Alrighty, third chapter!!! Please enjoy!!!

Japanese village terms for this chapter: Kirigakure [Hidden Mist], Sunagakure [Hidden Sand], Tsukigakure (made this one up xD)[Hidden Moon]

That night, I slept pretty well…

…Until I felt as if someone was watching over me.

Even asleep, I had this overwhelming feeling of being watched intently, like they were poised to strike.

After a moment, I opened my eyes to see who was watching me…probably Hiashi…

But when I tried to get up, a kunai had almost slit my throat.

Next, I saw the blood red hair and soulless eyes that could only belong to Sasori.

I screamed.

I then sat up in my bed, kunai and Sasori gone somehow. I was gasping for air and sweating.

I sighed. Only a dream… I lay back down. It seemed so…real… I placed my right hand, palm up, on my forehead.

After lying there for a few minutes, I knew that I wouldn't fall back asleep. I then got out of the bed and decided to go for a walk around the manor, get myself some fresh air…

--Outside--

I walked around the veranda a few times unconsciously. I was so focused on clearing my mind that I didn't realize this until about my fourth or fifth go-around. When I got back around to the front of the manor, I stepped off the veranda and made my way over to a tall tree. I shot some chakra into the soles of my feet then scaled up to the highest branch with ease. I lay my back against the trunk, with one leg propped up, the other laying flat on the branch.

I looked up at the sky as a tear ran down my left cheek. "Mom…looks like I might be coming to see you soon…" I brought my knees to my chest and really cried for the first time in eight years. And as I cried, I remembered that horrible night.

--Flashback--

I was walking home from a long day at the Academy—I was a Kumo prodigy and would constantly be called into the Academy to teach. As I walked into my house, someone grabbed me by my long lavender locks. I screamed, but before anyone could hear me, my assaulter muffled it with his hand.

He moved his head down to my level, his bright red hair always concealing his eyes behind his bangs. "Try anything and you die." He moved back and began dragging me by my hair. It took every ounce of my being to not scream out in agony.

After a moment, the man quit pulling me. I took in my surroundings. This was my living room. But I could care less about what room I was in.

Because I saw my parents—Achira, my mom, and Sorakumo, my dad—up against the wall, their hands and feet pinned down with extremely long, extremely sharp kunai.

I stared at my mom, tears flowing from my eyes. "Mom…" I whimpered. I didn't turn to my father; he always ignored me, so I would do the same. I only cared for my mother, the parent that actually loved me.

The man then bound my hands and feet with some rope, rendering me immobile. After tying me up, he threw me into the corner of the living room, walked over to my parents, and pulled out another kunai from his pouch.

He turned to my father first. The man pressed the kunai to his throat. "Any last words, Sorakumo?" the man asked my father in a deadly quiet voice.

After the man asked that, my father nodded and looked at me directly in the eyes. He had never looked into my eyes like that before; he always found them a little intimidating.

He…he smiled at me. It was a genuine smile from my father, who had seemed to despise me all my life. "Kami-chan…I'm sorry." He looked away from me then.

When the man saw it was clear that my father was done speaking, he…

…slit his throat.

I covered my mouth with my hand and screamed. More tears fell from my eyes.

The man turned to my mother next. He just smirked and slit her throat immediately, not giving a chance to even say goodbye.

I was screaming and crying so much that my body just…gave out… and I fell unconscious…

--End Flashback--

I hated that man with every ounce of my being…I still do…but…I'm not hell bent on revenge like a lot of people are. If I ever came across that man ever again…I'd be too much of a coward and too intimidated to do anything.

I took a deep breath. Just keep putting yourself a little deeper into that hole, Kagami…I thought sarcastically.

After that, I just sat in the tree in a slightly comatose state…I was awake, —barely—but if you took one look at my dull, droopy eyes, you'd think I was in a coma too. After a while, though, I fell asleep with one last tear flowing down.

***

Bright sunlight shined down on my face and I awoke. I hadn't dreamed at all, and I was very thankful for that.

"Hi there," said a cheery voice.

I had nearly jumped off the branch I was sitting on. I turned to look at the girl.

I could tell that, even though she was kneeling down, she was quite a bit taller than me. Her auburn hair was up in a hair tie, though if it were down, I'd estimate it would be about to her shoulders. Her jade green eyes were very beautiful compared to my dull blue-gray Rinnegan eyes.

Her eyes did a weird glimmering thing. "Yup. Your signature matches the sample." She blinked. I see; she was a chakra signature reader.

She smiled at me. "I'm sorry…let me introduce myself. I'm Kirameki Hisui, from Suna. And you're Yabunirami Kagami, correct?"

I nodded slowly.

Hisui's eyes darkened. "You need to get out of here, now, Kagami. My cousin…Sasori…is almost here…"

My eyes widened. "Wh…what?"

"I used to be one of my cousin's subordinates. I broke his 'curse' long ago though. Him not knowing that, he sent me to track you, and he followed me here." She looked around. "He's nearly here. You need to get your possessions and leave ASAP."

"O-okay…" I wasn't exactly sure if I could trust Hisui, I mean, she could be lying. Or worse, Sasori could be controlling her, making her say she couldn't be controlled, trying to lure me in.

I let myself feel her chakra; it wasn't disrupted like it should be if Sasori was controlling her. I thought she could be trustworthy…maybe…

I ran down the tree and into the manor, Hisui following. After opening the door to my room, I strode over to the corner where my duffel lay on the floor. I was glad that I had decided against unpacking now. I picked the bag up, slung it over my shoulder, and turned to Hisui. "Okay…I'm ready."

She nodded. "Meet me at the gate. Do not teleport. He'll find your chakra signature lying around and get another one of his subordinates to track you." And with that, she teleported out.

I thought that if she left her chakra signature here, it would matter too, since I was going with her. But then I realized she probably wasn't staying with me; she was more than likely leaving a false trail for Sasori.

With that, I ran out of the manor.

--At the gate--

"Alright, Kagami…Let's go…" She started running in a northwestern direction.

Once I caught up to her, I asked, "Where are we going?"

"We're going through Kirigakure to an almost unknown village called Tsukigakure," Hisui replied. "Kagami, we need to discuss the 'game plan.'" She looked at me and I nodded. "Every morning, no later than it is now, you'll have to move to the next destination. If you don't follow that pattern, you'll…get killed… You may be okay in Tsukigakure for a few days, while I lead Sasori off your trail, but… I'm only a medic. I can't hold off an S-class criminal. Once he finds out that I'm helping you, he'll kill me.

That's why I need you to listen to me." She reached into her pocket and gave me a small tube glowing blue.

I looked at it for a moment while watching where I was running. "Your chakra?"

She nodded. "After I escort you to Tsukigakure, I'm going to lead him off your trail. He'll sense the chakra I left behind at that manor when I teleported and get someone to track it. Don't worry about having that small piece of my chakra; someone that isn't as good at tracking through someone's chakra as me won't be able to pick that up in their senses. But there's an extremely high chance that I'll die. You can stay in Tsukigakure until my chakra in that tube stops glowing. It's the signal that I've died if it goes out. You'll move from village to village until you believe that you can face Sasori."

I nodded slowly at her. It made me hurt inside, knowing that this girl would give her life to keep me—someone she didn't even know—alive.

***

We reached Kirigakure, knowing we were nearly there when the mist covered the terrain, making our surroundings nearly invisible. Once we reached the village, we slowed to a walk and went on north of Kiri.

"…Hisui?..." I said hesitantly.

She looked over at me. "Yeah?"

"How old were you…when Sasori laid the 'curse' on you?"

"…I was three years old. The day before he ran away, I was subjected to his curse. After about thirty hours, I broke myself out of the curse and alerted our grandmother, Chiyo, of Sasori's leaving. She tried to find him…but…Sasori was always so fast…Then, I remember, when I was about fourteen, the curse took over my body. Sasori used me as a servant for two years. I was sixteen, nearly seventeen, when he let me go. When I was eighteen, I broke the curse completely. Or, almost completely…I can still sense when he tries to contact me or take over my body, so, using this to my advantage, I've been spying on him for Sunagakure for three years now. Obviously, Sasori hasn't found me out yet, and I hope it stays that way.

She looked down. "I just don't want anyone—be it someone I've known my entire life or not at all—to suffer as I did in those fifteen years of my life. Or worse…"

So she thought Sasori was gonna make me one of his subordinates, or turn me into a puppet. The latter could very well happen anyway, but…being his subordinate…would it be better or worse than dying?

***

Even in the thick mist, I could make out a village gate.

I smiled at Hisui. "Nearly there…"

She smiled back. But a moment later, she stopped walking and turned around. "Kagami, WATCH OUT!!!"

But she was too late in warning me. A wooden arm grabbed me around the neck…

And tears streamed down my cheeks as his grip got tighter.

Dun…dun…DUUUUUUUUUUN~Okie~ please review! And I should have the fourth chapter out by Saturday.^^

Until then!!

Click the green button rite thar!! It's ticklish! o-o