Hey, all! KIRSH-un is back with a new chapter! I'm so happy my vacation is over; I was really bored! Ugh, on a worse (worser?) note, I have to audition for a couple of things. I have an competitive acting group to audition for that's really hard to get into, and I have a singing group to audition for, which I'm not worried about because one of my friends is the judge, so she might let me in. That was a run-on sentence (sweatdrops).

Anywho, thank you SO much to all who reviewed! I never expected so many new reviewers! Thank you to EVERYONE!

Once again, I didn't write most of the stuff in this chapter. Most of the dialogue I took straight from the chapter, though some of the scenes (such as the ones with Chikazi and Akai) I did write.

Sasuke turned quietly, looking behind him, "I know someone's there… Show yourself."

Chikazi stared at him, "Sasuke… I don't sense anyone."

"Quiet, Chikazi." Sasuke whispered, "Move away." When she didn't move, he hissed, "QUICKLY!"

Chikazi gasped and backed away about twenty paces, not even bothering to check who was actually behind them.

"So you're Sasuke-kun!" Tobi chirped. The masked nin was just standing there, Akai at his side, but with Deidara nowhere in sight. "Wow! You really do look like Itachi-san!"

Akai sighed, "Tobi, don't be arrogant." Inside, however, she was laughing her head off. Sasuke-KUN?!

Tobi stared at her quizzically, "Arrogant? Tobi isn't arrogant, Lady-sama. Tobi was just poi-!" He noticed a large shadow descending from the sky, and ran off, pulling Akai with him to hide behind a tree, letting out a loud 'EEP!'

Sasuke looked up into the sky. His eyes widened as he saw Deidara spiraling down towards him, along with two large clay birds. "Chikazi…" He whispered, "Run…"

Deidara's hands formed into a familiar hand sign, 'KATSU!' he thought while leaping off the bird he was riding.

A vast explosion filled the clearing. Deidara landed safely to the side. "Heh…"

Tobi and Akai were suddenly next to the blonde, as he continued, "The Sharingan… No doubt this is Itachi's brother then, un. And the reason why he was able to get rid of Orochimaru was because of those damn eyes, un." He smirked, "The bastard's probably mistaking the gifts of his heritage for his own power, un."

"Deidara-san…!" Akai looked like she was going to chastise him.

"Shush, Akai, un." He muttered.

Suddenly, Sasuke leapt at them. A millisecond later, he was right in front of Deidara. 'Damn, he's fast!' The cocky blonde thought. He leapt into the air, leaving Tobi and Akai to fend for themselves.

"Huh?!" Tobi exclaimed, surprised. But, a second later, he had pulled Akai to his chest.

Sasuke's blade sliced through them. The Uchiha stopped mid-step. Looking up at Deidara, who had landed on a tree branch, he said quietly, "Two down… You seem to like to talk. I'll ask you about Itachi, then."

Tobi stood up behind him, pulling Akai up with him.

'What is this…?' Sasuke thought, staring bewilderedly at the masked Nin and the girl.

"Tobi, Akai!" Deidara yelled at them, "What's up with you two, un?! He may be just a kid, but that doesn't mean you can let your guard down, un!"

Tobi staggered a little, "Seriously, senpai, He's too much for Tobi to deal with…"

Akai finally piped up, "JUST A KID?! Deidara-san, he's older than me, by the looks of it!" She wriggled out of Tobi's arms. "Just 'cos we can't fly!" She murmured heatedly.

Both Deidara and Sasuke gave her an amused look. She immediately flushed, "S-Shut up, the both of you!"

Chikazi's voice came from the other side of the crater in the clearing, "Caya?! That you?!"

Akai spun to look at her, "Cassie?!" She was knocked over by the other girl's flying glomp. "Ohmaigawd, Cassie, calm down!" She glanced up at Deidara for a second.

The blonde nin smiled down at her, "Yeah, go. Tobi and I can handle this."

Akai nodded gratefully, pulling Chikazi up to her feet. "We can't talk here, Cassie." She whispered, "Follow me." She turned to Sasuke, "I promise I won't kill her." He just stared at her, but she walked away anyway, making the mistake of turning her back on a shinobi for the first time in her life. Sasuke, much to Deidara's relief, ignored her, watching the missing-nin with an intense stare.

They ran away, laughing with joy, while behind them, their most important people, in both this world and their own, were getting ready to battle. They stopped after they had been running for a couple of minutes. "C-Cassie…" Akai said, laughing and panting at the same time, "It's damn good to see you…" She hugged her friend again.

Chikazi hugged her back, sitting them both down. "It's good to see you too, Caya. What's up? Have you and Deidara…?" She trailed off, letting her sentence sink in, grinning pervertedly.

Akai immediately blushed, "W-What do you mean by that…?"

Chikazi's jaw dropped, all traces of an unterior motive gone, "How far have you two GONE, Caya?!"

"Uh…" Akai looked away, just to make Chikazi nervous. She grinned, "We kissed. That's it though. I'm the sensible one, remember?"

Chikazi stuck her tongue out at the silver-haired girl, "Yeah, only sometimes!" She pouted, "I've only kissed Sasuke on the cheek. He really is like ice. I'm determined to get him to kiss me, though!"

Akai looked away, "H-How much longer do you want to stay, Cassie?"

Chikazi groaned, "Please don't bring that up, Caya! We fought over that last time!! I don't want to ruin it this time!"

Akai sighed, "Yeah, but this time, I don't want to leave any more, though. I love it here. I'm in the Akatsuki, Deidara loves me, and Tobi and Kisame are just as great as we always thought they would be. It's amazing!"

Chikazi laughed, "So they are that good? Damn, things are really good for you!" She ruffled Akai's hair.

"What about you?" Akai asked, batting her hand away, "You're saying things got good for me, but then what happened to you?"

Chikazi sighed, looking away, "Karin, uh, 'disposed of' me."

Akai's eyes widened until they were nearly dinner plate size, as only anime can do. "WHAT?!"

Chikazi sighed yet again, "Yeah. She got rid of me, then brought me back. I found out something. When we die…" She looked back into Akai's eyes, "When we die, Caya, we go back…"

Akai gasped, "No way! So if… if we wanted to go home, we could just kill ourselves?"

Chikazi nodded, "Yeah. I'm not sure if it as simple as that, but that's the general idea." A huge explosion blew up from the clearing, and they both turned towards it.

Akai's expression was morbidly sober, "Cassie… those two are our only connections to this world… what happens if one of THEM dies?!"

Chikazi stared at her, "Good question. I think… I think we'd go back." She paused, "I-I think… one of us will go home today…"

Akai nodded, "Yeah. I'm hoping that if Deidara-san dies, Tobi will still live. I really, really hope that. The Akatsuki cannot afford to lose all three of us."

Another explosion rocked the air around them, and the two friends sat in gloomy silience, just waiting for something horrible to hapen to them...

Well... How was it? Tell me in a review! I'll see you guys on Monday! R + R, 'Kaythanks!