Author's Note:

For people who don't know and stuff, go to Wikipedia and type in "Uglydoll" for a picture of Greg (Ice Bat, picture on the right), type in "Pocky" for, well, a picture of pocky. And go to Youtube and type in the "Campfire Song song Spongebob" to get the video and music for the song we were singing at the end of the last chapter.

Claire: Google, Wikipedia, and Youtube are your friends, sirs and madams.

…

I wish I could play guitar/ukulele like Spongebob.

Oh my, my, my. This was a tough chapter. It took a very long time to write…But I'm quite happy with it. Yes indeed. Heh heh heh…that's all I shall say…

Leah: It's my birthday today…strangely I am not at all excited…I get cheesecake.

Claire: Does that mean I get cheesecake too? After all, cake really is the only reason for birthdays. Or is it supposed to be the other way around…-ponders-

Oh well! The posting-chapters-on-birthdays-of-author's thingy is finally done! Isn't it strange that our birthdays are in three consecutive months? Although Eva's still a year behind us…

Eva: Happy March 9th! It's Leah's B-day. Yeah...this chapter's lotsa fun. 'cuz it is...yeah...

Chapter 7:

"Pssst! Leah."

"What?"

"Are you asleep?"

"No, Claire, if I were asleep, I wouldn't be talking to you."

"I can't sleep. I'm an insomniac. It's been an hour. This is really annoying."

"I know you're an insomniac, I've known since fifth grade when I first met you."

"Still…this sucks."

Two minutes of silence.

"You asleep now?"

"No."

"I am!" Karin hissed, "Will you idiots shut up!?" All of them were extremely cramped in the tent, seeing as it was made for one person and it now held three.

"That's ridiculous. Leah already pointed out that if you're asleep, you don't talk. So you aren't asleep," Claire said.

"Indeed. Claire forgot," Leah agreed.

"I did. I do that sometimes."

"I don't fucking care, just shut up or I'll impale you!" Karin whispered angrily. She rolled over and pulled the sleeping bag up over her ears. Leah and Claire glanced at each other, giggling in the darkness.

"Does she mean with a kunai or her nails?" Claire whispered.

"I was thinking her boots."

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

xXx

Sasuke's eyes flew open when Karin screamed. He sighed. Obviously she wasn't really in any danger, but it was still annoying. Now that he was awake, he could distinctly hear the whispered sounds of the three girls arguing and giggling several feet away. Though Juugo and Suigetsu were just ignoring it, and Eva was apparently still asleep, if he didn't want to be dead tired tomorrow he would have to do something about it. He gritted his teeth in irritation and slid outside.

"Karin," he said, standing outside. The shapes lit inside by the moonlight immediately froze.

"Yes, Sasuke dear? Did you come to kiss me goodnight?" Karin asked sweetly. Claire and Leah broke out into loud gales of laughter as soon as she said this. She promptly smacked them both on the head. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I came to tell you to be quiet. Goodnight."

He left, seriously hoping that the fresh giggles that he had just incurred would soon die down.

XxX

Sasuke should not have been surprised when the second time he woke up, it was also due to Karin's anguished banshee cries. Thankfully this time it was bright outside, an adequate time to get up. Juugo, Suigetsu, and Eva had woken up too this time. He ran a hand through his greasy black hair and ruffled it a little so it would retain its chicken-butt-like shape and exited the tent, followed by the others.

"What is it this time?" he asked the disheveled Karin. Leah and Claire were giving her funny looks and standing a few yards away from her.

"You look shorter…" Suigetsu muttered, rubbing his eyes and blinking at her sleepily.

"Hypocrite, I'm not shorter! I can't find my glasses!" she shouted at him.

"Whaddaya mean by 'hypocrite', you hag! I'm not short!" Suigetsu argued, now wide awake and feeling fairly insulted.

"Denial!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke interrupted, "What were you saying about you're glasses?"

"I don't know where they are! I can't see a thing without my glasses!" she whimpered, patting an odd shaped twig as if to try to determine whether or not it was her glasses.

"Poor Velma," Claire muttered. Leah and Eva laughed. The others stared, sans Karin, who couldn't see. Instead, her squinty-eyed face contorted in a look of rage and realization.

"You! I bet you two stole them while I was asleep!" she howled, pointing accusingly at Claire and Leah (or so she thought; it was really a tree).

The unfortunate leader of the band of Orochimaru runaways sighed again. "Juugo, Suigetsu, help her look for them," he instructed.

"Hey, I don't care if that bitch ever sees anything again, why should I help? I want her to walk off a cliff!" Suigetsu protested, grinning a little at the idea of Karin screaming as she fell to the bottom of the cliff in a comedic, cartoony, manner.

"Just do it," Sasuke ordered, glaring at him. Suigetsu grumbled, but he, Juugo, and the pretty much useless Karin wandered off to search for her glasses.

"So did you guys take them?" Eva whispered to the other two once they were gone.

"Of course not!" Claire said a little too innocently, "I'm sure they're around somewhere."

"She'll find them…eventually," Leah added.

xXx

Back at the oversized house in La Jolla, Charli shifted uncomfortably in her new clothes. She knew she had to change her attire for this mission, but she still wasn't happy with it. Konan didn't seem to like wearing civilian clothes either, but she didn't let it show.

Charli wore a soft pink kimono with spider-web thin black embroidery on the left side of flowers. The bottom two inches or so was black as well, giving her the appearance of what Eva liked to call a 'bubble-gum Goth'. Her shoes were some plain leather sandals, without heels, making her feel exceptionally short. Konan had put Charli's thin ash blonde hair into a messy bun, but there were still those annoying wisps that were just a little too short to reach. She blew them out of her face in a very un-ladylike manner.

Konan wore a kimono in the same style with the exception that it was a plum color. It even had similar black markings. She wore sandals with a wooden bottom and a simple cloth strap that went between her toes in a flip-flop manner. She had taken her signature flower out of her hair, though she kept her bun.

The two girls walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch. Hidan was sitting on the armrest of the chair across the room. He still wasn't disguised, but he taken off his cloak and opted to leave the scythe behind, knowing those were his most distinguishable features. He said he'd do it while he was hidden so it'd look less suspicious than having a flawless costume. They agreed that a rushed job would make him look scruffier and more believable. "So," he began, "all I have to do is mug you guys outside of Konoha, wait 'till the people they send out see me, then get away, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Charli sniffed. Despite it being her plan, she wasn't looking forward to being robbed by the ninja.

Hidan caught onto that and laughed. "Don't worry, I'm gonna be focusing my attacks on Konan since she has all the stuff."

"Good," Charli snapped.

"What're our names going to be?" Konan asked, though it wasn't directed at anyone in particular.

Charli and Hidan both thought long and hard. After half a minute, Konan said, "I'll be Shikyo."

"What about a last name?" Hidan asked.

"I'll think of something," Charli said quickly, looking positively devious.

"That works," Konan said before Hidan could protest. "We're counting on you, Charli."

Hidan shrugged, and the three of them walked over to the middle of the room. Hidan put a piece of paper that had the jutsu circle drawn onto it onto the floor and quickly made the necessary hand motions. There was a rush of wind, and then all three of them were gone.

XxX

Eva, Leah, and Claire sat in front of the campfire, eating their bowls of rice with chopsticks. Sasuke, Juugo, and Suigetsu sat across from them, doing the same. Karin was sitting far away from them, not wanting to be near Suigetsu while she was blind.

"Hey Karin," Leah said carefully, "Can I have Greg back?"

"No."

Instead of glaring at Karin as would be expected, Claire and Eva glared at Leah. The two girls got up and each grabbed hold of one of Leah's arms, dragging her away from Team Hebi.

"Leah, really!" Eva scoffed, "That was a really pathetic attempt."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Hypocrite. You can't call me pathetic when you couldn't find wood in a forest."

Eva was about to argue when Claire cut her off.

"I thought you said that since Greg is yours, you should be the one to get him back!" Claire exclaimed.

Leah shrugged her shoulders and stuttered, "I don't know! I just thought I'd try asking nicely first instead of coming up with some elaborate plan!"

Eva struck her forehead with the palm of her hand and Claire just gaped at her.

Leah scowled. "Well fine! It didn't work so now we can come up with an elaborate plan! I just didn't want to come up with something really complicated, only to find out that if we asked we would've gotten him back. So it was better that I asked now rather than make a fool of myself later," Leah defended, "We have to get Greg back somehow…"

"I can't believe she took him as punishment for her glasses…" Claire muttered sadly.

"Seriously, did you guys take her glasses?" Eva asked since the two still hadn't given her a straight answer.

Claire and Leah glanced at each other, getting mischievous little smiles on their faces.

"Not technically," Claire responded evasively.

"Yes, we did not take them," Leah agreed, "It's not our fault she can't find them."

"You know, if you give her back the glasses she'll probably give us Greg back," Eva said.

"Don't you enjoy watching her suffer though?"

Eva thought for a moment. "…Good point. Let's plan."

xXx

Charli gently held onto Konan's wrist as they walked side by side towards the big red gates of Konoha. Konan seemed slightly apprehensive and Charli wasn't helping at all by listing all of the tortures and punishments they could receive if they were caught.

"Mommy?" Charli simpered, using the deceivingly cute and innocent voice that she only reserved for adults and anyone she didn't want to know she was evil.

Konan immediately took the cue to start the act since they were in earshot of the two ninjas that guarded the entrance of the village, "Yes?"

"Do you think Hokage-sama will let me interview her for my report? She's my hero and role-model and I think an interview with her will really add to my paper," Charli said as she skipped ahead of Konan.

"Maybe. We'll wait and see. But you have to remember that she's a very busy woman and she might not have the time," Konan answered, still sounding logical despite her 'mommy' act.

Charli planted her hands on her hips. "Well, duh, but it's still worth a shot."

Konan shrugged. Where was Hidan? He was suppose to mug them by now and she could tell by watching Charli stopping to look at random objects that she was stalling for time. Konan had to stop herself from clenching her fists. She knew that they shouldn't have trusted Hidan with something like this. She also knew they shouldn't have listened to Charli in the first place, but Pein never listened to her. He always said she worried too much.

Then it happened, without any warning or even a slightest hint of chakra, Hidan leapt out of the cover of the trees, knocking over both Charli and Konan with a long branch as one of his makeshift weapons.

Charli and Konan screamed—Charli because he actually had scared her half to death, and Konan because she was being a good actress.

Hidan pinned them to the ground by pushing the branch across their shoulders. His hair, usually neatly slicked by baseball sized globs of gel, hung in front of his eyes, looking scruffy. He had smudged some dirt on his face to help hide his identity. It worked very well, since it took Charli a few seconds to recognize him.

Charli screamed again. "Let us go!" She squirmed helplessly underneath the pressure of the branch.

Hidan chuckled darkly and lifted the branch just enough so Charli and her unusually tiny frame could slip out. Hidan pressed the branch back down on Konan, who struggled as much as she thought a non-ninja would. He grabbed Charli roughly by the shoulder, pulling her back towards him. "Where the hell do you think you're going, brat?" He said loud enough for the ninja at the gates of Konoha to hear. He reached into all of her pockets and her bag, but not taking anything. He shoved her to the ground and focused his attention on Konan.

Charli flinched in pain. She wasn't supposed to get hurt. She glared over her shoulder at Hidan, who was now starting to make a grab for Konan's bag after he let her up, which she held protectively to her chest. Konan screamed again, and looked quickly towards the gate, signaling Charli to go get the guards. Charli hopped to her feet and dashed to the gates, where the guards were already looking around the side of the wall, trying to see the source of commotion.

Izumo and Kotetsu, the two guys that always kept watch at the front entrance of Konoha, ran out to meet Charli, who already had fake tears in her eyes.

"What happened?" Izumo asked, only seeing the small and incredibly cute helpless-looking blonde girl.

Charli wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "M-me and Mommy were walking here and-and," she faked a hiccup, "the mean guy attacked us and he tried to take my stuff and I think he wants to hurt Mommy," Charli sobbed, sounding absolutely, pathetically, vulnerable.

"Shh, don't worry," Izumo coaxed, "Kotetsu, go find your mother and get rid of the robber."

Kotetsu was already gone. He had left after 'the mean guy'.

Charli continued her uncontrollable crying while Izumo did the best he could to comfort her, placing a hand on her back and giving her sort of a half hug.

"What's going to happen to Mommy?" Charli asked, pretending to be one of those ignorant kids that expects adult to know the answers to everything.

"I don't know," Izumo said, "She'll be okay, though," he added optimistically.

"What if he rapes her?"

"What?"

"What if she gets tortured?"

"Stop thinking so negatively," he mentored, slightly disturbed that someone her age would automatically think of something like that.

"What if he does both?! What kind of torture will he use?! I hope it's not bamboo splinters or castor oil…or what if he flays her?! Oh my gosh, and then he takes her money and kills her then I won't have a family and-and-and," she started crying again.

Izumo attempted to give he a comforting smile, despite the fact that he was worried someone so cute and innocent looking could know all those types of torture. "It's okay, look— your mom is coming now. I told you not to worry."

Charli turned around, and sure enough Konan was walking towards them, without her bag and looking slightly beaten.

"MOMMY!" Charli squealed and hugged her tightly around the waist. Konan smiled softly and placed her hand on her back.

Konan looked to Izumo and said, "The other shinobi started chasing the guy."

Izumo nodded, knowing his best friend would be back soon, "Okay. If you want to go into the city, I need to see your passports."

Konan looked at the ground sheepishly. "He took them. They were in my bag."

Izumo nodded understandingly and took a notepad out of his back pocket along with a pen. "Then I'll need your first and last names and the village you come from."

Konan looked to Charli, who bit her lip. She wouldn't admit it, but she had completely forgotten about making up a code last name. Crap, she thought and pretended to wipe her face again to give her and extra two seconds to think.

"Um…my name is um…Rock Kami," Charli said, now taking on an act of shyness, as if the whole episode before was an extremely uncharacteristic occurrence.

Konan felt like smacking her. "Yeah, and my name is Rock Shikyo," she said, sending Charli a quick look of skepticism.

Izumo raised an eyebrow. "Any relation to Rock Lee?"

"Who?" Charli asked, feigning ignorance.

"Never mind. What village are you coming from?"

Charli shifted uncomfortably. "Suna."

"What business do you have here?"

"I have a report I have to do on my hero, and that would be Tsunade-sama because I think that she's really cool."

Izumo pocketed the notebook and gave them a smile. "Okay, I'll send this information to the Hokage and she'll check your records. But, seeing what just happened, you can go in for now."

Charli and Konan thanked him graciously and entered Konoha. Once they were out of his sight, Konan pulled Charli aside.

"Rock?"

"It was either that or Guillotine. Take your pick."

Konan blinked. "Isn't that the thing that cuts peoples heads off?"

Charli grinned. "Yes. Quite a lovely device, it's one of my favorites. But there's no time for idle chitchat, we need to do stuff. Let's go."

Konan sighed but knew she was right. God, she was beginning to hate smart kids.

XxX

The girls peered out from behind the bushes. The team seemed to have forgotten them for the moment. Juugo was sitting next to a tree gazing pensively at the lake while Karin and Suigetsu were pestering Sasuke while he was trying to think. Karin was offering Sasuke a drink while Suigetsu was giving her an 'I pity your stupidity' look and drinking some beverage of his own.

"Okay, so let's make sure we're all clear on the plan," Claire began, looking serious, "I'm going to distract Sasuke, Suigetsu, and Juugo since Suigetsu is easily distracted and I tend to confuse quiet people. Then you two say you want to help Karin find her glasses and lead her into the forest. Since she can't see very well, she'll fall into the trap—literally, 'cause we dug a hole in the ground and she's gonna fall into it.

"So you two are going to interrogate her and threaten not to let her out unless she tells you where Greg is. If she refuses, you're going to pretend to give up and help her out of the hole. But really you're just setting her up to be clothes-lined by the tree branch so she's knocked out."

Claire paused, giggling at the comedic mental image. Eva and Leah were laughing too. After half a minute Claire and Eva were still laughing too much, so Leah had to finish summarizing the plan.

"Right, so—heh heh—like Claire said, we're going to knock Karin out—heh heh heh—and then…" Leah stopped and cleared her throat, trying to stop her laughter's momentum. "So when Karin's unconscious, we go back to the campsite. Eva helps Claire distract the people while I go and try to find Greg in the tent. If Sasuke or anyone asks why Eva's back, she says it was too physically challenging for her."

Eva shrugged at this instead of being offended. She knew she was a wimp. "So that's the plan," she confirmed.

"Yep."

Having an A-Team moment, the three of them put their hands in on top of each other's. "For Greg," said Claire.

"For Greg," Eva and Leah agreed.

"Okay then, Mission: Recapture Greg From the Evil Skanky Ho, COMMENCE!"

xXx

Hidan got back to the house without much of a problem. Technically, it was no problem since he never even saw the Konoha bastard. So far, everything was going according to plan and maybe within the next day he could have his arguing buddy back. He smiled at the thought of cussing out Claire for being a vegetarian or taunting her about how she thought he was hot.

After taking a forty-five minute shower and spending another half hour fixing his hair, he went downstairs to join his fellow Akatsuki members in the family room.

"After we get the girls back, can I bomb Konoha? I really want to do that now," Deidara whined, looking to Leader with pleading eyes.

"No," Leader said.

"Hey, Leader, do you really think that we should have trusted Konan and that satanic brat with a mission like this?" Kisame asked, kicking his feet up on the coffee table, "If the Konoha bastards find out, who knows what'll happen to them."

Leader was un-phased. "I trust both Konan's and Charli's abilities. Konan's ninja skills and intelligence combined with Charli's quick-wits and charisma, there's a small chance they'll be discovered."

Kisame nodded, but secretly thought that Leader was either underestimating the ninja in Konoha or overestimating the talents of Konan and Charli. He sighed and continued to watch one of the episodes of Scrubs where Jordan was an angry, crazy, and hormonal pregnant woman.

"Charli's a damn good actress," Hidan commented, "She was screaming and crying so much that I almost got a headache."

Kakuzu laughed at Hidan's pain.

The eight of them continued to discuss what they thought the outcome of the situation was going to be. Would the girls tell anything about them? Pein made it very clear that if they gave away any important information about anyone, they were to be killed. Were they still alive? Most likely. Were they in any more danger than before? More than likely.

After their brief discussion, they slowly quieted down and began to watch the TV again. Deidara was tossing a little blue ball between his hands, looking a bit paranoid. Everyone else seemed mostly relaxed. For whatever reason, they all knew that the girls would keep their secrets no matter what. Although Claire was a semi-sadistic bitch, Eva was an idiot, and Leah was a wimpy doormat, they would never give away anything that was crucial to be kept a secret.

XxX

The three girls pretended to be wandering over to the campsite without a motive. Karin turned in the direction of what must have been only blurry shapes to her. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Nothing!" Claire squeaked defensively, "We were just bored!"

"If you're so bored, then why don't you find my glasses?" the angered ninja countered.

"Okay," Eva said, secretly admiring how easy it had been.

Karin looked shocked, though she still wasn't completely focused on the girls themselves. "I, uh…" she faltered.

Suigetsu grinned, "What's the matter? You weren't actually expecting them to be nicer than you?"

"I…" Karin said quietly. She was starting to sway a little bit. Suddenly, without warning, she collapsed next to Sasuke, her whore-ish body draped over the log in an uncomfortable-looking manner. Sasuke blinked at her, not raising his head from his folded hands. He simply scooted a couple inches to the left and went back to his meditating.

Suigetsu, however, burst out laughing. "Oh my god I can't believe she actually fell for that! She really can't see shit!" He had tears in his eyes and was bent in half over his knees.

"Um…what did you do to her?" Leah asked, cautiously poking Karin.

"Heh heh…I put sleeping medication in her drink," Suigetsu grinned.

"That wasn't nice…" Juugo remarked absently from his spot by the tree.

Sasuke chose not to comment on Suigetsu's prank. "Did you three have something you wanted to tell me about Itachi?"

The three girls blinked. Since Karin was now…asleep…they really didn't have to distract anyone. And since the three conscious members of Team Hebi had been ignoring what they did in their leisure time for all hours previous, they doubted this would change now. They were pretty much free to search for Greg now on their own accord.

"Um…No…We were just bored," Claire lied.

"But you guys are more boring so we're leaving now," Eva grinned, "Bye!"

The three of them darted off leaving Sasuke irritated, Suigetsu laughing, Juugo staring at the lake, and Karin slumped over a log.

xXx

For whatever reason, Leah and Claire had not noticed all the stuff Karin had crammed into the tent when they were sleeping in it the night before. Maybe it had been the lack of light, but now that it was day and the walls of the tent were illuminated like the inside of a lamp, they noticed the giant pile of crap she had pack-ratted into the corner.

As they slowly picked their way through her belongings, the three of them vaguely wondered how she managed to bring it all when she and the three guys moved from place to place. Ninja or not, she would have to carry it; weight wasn't a factor, but space was.

But it was only a brief thought, as they had other more important things on their agendas. Like finding Greg. Among Karin's things they found hairbrushes, a toothbrush, clothes, make-up, a large collection of kunai and shuriken, a few books—mostly romances and one entitled "How to Woo Your Lover". They also found some slightly more disturbing things in the bottom of the pile of Karin's stuff. Sasuke's shirt, Sasuke's underwear, a used tissue (probably used by Sasuke), Sasuke's socks, and what probably used to be his left shoe…Seeing as Karin had stolen it, he had probably abandoned the other one and just got new shoes.

Although they combed through this collection of items numerous times for almost half an hour, they did not fine Greg. Discouraged, the girls slumped to the dirt floor of the tent, staring sadly at the objects on the floor that were not Greg.

"Where could he be if he's not here?" Claire asked numbly.

Eva sighed, depressed. "I dunno…"

Leah shoved little bits of dirt around on the floor with her finger while she thought. She turned her head in the direction of the pile of kunai, studying it closely. "Do you think she would really be carrying this many kunai in her bag?" she asked after a while.

"Well, yeah, I guess," Eva shrugged, "I mean, they have to have a bunch in case one breaks or gets stuck in a dead guy or something." She giggled at the thought.

"I know that I just mean it seems like there wouldn't be this many," Leah clarified, "Because what about those little bags they carry around all the time. Look, there's like forty here! I think she would keep most of them in her ninja bag thing, not in the tent."

Claire looked at the pile of kunai too. "You're right…that does seem like an awful lot…"

"Do you think…?" Leah began slowly. The others waited expectantly for her to finish, but she shook her head. "Never mind," she said.

"No wait, what were you going to say?" Eva pressed.

"Well…Maybe if she thought we were going to steal Greg back she'd think that the first place we'd look would be the tent with all her stuff. So maybe she took all the kunai and stuff out of the little bag all the ninja people always wear and put Greg in there so we wouldn't be able to get him back without her noticing."

Claire and Eva stared at her, their eyes wide. "Wow…that's…really…insightful of you, Leah," Claire mumbled in awe.

Leah scratched at the design she had made in the dirt. "I told you it was stupid, I bet I'm just over-thinking this. I don't know where Greg could be…"

"Stop being so negative, I bet you're right!" Eva insisted happily, "Why else would she have all these kunai in here? Especially when she has so much other crap to carry…"

Claire nodded in agreement. "So…now that we know where he is, how do we get him?"

"Well, if she's still asleep we can just take the bag thing and get Greg out and put it back before she notices," Leah said.

XxX

The campsite was half-empty when the girls emerged from the tent. They were hardly surprised at the lack of compassion in the group, but still found it slightly odd that both Suigetsu and Sasuke had left Karin alone on the log. Sasuke had probably taken advantage of her unconscious silence to go off and think in peace, and they could hear some muted yells and thumps as Suigetsu was presumably swinging that giant sword of his into unsuspecting trees. In any case, she and Juugo were in the same spots as they had been when the girls had left; even Juugo didn't seem to have bothered to help her in any way.

They hated Karin anyway so they didn't really care. In fact, it was kind of nice, since it made their job easier. Juugo had his eyes closed, probably meditating or something, so all they had to do was sneak over, get the bag, and extract Greg. Simple.

Juugo didn't so much as twitch an ear when they crept a little less than silently over to Karin. They nodded at each other apprehensively as Claire carefully detached the bag from her waist. The three of them nearly had heart attacks though when she twitched in her sleep.

"Nnng…Sasu…ke…" she mumbled.

The girls had to clap their hands over their mouths quickly to stop from laughing. They darted off towards the side of the lake opposite Juugo, hidden from Karin's view by the cover of the trees.

Claire slowly unzipped the tiny bag, making sure she didn't accidentally snag anything that was inside on the metal teeth. The three friends gasped when they saw the mottled teal plush of Greg's head. Claire quickly pulled him out and smoothed the wrinkles induced by the tiny prison.

"Poor Greg!" Eva cried, "I can't believe she stuffed him in there! It's all small and dark and evil!"

Leah took Greg from Claire and hugged him to her. It was true that the bag had been way too small for Greg to fit in comfortably, meaning that he had been folded in ways that would have broken bones. But of course Greg didn't have bones; he was too hot for them.

Still, their mission had been accomplished. The hotness of Greg was once again free from the clutches of evil.

"Buahaha," Claire cackled sinisterly, "The stupid ugly skanks of the world shall never triumph over all that is wonderfully hot and plushy."

"No they shall not," Eva agreed, attempting and equally disturbing grin.

"Hey," Leah said suddenly. Her tone was different from the accomplished tones of her comrades. "What is this…?" She held up Greg and pulled a small bundle of black stuff from the back of his sexy neck.

The three of them looked at it for a moment. Then with a rush of horror, they realized what it was.

"EWWWWWWW!" the three of them shrieked.

Leah quickly dropped the lock of Sasuke's hair and wiped her hands on her pants roughly. Claire stepped away from it and rubbed her arms, shuddering. Eva stuck out her tongue and tried to shove it away from her with her toe.

"Karin is really creepy," Claire muttered. The other two nodded furiously and stared at the disgusting thing in silence.

"Oy, Juugo! What happened to the whore I left here?"

Three hearts stopped as the meaning of Suigetsu's brash words reached their ears. They waited in dreading silence, mostly because they were paralyzed in fear.

"I didn't hear her wake up…" came Juugo's passive reply.

"Well that's weird…where would she have gone? We should probably find her, those pills I gave her are also supposed to increase aggression. Heh heh heh…We don't want her to kill some random innocent squirrel," Suigetsu chuckled darkly.

Increased aggression? Eva, Leah, and Claire thought simultaneously.

The dread barely had a chance to rise in their throats before they saw her. She looked like Frankenstein's monster. Her bright pink hair was sticking out even more than usual. Her face was the very embodiment of rage, and the stress lines under her eyes that were visible without her glasses amplified the effect.

"You…" she growled, raising a zombie-like hand at them, "You…"

She began to walk towards, them, her steps thumping heavily on the packed dirt like a dinosaur's. Then she increased her speed until she was in a clear charge towards them.

Eva shrieked and the three terrified girls darted apart, letting Karin crash against the tree. She whipped her head around like a wild animal, digging her claw-like nails into the tree bark. Her aggression seemed to overcome her blindness, and she quickly spied the blurry Leah, clutching Greg to her chest, and leapt towards her.

Leah quickly sidestepped her and tossed the doll into the air. "Eva, CATCH!" she commanded.

Claire hit her head against the tree she was hiding behind and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch Eva's failed attempt at a grab, sealing their doom.

Slow motion played into effect as Eva paddled her hands against the air. Miraculously, one of her wild swoops actually closed on Greg, and she pulled him in to secure him with her other hand.

The look of awe on Eva's face at actually catching something—and under pressure, no less—was marred when she heard Karin's murderous growl. She glanced up and saw an angry pink-haired beast crashing towards her on a death rampage. Barely thinking of the consequences, Eva stepped out of the way.

The sun sparkled down on the water in a blinding way. Karin shrieked like a monster and pulled her arms up to shield herself from the glare, but was already moving to fast to stop.

There was a thunderous crash, and water sprayed up as if from the breaching of a whale. So powerful it reached the confines of the trees, it showered the girls with cool, salty drops. It took several seconds after the chaos from the splash died down before she resurfaced, gasping.

Laughter erupted on both sides of her. Suigetsu's was almost as loud at the three girls' combined, and the four of them were practically rolling on the ground from their perspective points around the edge of the lake as the soggy Karin paddled frantically towards the shore.

Gasping, she reached the side closer to Juugo, who had his eyes wide and a shocked expression on his face. She pulled herself out of the lake and water flooded off her in a gushing torrent. Karin kicked Suigetsu as she stormed towards the tents, but he didn't seem to be bothered.

"Bet that cooled you off, huh Nessy?" he choked out between his suffocating laughter.

Making the troop complete, Sasuke emerged from the forest right in front of Karin, who was forced to stop. He blinked at her, clothes suctioned to her body by water and her hair also darkened by the dunk. Karin didn't seem to have the energy to walk around him. She simply glared at Sasuke, though she surely knew who he was by process of elimination. The laughter ceased as the small crowd watched and waited for Sasuke's reaction.

"You're wet."

Karin's mouth dropped open in disbelief. She kept staring straight ahead even after he moved away. Silent and booming, depending on intensity or the condition of the throat it was emerging from, the harsh, barking sound returned. She shook her head and continued on her quest towards the tent, sniffling, as the others nearly suffocated from the water's edge behind her.

xXx

Karin waited until Leah and Claire were definitely asleep before entering the tent herself. She felt like she would explode if she had to hear one word from any of them after Sasuke had refused to switch the sleeping arrangements. She didn't have the energy to argue with them at all after the most strenuous day she had had in…a very long time. Besides, she figured she'd be pissed off no matter what, since everyone had insulted her today.

Exhausted, Karin crawled into her sleeping bag at around two o' clock, resisting the urge to shove her heel into Leah's and Claire's skulls as she passed them. She shuffled around as quietly as she could so she wouldn't wake them and have to deal with their obnoxiousness until she was comfortable.

Despite how tired she was, she didn't feel like she could sleep. She stared up at the creased roof of the tent. Though it appeared blurred and fuzzy to her, she could still make out the contrast of the wooden pole holding the structure in place, illuminated by the blue glow of the moon from above.

Karin squinted at the pole. Something didn't look quite right about it. There was a black smudge where there should have just been glowing blue canvas. Curious, but unable to discern what the object was with just her sight, she scooted back and sat up a bit. Propped up on one elbow, she was able to reach the top of the tent with her other hand. She brushed her fingers against the object. It was thin and cool and had four rounded edges.

Karin frowned, wondering what the hell could be hanging from the support pole of the tent. She sat up all the way and used both hands to maneuver the object off the wood. As she felt it with both hands, her expression turned to horror, and she felt bubbling deep in her throat as her face turned red and sinister in the dark of the tent. She, gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

XxX

Birds sleeping from their havens in the forest were startled from sleep and rushed up to the skies with a ruckus. Any creature within three miles of Team Hebi's campsite was violently shaken from sleep, including the six people in a ten-foot radius of Karin.

Dealing with the girl while she currently harbored these tendencies of violence and anger so great she could have punched through Mount Everest was not wise. Instead, they all pretended to go on sleeping, making Karin herself wonder if she had actually screamed.

Though neither of them enjoyed being woken up in this most heart-stopping, pants-crapping manner at two in the morning, Leah and Claire both smiled into their pillows.

Looks like Karin found her glasses, they thought.

Author's Note:

Eva: Yay! Torturing Karin is FUN!!!!!!! And yeah...not much else to say here...plus I almost never say anything anyway...

Claire: We do not like Karin. In case you didn't notice.

Leah: -nods in agreement-

I almost feel sorry for her.

We got another Ugly Doll to be friends with Greg and all of his hotness. Except, the new one actually is rather ugly. His name is Arnold, he has a big nose and looks like a toe.

EDIT:

Claire: Sorry people...forgot to tell you when the next chapter should be up. We're not really sure this time cuz there are no more birthdays...but we think March 20th