I've been getting a lot of PMs asking why my chapters keep getting reposted. To answer your questions, my chapters kept getting deleted and I have to keep posting them on once again. I think it's because of my computer, because it never happens on any other ones, and other people who have experienced the same problem say that as well. But fear not, I have now (after much begging and pleading) obtained use of my dad's laptop for FanFiction, so this will not happen again.

Thank you guys sooooooo much for all your GREAT reviews and suggestions! You guys are the best! Every one of your suggestions has been useful to me with the exception of the PM I got suggesting I should make it a Sakura x Katana thing…yeah, that's not gonna happen…sorry

Anyway…I forced myself to finish writing this chapter (despite that it was three in the morning) since I probably wouldn't have any other time to do it. Between all my end of the school year parties and trying to summon up the courage to ask out my crush, this week has been hectic. I hope that this chapter meets up to your expectations, considering that I was half asleep when I wrote it. I must apologize in advance for this, because I have been known to mutter phrases like 'I love pie' while I was half asleep, so I hope this chapter turned out normal…I will edit it ASAP and if it already looks normal to you than I either already edited it or miracles really do happen.

Disclaimer: I will be the owner of Naruto just as soon as pie stops tasting yummy.

Teme, what's wrong with you??? You've been acting really strange lately."

The onyx-eyed Uchiha looked up at his blonde friend with surprise. So…even the dobe has figured it out…

"What do you mean?" questioned Sasuke, though he was quite aware of his friend's meaning.

"Well," said Naruto uncertainly, "During missions, whenever you get agitated or worried, your sharingan automatically activates."

"I fail to grasp how this is important."

"Well, lately, your eyes have been flickering from black to red, and, call me crazy, but that's a little hard to ignore."

Sasuke sighed, "Is it really that obvious?"

"Yep. So are you going to tell me what's wrong or what?"

Sasuke clenched his fists. "I'm not here to have a therapy session," he said through gritted teeth.

Naruto snickered. "It sure looks like you need one."

Sasuke unclenched his fists in defeat.

"Fine…if you must know…"

Katana was standing in the middle of the Hokage's room, awaiting instructions for her mission. Despite the fact that Katana was stronger than Tsunade, she was still a jounin, therefore Tsunade still outranked her. Katana didn't mind, though. In fact, she'd have it no other way.

Tsunade, like Katana, had on an expressionless face. Although, Katana was skilled at hiding her emotions, she was horrible at analyzing others'. A weakness, she thought angrily, but her anger was quickly overcome by grief. It hardly matters anymore, she bitterly reflected.

"Katana!" said Tsunade sharply, forcing her out of her gloomy reverie.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Have you told anyone about your…condition?" Tsunade inquired out of plain curiosity.

"No, Tsunade-sama." And then Tsunade did the unimaginable. She got out of her chair and caught Katana in a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry Katana," sobbed Tsunade, "You're so young and brave and smart and…oh god how could this happen to you?"

"It's not your fault, Tsunade-sama."

"Oh, stop with the formalities already!"

Katana smiled. "Don't worry about me Tsunade. I'm fine."

They both knew that was a lie, but Tsunade didn't press the matter. Quickly regaining her composure, Tsunade reseated herself. "Anyway, about the mission," continued Tsunade, as if nothing had happened, "Your job is to find and execute Kazeki Ryuu. All that we know about him is that he is a Wind ninja…and a murderer. Witnesses say that he blows wind out of his mouth to attack. His whereabouts are unknown, but he is most likely still in Suna, where he was last spotted." Tsunade handed Katana a picture of a quite attractive young man. He had bright orange hair and long bangs that partially covered his deep blue eyes. His really pretty deep blue eyes, Katana thought dreamily before she could stop herself.

"How old is he?" asked Katana distractedly.

Tsunade looked at Katana and frowned. The girl was practically drooling. "Remember, you're here to kill him. You should also know, nearly all of his victims were women. Now, how do you think that happened?"

It was a rhetorical question, so Katana remained silent. She felt ashamed of herself for being so naïve.

"And to answer your question, he's nineteen. This is considered an A-rank mission, but if you ask me, he's only a B or C-rank killer, considering that not a single one of his victims were ranked chuunin or higher. But just in case, I'll send another jounin with you." Tsunade eyed Katana worriedly before adding, "And maybe a medic nin as well…"

Katana shook her head. "It wouldn't help at all Tsunade-sama. You know it."

"I know…" Tsunade sighed wearily, "But…just in case…" Tsunade knew it made no sense, but she felt like she had to do something. "I'm pairing you up with Haruno Sakura. The girl's one of the best medics in Konoha." Katana smiled. At least one of her friends was going with her. "And as for another jounin," Tsunade continued, "…I think Neji will do."

Katana looked upset. She had secretly been hoping that Sasuke would be paired with her. Tsunade noticed this and immediately questioned, "Unless you have someone else in mind?"

Katana blushed. Tsunade had become like a mother to her, and she felt she could tell her anything. "S-Sasuke?" Katana mentally berated herself for stuttering.

Tsunade tried not to grin, but couldn't help herself. "Well, he is a jounin…why not?"

Katana kept her expression stoic, but on the inside she was smiling so much it hurt.

"You leave in half an hour. Since it was a last minute decision to let the others come along, I expect you to inform them of the mission in my stead. You'd better hurry if you expect to be packed by noon."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama"

"You are dismissed"

Katana bowed her head and left.

"Well…that sucks…" said Naruto after Sasuke had finished explaining, "But honestly I'm still amazed that you have emotions to begin with!"

Sasuke winced. "Just…try not to tell the whole world, will you?"

But Naruto couldn't hear him. He was too busy chanting, 'SASUKE'S A PLAYA!'

"NARUTO! Did you hear what I just said?"

"Huh?"

"I said…try not to tell the whole world."

"Don't worry teme. Your secret's safe with me…but I can tell Hinata…right?"

Sasuke sighed. "Sure," he responded, aware that Hinata was a trustworthy person, "But that's it!"

Naruto laughed. "As if anyone else would even bother listening to me!"

"True," smirked Sasuke, but he was quickly distracted by a puff of smoke, which signaled the arrival of Katana. She turned her head towards Sasuke and, in one breath, said, "Sasuke…mission…executing Wind nin…Suna…be at the gates by noon…details later…A-rank." And in another puff of smoke, she was gone.

"Yeesh…what's wrong with her?" Naruto questioned, eyeing Sasuke mischievously. Yep, thought Naruto, he's definitely interested…

After Katana delivered the same hasty message to Sakura, she quickly headed home to pack. It wouldn't take long to pack, seeing as she always had a bag full of supplies ready for a mission, but for some reason, she had rushed. Ever since that…incident, she would often find herself rushing without any reason. Perhaps it was because time seemed more precious nowadays. Well…I have twenty minutes to kill, Katana thought with a sigh. I might as well make some use of my time, she concluded as she grabbed the bag of supplies and made her way to the training grounds.

Sakura was waiting patiently at the gates for Katana to arrive. She knew she was a bit early, but she had finished packing sooner than she had expected. What she did not know was that Sasuke would be coming along as well. So, as you can imagine, it came as a bit of a shock when she saw him come around the corner. "Sasuke! Are you coming on our mission too?"

"I guess…I'm pretty sure no other teams are heading out on missions right now. Today seems pretty tranquil. We have to kill some Wind nin, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Do you know if anyone other than Katana is coming?"

"No clue"

"Oh. Hey, here comes Katana…and she's all…dirty…" It was true. Katana's hair was messy and she was covered in spots of soot.

Sasuke shook his head, "Let me guess: training?"

Katana looked surprised. "How'd you know?"

"You mean other than the fact that thirty minutes ago, you were completely dirt-free, and now you're a walking, talking clot of mud?"

Katana smiled, "Oh…right…"

"So," said Sakura brightly, "Are you going to give us the details now?"

"Yeah. Basically there's this deranged psychopath killer—Wind nin—in Suna and we've got to kill him. He's considered an A-rank criminal, but Tsunade said he's probably more of a B-rank or C-rank."

"How would she know that?" asked Sakura.

"He's never killed anyone ranked chuunin or higher, but we shouldn't underestimate him just because of that."

"So, do we know any particular jutsus he uses? Any sort of special…powers? Food allergies?" Sasuke questioned.

"No, No, and No. But here's a picture." Katana handed them both the man's picture. She could see drool forming in the corners of Sakura's mouth as she examined the picture.

"Name?" asked Sasuke monotonously.

"Kazeki Ryuu"

Sasuke nodded. "Well, it's a three day trip from here to Suna so we'd better get moving."

Katana groaned in annoyance. How can the others sleep with all these mosquitoes? Deciding that she probably wouldn't get to sleep anytime soon, she got up and walked around Sasuke and Sakura quietly. In less than five minutes, she had found a little stream which had no mosquitoes in the vicinity. Katana always had a knack for finding the most tranquil places. Suddenly overcome by sleep, she curled up into a ball and dozed off by the stream.

Sasuke opened his eyes, hoping that it would finally be morning, only to realize that it was 11:30. He sat up and stretched his aching limbs when he noticed that Katana was no longer there. Worry started to flow through him and he decided he would go look for her.

Damn, he thought five minutes later, where could she have gone? But his thoughts were soon interrupted by a sword gashing across his right arm. Sasuke grimaced, and looked up to meet his attacker. It was Katana.

"Oh…hehe…" said Katana nervously, "It was you."

Sasuke glared. "Who else did you think it was?"

"Well I assumed you were still sleeping where we made camp! I just thought it was an enemy!"

"Why would an enemy be attacking us now?!"

"I don't know! I was panicking, okay?!"

"You panicked?" said Sasuke, changing his tone completely.

"Maybe…what's so surprising about that?"

"I don't know, you just never seemed like a panicking kind of person. You being stronger than the Hokage and all…"

"That doesn't mean I'm inhuman!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. It just surprised me, that's all."

Katana laughed, "Well, we should probably do something about that wound I gave you."

"Oh, right" said Sasuke, who had completely forgot about his injury.

Sakura rolled over in a feeble attempt to find a comfortable position. When it did not work, she got up and pulled at her hair in frustration. I hope I didn't wake up Katana or Sasuke. But when she looked over and found that neither of her companions was there, she began to worry. I'd better go look for them…

"Wait," said Katana, "Hear that?"

"Yeah," Sasuke replied, "Someone's coming"

"Okay, here's the plan, I'll distract him, and you attack from behind."

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement.

I wonder where they went, thought Sakura, hoping that they were both okay. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice the kunai being flung at her. She dodged it at the last minute, but not before a figure pounced down on her from above. She struggled, trying to get away from the man's grasp, but he was holding on to her to tightly for that. Wait a minute…is that…"Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked down in surprise. "Sakura…is that you?"

Sakura blushed, realizing that he was still holding on to her. "…Yeah"

"Oh," said Sasuke, who was clearly very flustered, "There's a good explanation for all this, you know."

"SASUKE!" called Katana's voice from afar, "DID YOU GET HIM?"

"Him?" repeated Sakura incredulously.

Sasuke sighed. He had a lot of explaining to do. This mission was certainly going to be interesting…

So…their first night out on the mission, and they all attack each other. I can just tell that they're going to make a great team!

And for those of you people who felt Katana seemed too perfect, I hope this chapter changed that. So what's Katana's big secret? Well if I told you it wouldn't be a secret, now would it? And Kazeki Ryuu will not have any important roles so don't think that this will turn into a KataRyuu or SakuRyuu. Although it's not a bad idea...

Feel free to review and PM any more suggestions/questions/etc that you may have. Feedback is welcome. So is food.