Chapter seven: Missing In Action

Sasuke sank his fangs deep into the clone's hand viciously, hanging on with his front claws as his rear legs scored the arm attached to the fingers that held him. The tabby was angry after being subjected to the humiliating experience of a none-too-gentle bath and wanted desperately to dish out some payback. His eyes stung from the shampoo, his ears were water-logged, he was freezing, and to top it all off he looked like a drowned rat! Somebody had to pay for the indignity of it all and, since he couldn't lash out at Naruto- What had happened to him anyway?!- the clone's arm was forfeit.

At least until he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and his body assumed a half curled position as he hung suspended in midair. It didn't hurt him, something for which he was grateful, but it forced him to become docile as he was placed in a blue towel and quickly covered, the clone rubbing his fur with more force than the Uchiha thought necessary.

It looked like the clone was going to get some revenge in while Naruto wasn't paying attention.

He was placed on the floor, left to huddle in his towel and shivering as the chill of the tile seeped into the thin covering with ease. Something was set down next to him and he poked his head out to peer at the quaking bundle, oddly happy that Neji and Hinata seemed to be fairing along the same lines as himself: the cousins were wrapped together in a pink towel, shivering and equally unhappy.

-Did Naruto do this when he took you in?- Neji asked, teeth chattering as he poked his head out of the towel to talk to Sasuke.

-No.- Sasuke said, unhappy and in pain as his mauled shoulder began to ache. I just slept. He looked around the room and frowned, absently noting the white surfaces for the first time. He hadn't noticed it last night or this morning but… -It's so white…-

Neji nodded, glancing around and sniffing the air delicately. Hinata joined them then, peeking her head out of the towel. Their attention immediately went to the only spot of color in the room, the towel rack. Hidden in a small recess and sharing wall space next to the shower/bath combo unit they had just been dunked in, it was loaded with towels in various colors ranging from sky blue to royal purple. No color appeared more frequently than the others, implying that Naruto had no favorite, but all of them had the same shabby look to them much like everything else in the blonde's apartment. In the space underneath the towel rack was an oversized wicker hamper for dirty laundry, an edge of beige blanket peeking out the top waiting to be cleaned.

Sasuke frown deepened as he turned his head, his eyes wandering over the other side of the room. There was the requisite toilette and sink, both of which were bare of color, the porcelain chipped in places. In the wall above the little sink was a mirrored medicine cabinet and below the basin was a small make-shift cupboard with an empty hole where the knob should have been, presumably for bathroom necessities.

Much to his disgust, the kitten spotted their as yet unused litter box sitting in the corner beside the toilette. Positioned as it was, the box was hidden from immediate view, allowing for privacy while at the same time protected from drafts. Naruto must have set it up when he was cleaning up his apartment after everyone had left yesterday.

No way. The thought was reflected on all three kittens' faces as they contemplated the pan and its granular contents.

-Where's Naruto?- Hinata asked, taking a quick glance around and unable to see him. Her nose twitched and Sasuke bet that, like him, she could smell the blonde even if she couldn't see him.

-His bedroom most likely.- Neji said, stepping out from the sheltered warmth of the towel. Wet, the male Hyuuga was not nearly as cute a kitten as he was dry, his fur alternately plastered flat to his compact body and sticking out from it in damp spikes. Shivering as he steeled himself, Neji took a few mincing steps forward over the freezing tile, comically shaking each paw as it left the floor before launching into a full body shake to rid his fur of moisture.

Inwardly sighing but determined to find his ailing teammate, Sasuke followed suit and left his towel, spraying water everywhere as he tried to clear it from his shivering body. He was hit on the head after he finished and, automatically, he looked in the direction the attack had come from, spotting a scowling, overtly drenched Hinata, water dripping off her whiskers, one blue paw raised to smack him again. The Uchiha growled at her as she closed the short distance between them but she ignored the warning and came closer anyway, pausing only when there was an inch between them. Without warning, she launched into a furious body shake, stumbling after Sasuke when he tried to get away.

-That was unfair!- He said indignantly, untangling his legs after having tripped over them during his failed escape attempt. Though he wasn't soaked he was still significantly wet again, courtesy of Hinata's little revenge stunt, his fur absorbing the water like a sponge. Annoyed, he got back to his feet and shook himself dry, whiskers twitching when he spotted both Hyuugas near the closed door to the room, eyeing the handle.

It was one of those long handled ones, not a traditional circular knob and Naruto must have replaced it out of pocket at some point since it didn't match any of the others found in the rest of the apartment. It still shone, speaking volumes about how much usage it saw and also about the blonde's trusting personality. From what Sasuke had seen in his short stay in his teammate's home, the doorknob was the newest thing in the small apartment.

Sasuke hurried over to the pair, ignoring the clone as it cleaned up the bathtub behind him, and joined the other felines as they peered up at the handle. Cocking his head to one side and pawing at an ear, he wondered absently if Neji would hold still long enough for him to jump off the Hyuuga's shoulders; it wouldn't take much weight to depress the bar and Sasuke was betting one good leap would get his tiny body up there to do the job. Before he could do so though, the door handle swept downward to become parallel with the door frame as the door swung inward to permit the other Naruto clone to reenter the room. The kittens, sitting right in front of the door, got a face full of the wooden portal.

"What's up?" The one in the bathroom asked, pausing as it picked up the abandoned towels sitting on the floor. Catching sight of the heap of angry kittens and their proximity to the now open door, it winced in sympathy, watching as they pawed at their abused noses.

"Sorry!" The other clone apologized to them with a grimace but quickly turned back to its twin. "We have a problem."

-Do you hear something?- Hinata asked suddenly as she scanned the area, her ears swiveling around and up. She righted herself and ran to the other side of the door, gingerly stepping up onto the clone's feet. Her whiskers twitching, she began to try and nose her way through the gap between the door and the clone's shin and, when that didn't work, tried to twist her way through the narrow space between the clone's legs.

Neji and Sasuke joined her but the males were forced to quickley look at the floor as she squeezed through the narrow gap; her back legs got caught going through, making her scissor them behind her as she wiggled her hips until she maneuvered her way through, her tail lashing behind her. When she was safely in the hallway on all four feet, the other two began forcing their way out as well.

"Aw, you let them out!" Sasuke heard from inside the bathroom and deemed it best that they make themselves scarce. With a quick nod between the three, the kittens high-tailed it, no pun intended, down the hall and through the bedroom's open door.

Though the mattress was still present, the hammock that had been above it was not and Sasuke found himself missing the hanging bed after becoming accustomed to it. Naruto, the real one, was on the floor and unconscious. He lay half curled on his side facing away from them, most of his body lost to sight under the new clean comforter that had been carefully tucked around him. The blonde was still and, for an awful second, the Uchiha thought he was dead but then Sasuke saw Naruto's chest move and the moment passed.

-His breathing is better.- Hinata noted as the trio made their way over, carefully scaling the mini mountains of bunched fabric in their path. She was right; the labored panting Naruto had been doing of late was non-existent, the blonde's ribcage expanding and contracting in a steady rhythm though Sasuke thought he could detect a faint gurgle deep in his teammate's lungs when he put his ear against the blonde's chest.

Neji, having taken a seat beside the back of Naruto's head, was looking down at the blonde. The Hyuuga's nose was twitching delicately as he leaned forward, sniffing Naruto's sweat soaked hair. -It doesn't appear as if he's had another seizure.-

For that Sasuke was grateful because he never, ever wanted to be forced to watch something so disturbing again. Helpless, forced to sit there as Naruto convulsed and beat himself against the floor… The image was going to haunt the Uchiha for a very long time. The kittens had had to wait until the episode was over before approaching, before they could even think about getting close enough to help, for the simple reason that- as things were- the blonde was just so much bigger than they were. The only reason Naruto hadn't suffered a severe concussion or broken anything was solely due to the fact that he had been on the mattress when the fit occurred and the padding had sufficiently absorbed the impact.

"What do you mean 'a call' went out?"

Reacting instinctively, the kittens dove for cover, crawling beneath gaps in the comforter to huddle against the blonde out of sight just as the two Naruto clones entered the room. Sasuke cuddled as close to the blonde's chest as he could while simultaneously flattening himself to the floor, one of his wedge shaped ears aimed upward at the continuing conversation while the other monitored Naruto's heartbeat inches away.

"Huh." One said, and Sasuke could hear feet shuffle. "I thought I saw the fur balls come in here." It made an annoyed sound before continuing. "I mean that a call went out."

"They wouldn't do it if it wasn't something major." A clone- presumably the other one- sighed. "But we can't wake him. He's too sick and snowballing quicker than normal. This year it's really bad."

"How can you say that? The seal's breaking- I can feel it so I know you can too. There's no guarantee I'll be alive next week." Sasuke flashed back to Naruto in the kitchen, the blonde's words echoing loudly in the Uchiha's ears. Naruto had looked so depressed as he had clutched the stuffed fox against his chest that it really hadn't been surprising when he had begun to cry

"God, I hate my birthday."

Sasuke stared at nothing, filled with questions as one thought in particular surfaced above the rest. Did this happen every year?!

"There's another problem." One of the clones said, jerking the tabby from his startled confusion. "We've got incoming. Three chakra signatures at high speed."

"Fuck." The other one said softly but with feeling. "We can't let anyone see him. We'll have to keep them busy until his caretaker shows up."

His caretaker? Sasuke's eyebrows knitted together. Outside of his loved ones here, who would a desperately ill Naruto trust to look after him?

Sasuke heard a grunt of agreement and then the sound of footsteps retreating as one of the clones left. A soft thump and a dip in the mattress indicated that the remaining clone had taken a seat on the makeshift bed nearby and as discretely as possible, Sasuke followed the slight curve of Naruto's upper chest until he found the small gap between his teammate's body, the comforter and the mattress. Cautious of the clone close by, the tabby crept slowly forward until he was directly in front of his friend's nose.

He looks awful. The Uchiha looked at his teammate and reached up to place a paw on the blonde's forehead, unsurprised as he felt heat radiate into the soft pads. Naruto's face was flushed and pinched from fever and pain even as he slept, hair dark from sweat and plastered flat to his skull. A damp washcloth had been placed over the blonde's eyes to help cool him down and Sasuke adjusted its placement, moving it higher so that it wasn't in danger of falling off.

The tabby could feel eyes on him and glanced up to find Neji scrutinizing him across the blonde's head but Sasuke ignored the other male and kept his eyes on Naruto as he tried to beat back the anxiety that was quickly tying his stomach into knots.

Naruto was sick, was really sick, and could possibly die.

And Sasuke could do nothing to stop it.

-Go to the hospital.- He said, giving in to the urge to butt his head against Naruto's cheek. He stopped soon after and simply rested the top of his head against the blonde's warm skin. -If you're so sick, go to the hospital where they can help you.-

"There you are!" The clone whispered triumphantly as a hand descended upon the Uchiha's shoulders and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before lifting him into the air. The only reason why Sasuke refrained from yowling his ire to the world was that he would wake Naruto. As it was he lashed the air with his tail, the fur fluffed out to twice its size as it moved.

"I knew you were in here!" The clone grinned at him happily, blue eyes screwing shut as a grin threatened to split its face in two.

The tabby hissed as it dangled inches from the clone's face, swiping a clawed paw out in frustrated fury as it attempted to retaliate. Just you wait! The moment you set me down, I'll claw you so badly you'll poof out of existence!

It was as he continued to plot various means of vengeance that his ears detected the sound of someone knocking on the front door. He stilled, as did the clone though it didn't release him, and the pair listened intently as three sharp raps sounded on the distant portal. Silence reigned for several seconds before the visitor appeared to loose patience and then loud thumps filled the air as the wood was punished.

-It sounds like someone is kicking the door in.- Hinata commented worriedly, her head poking out from under comforter, ears aimed at the open bedroom door.

Or trying to at any rate. Sasuke added silently, able to only rotate his ears around since he couldn't move his head. Whoever was outside was incredibly angry over something and seemed intent on taking it out on Naruto.

The clone set him down on the bed and stood, silently moving up to stand beside the doorway, using the wall to hide its form from the open doorway. From anyone coming from the hall the room would appear unguarded, that Naruto was asleep and defenseless, and as the clone unsheathed two kunai, the kitten realized that that was exactly the point.

"Uzumaki open this door!" A familiar voice roared angrily, followed by more pounding on the apartment door.

-Kiba?- Hinata questioned and Sasuke looked at her sharply, frowning as her teammate continued to demand entrance. The Uchiha inwardly sneered at the Hyuuga; Sakura would never…

"Naruto!" Damn it, Sakura! "Naruto, if you're here open up or we'll break the door down."

Not too far away a long suffering sigh sounded and Neji glided over to the tabby, shooting both his cousin and Sasuke a superior look that said plainly their teammates were annoying and nothing like his own.

When Lee spoke up suddenly, Sasuke took great pleasure in rolling his eyes at the condescending brown feline.

"Friend Naruto!" Lee called. "We have urgent news and need your help!"

Sasuke had a very bad feeling. It was an awful, overpowering sense of foreboding that made his fur stand on end. He didn't understand it but knew- knew in his very core- that something monumental was about to be set into motion and that life as he knew it was going to change.

The sensation was overwhelming and though he wanted to run and hide, the panic that suddenly flared into being kept his feet locked in place and unable to move.

It was like standing on the tracks of a steam-train, watching as thousands of tons of metal hurtled toward you and knowing that there was no where to go to escape being crushed.

-Sasuke?- Hinata asked, her pale eyes suddenly filling his vision as she thrust her face into his. -Sasuke are you alright?-

He realized he was shaking, trembling, that his breathing was just a little too fast. With a concentrated effort, he swallowed the fear, forced it down and locked it away as he concentrated and made his paws form tiny fists before launching his body into motion. The Uchiha jumped over the other feline and sped out of the room down the hall, not noticing the click as the door was closed quietly behind him.

-Don't open the door!- He yelled at the other clone just as its hand began to twist the knob. -Don't, you idiot!-

It was too late. The clone glanced down at him briefly as he ran up to it but didn't stop opening the door. It nudged Sasuke clear of the two foot gap with its foot, sweeping the Uchiha's small form behind it as greeted the three people and dog gathered in the doorway.

"Hi guys!" The faux Naruto said, puzzlement evident. "What's up?"

"Took you long enough to open the damn door!" Kiba growled and tried to shove the door open fully to gain entry. Smile dimming, the Naruto clone just held it firm, the wood not moving an inch despite the force being exerted on it.

"Did you have something interesting to say or did you just come to abuse my door?" The clone let its irritation show by tone of voice and by also tapping his sandaled foot against the floor.

Sasuke hastily moved away, taking extra care not to get his tail caught as he took a seat beside the copy of his friend. Now that the feeling of impeding doom had lifted, the Uchiha was incredibly irritated with himself and his previous behavior. What on earth had he been thinking? Yes it was annoying having everyone turn up just when Naruto was trying to…

And I always call Naruto a dobe. He thought, feeling incredibly stupid as the obviousness of this new situation hit him. He'd just been telling Naruto to go to the hospital and now help for the blonde was here, had just turned up on the doorstep! All he had to do was get his kunoichi teammate to see the real Naruto and she would insure that the blonde got treatment for whatever sickness was slowly consuming him.

-Sakura!- Swallowing his pride, he began trying to get his other teammate's attention while maintaining a wary distance from Akamaru standing nearby.

"Hinata's missing." Kiba growled angrily. "Neji is too."

"Sasuke as well." Sakura added, worry for the object of her affection evident in that small sentence. Her eyes drifted downward and caught sight of the kitten, watching in amusement as it waved a paw at her. She waved her hand at the animal vaguely before dismissing it and returning her attention to the blonde.

"Sakura mentioned that she had sent them here after encountering them at the festival." Lee told the blonde, effectively explaining their presence on his doorstep. "We thought perhaps, that, due to the late hour, they may have stayed in your apartment last night."

Abandoning subtlety, Sasuke's grey and black furred body scaled the clone's body until he could crawl over one orange clad shoulder, the tabby balancing on its perch and meowing loudly. 'Naruto' put a hand on the kitten, petting it absently as he focused his eyes on the ceiling and thought.

The blonde shook his head, expression worried as he looked at the pink haired kunoichi. "You sent them here? At night?"

"I didn't send them here!" Sakura snapped at him waspishly, fist raised to hit him. "They asked if I had seen you and I told them about your stupid training trips! I don't know why they were coming here," She added when he opened his mouth. "But now they are missing!"

"Then let's go find them!" The clone said determinedly, taking hold of the kitten on his shoulder and ignoring the animal's odd flailing. After checking it for injury (because why else would it be waving both arms for attention?) the clone set the tabby on the floor and opened the door wider. Unfortunately that meant opening the portal wide enough to let Akamaru through and as soon as the canine could do so, he squeezed past the clone into the apartment.

And padded right over to Sasuke.

Instantly the Uchiha's feline body swelled to twice his size as his fur stood on end and began backing away, hissing and yowling threateningly. He slashed with his claws keeping the dog in view as it began to circle him, sniffing at him, uttering little yips that made the kitten jump in surprise. Akamaru was smart enough to keep his body parts out of the kitten's range and seemed to take great pleasure in taunting the apparently high strung tabby despite the humans grousing in the background over the animals' antics.

"Akamaru!" Kiba called the dog with barely contained anger. "Stop tormenting the little weakling."

I'll show you weak, dog-breath! Sasuke thought furiously, the claws of his right paw springing out in readiness. He took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart. Wait. Watch. Strike. He was still a ninja, damn it, even if he was currently a kitten, and, changed form or not, he was still Sasuke Uchiha.

A very angry Sasuke Uchiha.

Hearing his master's voice gave the dog pause and the tabby seized his chance, launching his tiny body at the much larger canine's muzzle. Though he was angry, he did not want to permanently injure Akamaru; the dog had been mean to tease him, true, but that did not warrant crippling payback. So- magnanimously, as he saw it- Sasuke restricted the use of his claws to leaving lingering reminders in the form of scratches all over the top of Akamaru's head. For good measure, the Uchiha chewed on the dog's ear, too, not stopping until Naruto's clone pulled him off.

"Bad kitty!" The clone scolded loudly as Kiba comforted his canine companion. Out of sight of the brunette though, the blonde winked at the feline, mouth twitching to suppress a grin as Akamaru whined pitifully in the background. "Bad kitty, very bad!"

Sasuke preened as the clone's fingers tickled behind his ears and under his chin.

"Your cat attacked my dog." Kiba stated, disbelief and outrage evident.

"Akamaru shouldn't have teased him then." The clone said sagely. "That's what you get when you underestimate an opponent."

Kiba just never learns. Sasuke sighed and shook his head. The dog lover had made the same mistake during the prelims of the chunin exams and had paid dearly for it. You would think that Naruto's reputation for being Konoha's number one prankster would make people more wary around him but that just simply wasn't the case.

"Your words are very wise, Naruto." Lee interrupted. "But we must save this youthful energy for another time as our teammates are still missing and feared to be in danger."

"Right, so stop fighting you idiot!" Sakura raged, fist twitching with the desire to strike.

Sasuke frowned as the kunoichi continued to glare daggers at the blonde. Naruto wasn't really at fault for the fiasco- if anything Kiba was the responsible party- so why was she blaming their teammate?

"Hinata, Neji and Sasuke." The clone said, nodding as the others headed through the doorway. "We're coming to find you!"

Too bad that all three were literally right under everyone's nose.

Though touched at the gesture, the Uchiha rolled his eyes and sighed at the irony of it all. He was set gently on the floor and then, with one last wink and a quick grin that only the kitten saw, the clone left, closing the door behind it. Sasuke heard the tumblers move into place as the lock was engaged and waited until the footsteps faded away into silence before heading back to the bed room, for the first time noticing that the door was shut. Voices caught his attention as he neared and the Uchiha began pawing anxiously at the wood when he realized that one of those voices belonged to the real Naruto.

"…it has to be checked out." Naruto was saying, his voice dragging and strangely rough. "There's something in the air… Something is wrong… in the city. The forest is screaming."

The WHAT?! Obviously, Naruto needed to go back to sleep because he simply wasn't making any sense.

"Let them handle it." The clone was saying and though Sasuke could hear movement in the room, he couldn't get a sense of what was happening. He scratched impatiently at the door and meowed pointedly until it opened to admit him.

The clone was helping Naruto maintain his balance as he tottered on shaky toward the closet. "They're trained warriors- ones you trained, by the way- and they'll handle what ever it is. Those stupid councils they set up are probably just trying to pull you into their bickering like last time."

"No," Naruto said, reaching out to yank a clean white long-sleeved shirt off a hanger. He dropped it shortly after touching it, clapping the now empty hand over his mouth as he launched into a coughing fit that drone him to his knees. Getting back to his feet and stumbling the whole way, Sasuke watched the blond hurry to the bathroom.

Soon after, they could all hear him emptying his stomach, the painful retches making everyone wince sympathetically.

Heart being wrenched painfully by every sound, Sasuke hoped sincerely that his friend had made it to the toilet in time.

The feel of Kitsune magic as it brushed against the seal of her cage woke the Nine Tails up. She blinked, opening her gold eyes wearily as the spell took affect. Several bars of her cage began to dissolve, hissing angrily as if someone had poured acid over them. The seal over the lock of her cage crackled, retaliating against the assault by summoning Naruto's chakra, making it arch like lightning from bar to bar until both cage doors were entirely consumed by blue light. For one blinding instant the seal held, but then the light began to gutter. It finally dimmed to a pale phosphorescence, spent, and right after it winked out the hissing noise resumed until there was a gap large enough for the fox to squeeze through.

So, it has come to this The fox rose, moving slowly, carefully.

Painfully.

She approached the newly made doorway, turning her head as she spied a familiar shade of blonde laying face down in the shallow water outside her enclosure. Immediately she navigated the opening, being mindful of the jagged edges as she crouched low and slipped through, hurrying over to investigate her fallen kit's still form.

Kit. She called softly, using a paw to turn him onto his back. Kit, answer me. Kit!

He didn't respond, just laid limply in her grasp, small and fragile. Already his mental self was showing signs of damage from the seal's fail-safes, already his form was beginning to wither and fade. Such injuries should only have appeared on the day of Naruto's birth as the hours counted down to his death but here they were, days ahead of schedule.

Stifling a sob, she pulled him close against her golden furred body, heart heavy with the knowledge that the first time she was ever able to hold him would probably be her last since the spell granting her freedom was temporary at best. She wrapped her tails around him, the extra supports helping to pull him completely above the water that perpetually filled the dank sewer-like maze around them, her tongue flashing out to lick Naruto's face clean. She had hoped that he would rouse but such a thing didn't happen and he continued to dangle in her grip limply as she began carefully navigating the hallways.

A call had gone out.

There was only one possible reason why another Kitsune had would try to free her during such a dangerous time and the very thought chilled the fox spirit to her core. The Family that lived in the forest surrounding Konoha knew how risky such a stunt could be- knew very well not to try and contact her or Naruto unless it was an extreme emergency- and would not knowingly risk alerting the village to their respective presences unless something catastrophic was brewing.

There was only one event that could drive them to do so, only one thing that counted under that category, and it made her fear for Naruto's safety. Naruto was her kit now, a baby given to her after the loss of her own little ones who had been murdered. Kyuubi would not risk his body lightly, refused to make him suffer any more than this miserable village had already made him endure. For the few scant days he had left she would protect him and sooth him, vowed to let no one hurt him. Anyone- be they a human from this village or a Kitsune attempting to curry favor- anyone who tried to harm Naruto was in for a very awful time indeed.

Kyuubi had spent many, many years thinking of ways to best communicate her displeasure about being sealed away. At first she had tried to figure out how best to take her revenge on the city and also upon her living vessel, fighting against the seal with every breath, happy when she made her vessel cry in pain. She had hated them all, had hated every last village for killing her babies and driving her mad with grief. Convinced that they had all played some part, she had been consumed with the need for justice and so had followed the scents of the killers to this place.

To Konoha, City of Traitors to the Contract.

She had hated them but her rage and hatred had mutated once she was forced to bear witness to the atrocities being committed against her vessel. Children were precious, they were innocent and no child should ever be forced to endure such torture. It was then that she had been forced to admit that Naruto, her vessel, had done nothing to deserve her animosity and was truly a victim just like her poor dead kits.

From then on, she had become more…creative when envisioning potential torments.

She had had nearly sixteen years to come up with such ideas, several of which she was particularly proud of and she almost wished that someone would attempt something while she was free because then she'd be able to impliment some of her favorites.

She shook her head hard in an attempt to clear such thoughts; Kyuubi would get to the bottom of this, oh yes she would, and no one would stand in her way.

I am sorry Kit. She murmured, finding an alcove in one of the walls and laying Naruto inside the deep recess. Duty calls.

With a final nuzzle to the unresponsive form, the nine tails raised her head high and walked determinedly and purposefully out of her prison.

More's Moment:

Finally! I'm so proud of myself that I got another chapter out. This chapter for some reason was like pulling teeth and I couldn't seem to write more than a few paragraphs at a time though I suspect it was because my mind was already on the next chapter. At long last I can start writing the scene I've been thinking about for months, which sounds silly but I have found the hard way that if I don't devote myself to the chapter at hand, the quality suffers.

You all are worth delaying my pleasure for so I try my utmost to deliver good chapters to everyone who reads my stories so let me know if I've done a good job.

As some of you may know from reading the latest chapter of Styx, I have a family member in the hospital that everyone fears is on her way out. Because of this, updates will be a bit delayed in coming which I am sorry about but there's nothing I can do about it.

I am thinking of posting another story which is something of the reverse of this plot line (though not completely because I think it would be boring that way) but I am having trouble writing Neji. I dunno what it is about the guy but I have a difficult time writing in his perspective.

Does anyone know of any stories out there that give a good, clear characterization of Neji?

Teaser: The search party heads out to find the Hyuugas and Sasuke as the festival continues to gather momentum. Back at the apartment, Kyuubi heads off to investigate this mysterious 'call' everyone is talking about and takes our favorite feline trio with her on the outing. A battle erupts, a tower is destroyed with extreme Kitsune prejudice, and a missing Uchiha is found unexpectedly amidst it all. Konoha's sordid past begins to come to light as they run into another Kitsune.

Anyone ever heard of the saying, 'Some secrets are best left buried?'