are to cause me harm I'm afraid I'll be quite..."

"Helpless?" he offered helpfully.

"Yes," she breathed.

Their conversation was interrupted by the waiter arriving. He relayed the order for both of them.

"Despite your misgivings," he said once the waiter had left, "you're still here... wonder why?"

"I needed to satisfy my curiosity," she said.

"Regarding?"

"Your interest in me."

"You don't believe a man can be interested in a pretty woman."

"I do," she said, "just not sure that's the reason for your interest."

"And pray what other reason could there be for my interest?" he chuckled, shifting a little underneath the table.

"Are we still playing this game?" a raised eyebrow and a small grin which looked completely out of place made its way over her lips.

A kunai hidden beneath his sleeve slipped into his palm, "Guess the time for games is over," he sighed, "just one question before we begin."

"Shoot."

"Where's the real Sakura?" he asked, "if that is indeed her real name."

The statement was followed by the table between them being exploding upward as he barely dodged the tabletop as it went by his face embedding itself into the ceiling. He somersaulted over his chair landing on table of the booth behind him. His attractive brown haired brown eyed adversary was now a blonde man charging him.

He brought his knee up to block a kick, while countering with a punch which was blocked by an open palm. Kunai met kunai in a flash of steel, sparks flying in the clash.

Just by that initial exchange he realized it wasn't a good idea to engage in taijutsu. He felt like he was fighting a mountain.

If mountains could move with lightning speed and strike back.

And where the hell was his backup?

Changing tactics he threw half a dozen shuriken at him. To his surprise instead of parrying or dodging them, he ran straight through them.

"Shit," he was halfway through his hand-seals when he had to abandon it in favour of taking evasive action against the kunai which nearly took his head off, followed by a kick which he blocked with his arms crossed but despite that the power behind it the was enough to put him through a counter and smashing him to the wall. His reflexes saved him from the fist that embedded itself into the part of the wall where his head had been. He retaliated with a couple of knees to the abdomen doubling him over and managing to get him in a headlock.

Just when he thought he had the upper hand, he found himself smashed to the floor, knocking the breath out of his lungs. He maintained enough presence of mind to get to his feet and put some distance between them.

Jumping to his feet he flashed through hand seals half expecting to be interrupted again, but his opponent was comparatively more lethargic in getting to his feet, the wounds from the shuriken bleeding onto the floor. He finished making his seals and was about to channel his jutsu when,

"You'll blow your arms off if you do that," his bleeding enemy said, "I've blocked the chakra pathway in your arms, you force a jutsu and your veins pop like a water balloon."

He was right. He couldn't channel chakra beyond his wrists and his attempt at doing so could prove disastrous.

"And at this point," he grunted as he pulled a shuriken out of his shoulder, "you gotta be wondering where your backup is?"

"Are they alive?" he asked, fear and anger competed within his head.

"They're alive and unharmed," the blonde assured him, "relatively speaking of course."

He allowed himself to sigh in relief as he flexed his fingers, "Guess that puts ninjutsu off the table," he palmed another kunai.

"C'mon man," his opponent whined, "do you really wanna do this?"

"As opposed to?"

"Surrender?"

"You're bleeding out and I doubt you can afford to kill my comrades," Kohaku normally wouldn't be bantering in the middle of a fight, but he needed time. His adversary was bleeding out and he could tell his inability to use ninjutsu was temporary, "and since I'm still fighting you one on one I'm gonna say your friends aren't here to cover your ass either," he slipped into his taijutsu stance, "I guess what I'm saying is... I like my chances."

"You don't get it do you?" the blonde chuckled, "I'm not with my friends because I don't need them for this," he gasped as he dropped on one knee, " as it is I'll be the one joining them... after subduing and capturing you of course."

"Just out of curiosity," he said flexing his arm and channeling chakra finding that the block was gone, "how exactly are you going to pull off that miracle?"

"With you under my arm," he replied, "throwing up like a drunk genin on his first night-out."

A warm tingling sensation enveloped his arms signalling the opening of his sealed chakra pathways. It was time to shut up and finish this. His opponent apparently agreed with his non-vocalized thoughts as he rushed him at the same time as he charged.

Or he would have if he could.

His gaze dropped to the floor and felt his blood freeze when he realized he was standing inside a sealing array made of... blood unable to move. The same blood that had been dripping of the wounds of his opponent unable to move.

All this time he had been biding time without realizing his enemy had been doing the same.

Resigning himself to his fate he waited for the blow that never came.

The blonde man placed his hands on the floor and the seal glowed.

"Ninja art," he said triumphantly, "Reverse summoning."

XxX

Big blowout photographs of smiling children on a playground, older kids looking on attentively to a man demonstrating a chemistry experiment, of volunteers participating in disaster hit areas. Sakura counted six of them hung in the reception area itself. All of them with the caption of the name of the organization 'Sunshine' written on the top of them and the motto 'Creating a better world' at the bottom. All smiles, laughter and rainbows.

All in all this was the last place one would associate with a psychotic scientist posing as a doctor.

Which probably meant Naruto might actually be on to something here.

She scratched her head underneath her blonde wig. It was itchy. For the first time since during this mission she was glad that she wasn't made to wear a wig for her cover.

Her actual cover.

And now she was going in disguise to protect the identity of her cover.

She missed the time when the biggest complication in her life was her ex mistaking her to be having an affair with Ino of all people.

Moron.

She dumped him that day.

These people were taking their time. She took the time to check the rest of her disguise/attire. Her grey skirt went to her knees along with a matching full-sleeved blouse to go with her shoes with 4-inch heels. The outfit was classy and elegant. In other words, the perfect disguise for someone pretending to be a secretary to a rich and elusive billionaire.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura turned to see a woman rushing towards her looking flushed with embarrassment, "its been a busy day."

"I know the feeling," Sakura smiled.

"Well," her host said, "first of all I'd like to extend a thank you to your employer on behalf of the Sunshine family for his very generous donation."

"My employer believes in your vision," Sakura said.

"And we respect his decision to remain anonymous."

"You don't find that strange?" Sakura queried.

"Your employer won't be our first anonymous donor," the woman laughed, "it doesn't happen a lot but then again some of our largest donors prefer to keep their... privacy."

"Aren't you worried about the source of these donations?" Sakura asked.

"If you're worried about the legality of our transactions you don't need to be," she was told, "all of our finances are vetted by the offices of the Ministry of finance and commerce itself."

Sakura nodded as if satisfied with that explanation. But inside she was beginning to wonder why did an office under the direct authority of the Daimyo needed to be associated with a charity organization.

"Now as I understand your employer would like to take a personal role in one of our programmes," the woman inquired.

"That's right," Sakura nodded, "he wants to be more than just a donor and wants to be more... involved."

"And we would be grateful for his patronage," her host smiled, "just tell us the name of the programme your employer is interested in funding."

"Your youth programme," she said, "I believe its called..."

"Lighting the future," a middle aged grey haired man approached them dressed smartly in a formal blue kimono, "one of our most ambitious and dare I say successful projects," he bowed towards her, "I'm Hiro Ayazaki."

Information in the documents Naruto had shared with her swam in front of her eyes. Hiro Ayazaki, age fifty four, unmarried and the man at the head of the organization, "I wasn't expecting to meet the President of Sunshine on such short notice," she said returning the bow.

"That title is misleading I'm afraid," he laughed, "makes me sound like the head of a government or something, when in reality I am but a humble servant of humanity."

"The work you've done is remarkable," Sakura complimented.

"I can't take all the credit," the man said humbly, "most of what we do is possible because of the generosity of our patrons like your employer."

Sakura decided to ask Naruto exactly how much he donated later when she had the time.

"I'm sorry for this to be a bother," she said, "but my boss wanted to know the details of the project before he proceeded."

"He's welcome here anytime," he said emphatically.

"Actually I was hoping I could take a look," she said.

The man turned to his secretary and nodded who stood up following the gesture.

"Kana-san here will get you every thing you need," he said getting to his feet, "now if you'll excuse me."

"Of course," Sakura said mimicking her host, "it was a pleasure."

"The pleasure was all mine."

"Please follow me," the woman said once Hiro left.

The box was slammed on the table with a thud surprising Sakura. Sakura could see dozens of files crammed into it. It would take hours to get through it. She prepared herself for the tedious task.

On the bright side she wasn't being ambushed by enemy shinobi.

"We have five more boxes," the secretary said, "I'll have them sent over."

On second thoughts she would take the ambush.

XxX

"How secure is this thing?" Sasuke asked still trying to come to terms with the fact that they were inside a giant toad transformed as a house on the outside and if that wasn't enough the inside of the toad resembled an interrogation room.

"A squad of ANBU could be standing right on top of us and they wouldn't see anything amiss," came the reply, "this place is more secure than the fire maiden's chastity."

"How long till he regains consciousness?" he said changing the subject.

"Hard to say," his blonde companion shrugged, "I hadn't really used that shit before, so it might take a while."

"I expected incompetence," Sasuke sneered, "but downright sabotage... well even I didn't believe you could be that stupid."

"Well done, Uchiha," Naruto made a show of looking impressed, "you went almost two whole minutes without being an asshole. Now let's try harder and go for three shall we?"

"Boys boys," Kakashi interrupted, "don't make me send you to your rooms."

Sasuke glared at the jounin whose nose was buried in his book as usual. And just as usual Sasuke hadn't known he was there till he spoke.

"I have to ask however, why is our prisoner unconscious?" the jounin directed his question at the genin.

"He wouldn't stop throwing up," came the half sheepish half exasperated reply, "all over my favourite jacket mind you and then..." Naruto's words became intelligible at this point.

"Sorry," Kakashi said, "I didn't get that last part."

"The idiot gave him a sedative," Sasuke took vindictive pleasure in watching the blonde turn red with embarrassment.

"And how did that work out?"

"He nearly choked on his vomit," came the mumbled reply.

"Hmmm... guess that wasn't wise was it?" Kakashi said his tone turning grave

"No," Naruto admitted, "it wasn't."

"Still," Kakashi reverted back to his usual nonchalant self, "he seems to be doing okay now and will be no worse for wear after that ordeal. No harm no foul."

"That's it?" Sasuke said.

"You've got something to add Sasuke?"

"For starters," Sasuke said, "the longer we keep him and the others here the more likely it is that someone will begin to miss them... guess I don't have to tell you how that might play out."

"Anything else?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to punch Kakashi on his masked face, "Any idea what we're gonna do next?" he demanded, "because from where I'm standing if we'd followed my plan we could've avoided this whole mess."

"If we followed your plans we'd be back in Konoha trying to explain to the Hokage that the reason we have nothing to show after weeks undercover is because we turned chicken at the first sign of trouble," Naruto retorted.

"Instead now we get to tell her how we turned an ally into an enemy because we didn't know how to cut our losses," Sasuke shot back, "we're definitely better off now."

"Tell me Uchiha, your lack of balls," Naruto said, "is that a family trait or are you the exception?"

Sasuke's arm crackled with electricity as he prepared his signature technique, ''Do you want to repeat that?"

Blue chakra swirled over the genin's palm, "Sure why not," he said, "your lack of balls..."

"That's enough!" Kakashi shouted, "stand down both of you."

Naruto allowed his chakra to dissipate but Sasuke held on debating the merits of putting his fist through his heart.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi barked, "go check on the others."

Sasuke grunted as he put his fist through the table blowing it into pieces, before turning on his heels and exiting the room without another word.

Well I hope this chapter was everything you expected it to be. Some action, some drama and some setup for plot advancement. I have been contemplating a time skip for a while now and you guys just might see one in a couple of chapters. As usual your thoughts are appreciated and I would like to hear more from you guys. But the review count seems to suggest that I've been discouraging people.

So come on help a brother out. Its why we do this after all.

Until next time.