Hey, all! Happy early Turkey Day! I decided that since I won't be updating tomorrow, I would be nice and update for you today! Not much to say since yesterday, so here are the thanks.

Thanks, as always to Alucard's Vampiress and Gaaara's Sweetheart. Thank you also to a new reviewer, Hell's Twilight. You guys rock.

Oh, and I might wanna mention that this chapter takes place three months after the two s get transported to the Narutoverse, so they are well-adjusted to their life by now.

Enjoy the chapter!

"Oi, Kisame!" The silver-haired yelled, "What do you want for food?" She was digging through the fridge.

It was Itachi's night to order takeout, which meant only one thing, and one thing only: sushi. Akai shuddered at the thought.

The sharkman yelled back to her, "Anything, as long as it's not fish!"

Akai sighed, and then yelled back, "That doesn't help!" She went back to rummaging through the fridge. It made no sense, even though she could cook, they still ordered takeout. She pulled out the ingredients to make chicken tempura.

She set to work, not noticing the two forms who had invaded the kitchen. One threw an arm over her shoulder, making her jump. A very familiar lick was placed on her cheek and she laughed, "Hey, Deidara-san."

Deidara smiled at her, "What'cha making, un?"

She made a face, "Tempura. Sorry, it's for me and Kisame only, you'll have to make your own." She laughed again as his face went from delight to despair. "Okay, okay, it's for you too."

Deidara cheered.

Kisame strode into the kitchen, "Who said you could give away my food?!" He asked, trying to be menacing, but failed miserably, seeing the laughing .

She chuckled, "I did. Considering I'm the one making it." She went back to cooking as another figure entered the kitchen.

Uchiha Itachi wasn't prone to making dramatic entrances, but the atmosphere in the room changed dramatically at his enterance. Deidara unconsciously stepped in front of Akai, glaring at the raven-haired man. Kisame stepped forward to greet him, "Hey, Itachi. We're having a tempura party!"

"Tempura party?" Itachi drawled, "I thought it was my turn to order food."

Kisame sweat dropped, "Well, yeah, but you know how I sushi, so… I got Akai to cook for me."

Akai didn't look up from her cooking. It pained her to look at Itachi, because he reminded her so much of Sasuke. Thinking of Sasuke made her think of Chikazi, which made her sad. Even hearing Itachi's voice made her sad.

Deidara didn't know why she didn't look at Itachi, never having met Chikazi, but he knew that he didn't like it when Akai was depressed, so he chose to stand in front of her.

Itachi lazily glanced at Deidara, then at Akai. "Akai-san." He drawled, "Why do you listen to Kisame?"

Akai visibly stiffened, "Because I can cook," She answered, "If he wants me to cook, I'll cook for him."

Itachi smirked, "So, if Kisame asked you to sleep with him, would you do it?"

Kisame looked shocked, "Itachi!"

Akai didn't answer, so Deidara did for her, "Shut up Itachi, un! Just leave her alone, un!"

Itachi smirked, "I believe she can answer for herself, Deidara."

Deidara looked like he was going to rip Itachi's head off, but Akai quietly murmured, "No, I wouldn't, Itachi-san. No matter how many times Kisame asked."

Itachi smirked, "Good answer." He turned and left.

"That was….weird…" was Kisame's only comment.

Deidara nodded, and Akai went silently back to her cooking.

Kisame turned to her, "Hey, Akai-chan?"

She looked up at him, "Yeah?"

"Why do you not look at Itachi?"

She laughed, "So you noticed." She paused, trying to think of the words she could use. "Well, you know how I'm not from here right?" when Kisame nodded, she continued, spelling out her whole story.

At the end, Kisame stared at her, wide-eyed. "So you mean this friend of yours is traveling with Itachi's little brother, and she's… in love with him?!"

Akai looked sheepish, "Yeah, pretty much, And I haven't seen her since… about three months ago." She looked away, "I hope she's doing alright."

Deidara ruffled her hair, "She's probably fine, un."

Akai smiled up at him, "Yeah, I know… But I can't get it out of my head that she might still be mad at me…"

The timer went off, saying the tempura was done.

Kisame and Deidara ate their tempura, chatting loudly

Akai sat there silently for a few minutes, just staring at her food. 'Cassie…' She wondered, 'Are you even still alive?'

(With Chikazi [dun dun duuuuuun!!:)

The black-haired landed down on one knee, panting.

The onyx-eyed man stared back at her, "Come on, Chikazi, you'll have to do better than THAT!"

Chikazi swore under her breath and stood back up, "Easy for you to say, Mr. I've-been-a-ninja-all-my-life-so-I'm-badass!" She stood back up, wobbling, a new cut on her cheek.

Sasuke sighed, "Fine then. You can rest. Five minutes." He headed back to where Suigetsu and Karin were talking.

Chikazi heard Karin exclaim, "Sasuke-san! How can you even stand to be around her! She's so weak!" The look in her eyes clearly reflected her thoughts. 'Unlike you, Sasuke-san.'

Chikazi gagged, that woman was unbearable. She looked the other way, trying not to hear Sasuke's apathetic response.

She heard it anyway; "I'm training her so she will be stronger. Then she won't be weak by your standards, Karin."

Karin looked like she had been slapped. Chikazi smirked, but abruptly dropped the smirk as Karin glared at her. She was glad that she had caught her breath; it showed that she wasn't as tired as she used to be.

She stood up. "I'm ready, Sasuke-sensei!" She bowed respectfully. Sneaking a glance, she saw Sasuke smirking at her, and Karin glaring daggers.

Sasuke walked over to her, "Alright. Get in your stance."

Chikazi barely had enough time to ready her stance before Sasuke attacked her again.

The two trained for hours on end, every day. Chikazi could practically feel herself getting stronger. She was only allowed two five-minute breaks every day, besides to eat and sleep. Each of those breaks, even meals, were filled with Karin taunting her.

How she wanted to strangle that woman! She was always saying how weak Chikazi was, and how she was soooooooooooo much stronger. UGH! She was so annoying! And the way she fawned over Sasuke would even make a cat in her world sick! She was always saying how strong Sasuke was, how cool he was, and how handsome he was. DAMN! She was worse than Sakura!

Chikazi shuddered; it took a real fangirl to make her admit that.

Suddenly, Sasuke was behind her, "Pay attention in a fight, Chikazi, or you could be in a half second."

She winced, "Sorry, Sasuke-sensei…"

From across the field, she heard Karin, "Sorry, Sasuke-sensei…" The other mocked.

Chikazi snapped. She charged Karin with intent to kill. "You… BITCH!" She roared, pulling out her katana. She jumped forward, about to slash Karin's surprised little face into shreads and-

Suddenly, Sasuke pulled her back, "That's enough, Chikazi." He glared at Karin, "Please refrain from doing that, Karin, next time I WON'T stop her."

Karin shivered, "Y-Yes, Sasuke-san…"

Sasuke slowly let go of Chikazi, "Calm down," He whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, she won't do it again," He murmured.

Chikazi twitched, "Damn. I was so close." She sighed, "Are we done for today, Sasuke-sensei?"

Sasuke nodded, "Yes, but if I were you I'd steer clear of Karin."

Chikazi nodded, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke sighed and sat down, expecting to be mauled by Karin. Unexpectedly, he wasn't. He smiled to himself, enjoying the silence.

Chikazi reappeared next to a nearby lake. Gazing in at her reflection, All she could think was: 'Wow… I look different…'

She certainly looked different from her former, brown-haired self. Her once-long black hair was now cut to her shoulders; it was easier to keep clean that way.

Her eyes were now a brilliant green. It had taken her a while to get used to that fact. They were completely different from her mud-brown eyes from back home. And they were very different from Caya's.

Caya. Damn, she hadn't thought of her in a while. She had often found herself wondering about her, how she was, if she was still mad. She doubted that she was still mad though; it wasn't like Caya to hold a grudge. She closed her eyes, trying to picture Caya's face.

She remembered the purple eyes. Those had always been her issue, even when Caya had been making up Akai, her own character from Naruto. She remembered fighting over whether purple eyes actually existed.

Next, she thought of the silver hair. There was another fought-over subject. She remembered herself teasing Caya about Akai 'Oh, is she pre-maturely gray?' she had teased. In reality, the silver hair had actually been pretty though.

She looked back at her reflection in the water. A part of a song from Mulan popped into her head:

'Who is that I see

Staring straight

Back at me?

Why is my reflection someone

I don't know?

Somehow I cannot hide

Who I am

Though I've tried

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?'

She sang quietly, not noticing the person who came and stood next to her.

"Is that song from your home?" Sasuke asked.

She smiled. "Yeah. It's from a favorite movie of Caya's and Mine ((Made that up. I've only seen Mulan like twice, and I have no idea about Cassie)). That's my song. She got a much different one." She laughed, thinking of Caya's song: 'I'll Make A Man Out of You'. ((Which, actually, is kind of my theme song.))

Sasuke just looked at her confused, and they sat there in silence for a few more minutes.

Chikazi silently stood up. "I think that we should head back, Sasuke-sensei. Karin and Suigetsu probably have dinner ready."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "Oh. That's why I was sent here…"

Chikazi grinned, "Nice… We REALLY need to go back now."

She disappeared, with Sasuke following.

Wow, that's definately one of my longer chappies. R + R, kaythanks!