AN: Told you the next chap. was almost done. Here it is. ^.^ Oh, there is a lemon, just fyi.

And to Gaaras1Girl, haha, I liked that part too. I hope this is as good as the last one, even though it's a page and a half shorter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc. You know the drill. Oh, and Kirigi belongs to Thomas Drovin, which I'm very grateful he's letting me use. Thanks a bunch!!!

Chapter Six: Mourning the Losses

Seeing that the entire country side was covered with sand, Gaara started to pull it back, knowing the people of Konoha really didn't want to live in a desert. That Akatsuki ninja had disappeared right underneath their noses. Maybe he was just too fast and got away quickly, that was the only possibility. For a guy with a walking stick, he sure could run fast.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Cordi asked, in a tired voice, slowly looking up to the Kazekage. It was obvious she was bored and didn't like the way this battle had turned out. Everyone just figured they were there for Naruto, but Cordi's gut said there was something more to why the Akatsuki reformed and came to Konoha. As she was chasing the blind ninja, she could saw him smirk and pat his pack. She tossed the thought away though, thinking it was nothing.

"Well, I guess we'll send a search party after him in the morning," Gaara stated, equally tired. Soon enough, the sand was back in the earth, and they were back on solid ground.

"I can grab Aleera, and start searching now. We shouldn't waste time," Cordi started, the image of the man's smirk entering her mind again. He must have gotten something. She began to walk away, mentally preparing herself to call Aleera to her.

"Cordi," Gaara sighed, grabbing hold of her forearm to stop her. "It's four forty-five in the morning. You would be no help to anyone without any sleep. Come on." He started urging her back to Konoha, and she resisted a little bit, until her adrenaline dropped and she felt the full force of how tired she really was. Her eyes drooped a little, and she shook her head to keep her awake. She couldn't deny what he said. She was way too tired to go on a search mission. She then nodded her consent to go back to the hotel suite to sleep. But his smirk was still plaguing her thoughts, and she resolved to figure it out in the morning.

Sasuke walked Lynne home, silence taking over their time together. Sasuke was wrought with confusion on why Lynne didn't attack. She was open and there was no way Katsumi could have survived. Lynne was stuck on what happened to Aneko and what would happen to her. How was it right? It didn't make any sense.

Their footsteps clapped as their shoes met the cobblestoned street. It wasn't a long walk from the hospital to the apartment complex. But it was long enough to make their silence awkward to the point of driving anyone away. They were standing outside it shortly. "G-good night," Sasuke muttered to Lynne. She just nodded to him in reply and went into the building, leaving Sasuke feeling oddly alone.

He started to turn towards his own apartment building when a strange thought crossed his mind. His memory of earlier tonight triggered, and it was something he needed to know.

Sakura was ordered to take Tsunade into the hospital morgue until the funeral date was selected. Tsunade rested peacefully on the metal slab in front of her, under the only light in the room. It was cold, to keep the body preserved. She placed a hand on Tsunade's cold shoulder. Quietly, she pulled a stool from behind her forward and sat down, placing her elbows on the slab. She rested her head in her hands, quietly looking over Tsunade's body. The stab wound to the heart was unmistakably the mortal wound. Blood stained Tsunade's chest around where the walking stick pierced her heart.

The whole scenario was so unreal to Sakura. She knew eventually that her mentor would leave her, but she wasn't expecting so soon. Unlike most instances, Sakura had no time to prepare herself for when the teacher who was so much like a mother to her. The tears started to well under her eyelids, making them hurt a little. She knew that Tsunade would tell her not to cry over her fallen corpse, but Sakura couldn't help it. Even her hardest attempts to hold back the river of tears threatening to burst forth weren't strong enough for the job.

"I'm sorry," Sakura sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "I should have been there. If I was there, you would not have died. This isn't right." She started to choke, and she took deep breaths to try and calm herself, but nothing worked. Sakura surrendered her mind to her sadness, collapsing her arms onto the slab, and crying into them. Somewhere in her mind, someone was telling her that it wasn't true, that Tsunade would pop up and ask why Sakura was crying, then try to smack her out of it. But nothing happened. No one came to coax Sakura down. Tsunade did not awake and say everything was alright. Sakura was alone in the morgue.

Naruto sat in his room, similar thoughts running through his mind. The image of Tsunade's fall kept repeating itself in his mind. He could remember seeing her in the hole in the wall, the stick piercing her straight through, coming out of her back. He could see her falling out of the hole and landing on the pavement outside, bouncing a little from the contact, and sounding out a sickening SMACK. Her body was twisted in a way that made shivers go up his spine. He had never seen a body in such an unnatural position. He was too in shock to cry. That was the first time he had to watch a friend and mentor be murdered right in front of him.

With him just sitting on his bed, his gaze staring off into the distance as if he wasn't really there, he didn't notice that he had accidentally woken Hinata up. "Honey, are you okay?" she asked. He stayed silent, his mind tormenting him with the images. "Naruto," she said softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"What?" he asked nervously, as his wife drove him out of his disturbing thoughts.

"What happened?" she asked, concern filling her voice.

Naruto bit his lip, then conceded to sharing his thoughts. "We were attacked by two ninja. Akatsuki has reformed itself. The two ninja got away, but not before they killed Lady Tsunade," he stated, his voice so grim Hinata wasn't sure it belonged to him. She gasped at the last thing he said, bringing a hand to her mouth

"W-what'll we do?" she asked, trying to wrap her mind around it. She had heard something going on, but the walls were well constructed, so it didn't sound like much. She probably should have known something big had been going on, though.

"I don't know," Naruto sighed, not liking what he said one bit.

Lynne slammed her door shut, and with its slap against its doorframe, she let her tears flow from her eyes. Why? Why was she so conflicted like this? How was this alright with the universe? The reality of her condition had become so clear to her during her battle with Katsumi that she could barely contain her choking sobs. In her heart of hearts, she was sure that her promise to the slumbering Aneko was an impossible feat. And that hopelessness consuming her for upcoming failure to separate Aneko's body and conscience from Katsumi was overtaking her mind. If she wasn't able to do it for Aneko, she would never be able to do it for herself if the time ever came.

A loud knocking came to her door, shattering reverie and bringing her back to the present. "Lynne, it's me. Open up," she heard Sasuke order from the other side of the door.

She really didn't want to talk at the moment, knowing he was peeved that she didn't strike when she had the chance. "Go away," she called back.

"No," he replied, his attitude very present in the one word. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she quickly wiped her eyes clean of tears, and her nose with her sleeve. She then turned around with a smile on her face and opened the door, seeing Sasuke scowling at her. "Don't lie to me."

"What do you mean?" Lynne asked, hoping she had successfully hidden her stutter from crying.

"The fact that you were crying just now, loser," Sasuke replied, taking a step in. A wave of concern swept over his face, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

Lynne, still smiling, shook her head as if she had no idea what he meant. But his piercing gaze didn't waver, and she was easily reduced back to tears. "I – I," she stuttered, trying to find words to convey her feelings to him.

"Sh," he said, putting a finger to her lips. His eyes searched her face, as if he could read her mind just by seeing her expression. And suddenly, she could see what was about to happen, but she could scarcely believe it. Slowly, he leaned forward, closing his eyes gently, in the sexiest way possible. She didn't think twice about pulling herself up to meet him. Their lips brushed lightly, but they felt the classic zing of shock. It was directly ignored by both parties, whom had pushed themselves together, creating and intense and passionate kiss. Sasuke broke the kiss, saying in a breathy tone, "I'm here for you," just before diving down to her collar bone, suckling on it lightly, and moving her shirt sleeve aside. He got up for air again and added, "I'll always be here for you." Lynne's heart jumped at what he just said, looking down to him. She noted he was completely serious with his statement when she saw his earnest face looking up to hers longingly. A soft smile crept to her face, and she dropped her hands to his hands. Biting her lip a little nervously, and grasping his hand in hers, she led him back to her room.

She gently sat at the foot of her bed, moving her hands up to the base of his skull, and gently pulled him down with her. Her lips connected with his, pulling him into a deep tongue battle. Not one to loose, Sasuke deepened the kiss, leaning further on the bed, and pushing her closer back to the headboard. The kiss was getting heated. They could feel their heart rates increasing, their temperatures rising. The need for clothes was no longer there, because with them, they were suffocating. Hurriedly, they whipped of their articles of clothes. And there they stood, in nothing but their flushed skin. A mere second went by, but it felt like time had stopped for them to quickly evaluate each other.

Sasuke resumed his position on top of her, pulling her into another kiss, both hands massaging her small breasts, which he was thankful for. He had always felt that the bigger they were, the more they got in the way. Her breath hitched at his perfect massaging techniques. She bucked her hips against his, her core hurting with anticipation. She also could feel his member was erect with anticipation too. He got the hint, and positioned himself between her open and welcoming legs. As fast as lightning, he thrust into her, making her gasp with delight at his member. He gave her a happy stretch and fit her just like a puzzle piece. No, more like he was the perfect key to her lock. He was already starting a pace, gently pulling out, then thrusting hard back in, each time gaining depth. Her nails clawed his back with delight, scratching him lightly. But suddenly, the speed was no longer enough. "F-faster," she stammered, losing her breath. She could feel her stomach coiling and twisting as if she were being tickled, but completely different at the same time. He complied, pulling her hips up off the mattress in order to access a better tempo. Soon enough, the twisting in her stomach was becoming too much, that in an attempt to control it, she curled her legs around him, and then her toes and fingers. She hadn't notice, but Sasuke's hands were balled up, fisting the sheets. Their breathing was becoming more shallow now, and their mouths hung open, gasping for oxygen, hoping the other could give it to them or some form of release. Suddenly, whatever was twisting could twist no more, and snapped back into place, radiating the rest of her body with the feeling of pleasure from its torment. "SASUKE!!" She moaned loudly, but it was obvious she was trying to keep it quiet. People were sleeping. Sasuke suddenly felt as if some part of his body had sprung a leak in the dam holding back and orgasm. But just as soon as that one leak started, the rest of it had exploded, making him shudder with its power as he came into her. "Lynne," he moaned. The sound of her name on his lips was as beautiful as the tinkling of bells.

He fell out of her, rolling to the side in sheer contentment. She sighed, her face showing her shock. She had had sex before, but this was so different on so many levels. Most of the time before, it had been casual, and several of those times she had to fake an orgasm as best as she could. But this, this was real. She rolled to her side, looking at Sasuke, who just blinked at the ceiling. Suddenly, she realized she wouldn't have Sasuke any other way.

"Way to leave me back there," Katsumi growled as soon as she found Kirigi, her partner, poking him in the shoulder hard. They were supposed to work together, but he ditched her instead to save his own ass. What a gentleman.

"Well," Kirigi started, "you would have been smart to leave too. It doesn't take a genius to know thirteen against two is not going to turn out well." Katsumi pursed her lips in annoyance. He just always had to be right, didn't he? "Also, I had to make sure we actually left with what we were assigned to steal."

"And did you?" They heard a voice from above them. They looked up to see Madara Uchiha standing on a branch of a tree that was currently towering over them. Kirigi nodded to him, pulling a scroll out of his pack, and tossing it up to the oldest Uchiha. Madara snatched the scroll out of the air with ease, and unrolled it. If Madara wasn't wearing his usual pumpkin like mask, they would have been able to see that he was grinning. "Good work both of you. Now we have the secret to our victory," he stated, gesturing to the scroll.

AN: Hoped you liked it! Remember, please review!!! Thanks!