AN: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or settings. I can't quite remember who to give credit to, but the only thing that I made up is Karinami Iruzika and everything having to do with her, including Roka and her lineage. For some reason, I made it so that the characters are 15-16 years old but…they're still Genin. NO they aren't dumb. I just made it that way—Dattebayo! Also, some of the people may be a little out of character. I am not an expert on Naruto. The end.

*Karinami's POV*

I woke up to a bright sun and trilling birds. How long have I been asleep? I wondered silently. The fight of the pervious night flooded into my brain. Looking up at the tree above me, I cringed at the sight of a charred circle that had punched a hole part of the way through the trunk. Oops. I guess my chakra got a little carried away.

Glancing around, I saw Sasuke facing the opposite direction, obviously making sure no one jumped out and mauled us. I sat up tiredly, not saying anything. Uchiha was probably about to kill me already; I didn't need to give him another reason to slit my throat and blame it on the Akatsuki. To my surprise, he heard me moving around and silently handed me something to eat before packing up as to get ready to leave.

There was no conversation between us at all for a very long time. We finally came to what seemed to be the end of the destruction trail, and words were forced upon us. Such a discovery cannot be discussed without speech.

"Hn, it just…ended." Sasuke stated placidly.

"So…" I stopped. "Either…they decided to cover their trail more efficiently, or…they're still here."

"The second one, I believe," a voice emanated from somewhere above us. Sasuke and I immediately pulled out our weapons and readied our chakra, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Two figures dropped from a nearby tree, one wearing an exiled headband from the Village Hidden in Hot Water, the other wearing an exiled headband from the Waterfall Village. The former had white hair and light purple-y eyes with—of course—the Akatsuki cloak and a very sharp-looking three-bladed scythe. The ladder wore a grey hood with the red-cloud cloak and had demonic eyes that had silver irises and black everywhere else and, where his sleeves were pulled up, I could see stitching.

"Yeah, like this is a C/B Mission," Sasuke hissed under his breath. "If these guys have any desire to kill us, we're pretty much bound for the grave."

The hooded figure, almost seeming to hear him, chuckled maniacally.

"Stop that, Kakuzu," the one with they scythe joked dryly. "You wouldn't want to scare the inexperienced little Genin or Chunin a**es, would you?"

I silently cursed not hiding my Shiraseru-Omamori—it told the men everything from my rank to my name.

"Heh, scare them, Hidan? They're trembling already!" The one named Kakuzu cackled. My blood ran cold.

"Leave them; it's not our duty to shed the blood of some brats from Konoha. Let's get back to base and hope Jashin forgives us for not torturing them to death."

"Brats?" Sasuke grinned—it was more like the smile of an assassinator than a display of joy. "You're in trouble now."

I willed myself to get angry, and my Yuribikari readily sprang to life, turning my eyes pitch black. One touch from me now would kill those guys without any struggle.

"Hey look, Hidan, she's got the Funayureiinabikari. I thought that lineage died a couple generations ago."

I was surprised that the man had ever even heard of the Yuribikari, but said nothing in case I accidentally let something slip.

"Aah, no, that line's not gone yet. Let's head out, Kakuzu, the guy's are gunna be ticked if we get back late, d*** it. Just forget these creampuffs and get out of here."

Sasuke, annoyed, whipped out a kunai and threw it as hard as he could at Hidan. The move surprised the Akatsuki immensely and the man's arm was nearly skewered.

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. "He's fast. Definitely Itachi's brother, too."

Hidan sighed. "I didn't want to do this to you, but I guess Jashin is eager for some blood…Kakuzu…"

His partner nodded and faced me menacingly. Sasuke ran after Hidan as he disappeared among the leaves.

"So, just you and me, eh, ghost-eyes?" Kakuzu said, referring to my Yuribikari. "Let's see what Kakashi's little Shinobi are made of."

Within seconds, I was fighting for my life. Kakuzu stood at the ready, and then came at me with a flying kick. I blocked, barely missing his skin, and jabbed upwards with my own foot but he dodged it. Somehow, his fist made it around to punch me so hard I nearly had my shoulder dislocated, but I grabbed his bare arm in the process. I nearly screamed as he ripped his arm off at the black-threaded seam, the Yuribikari sparks never reaching his heart and brain where it would've killed him.

"Clever, little girl, but not clever enough!"

I let go of his arm and was ready to fight, but suddenly Kakuzu disappeared entirely. I looked around, confused, and then gasped as I was nearly killed by a heavy flow of his chakra that was arranged in a way I was not familiar with. The near-hit sent me reeling, giving him time to quickly re-attach his arm. Disgusting.

We engaged in taijutsu combat again, but his skills far exceeded my own and I found myself flat on my back more than once. The fourth time I got up again, Kakuzu was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed a large-ish shuriken and tried to locate my opponent. There was no time.

Before my brain could contemplate anything, something sharp and lethal was thrown into my abdomen somewhere below my spleen. I gasped and fell to my knees. Grimacing and pulling the sharp object in question out without thinking, I stood back up only to be greeted by another hurled projectile. This one pierced me right in the middle of my stomach and I braced myself as I ripped it out without moving. He had a perfect shot, apparently, and I could do nothing about it. Kakuzu's voice came from somewhere in the distance.

"I am sorry, girl, you really are a good fighter for your age. You may make a good addition to the Akatsuki someday—if you survive this."

One final kunai-like dagger was slammed into my stomach and then forcefully removed by Kakuzu, who was poised above me like a demon. I fell to the ground in agony, tasting blood in my mouth from a scratch near my lungs or something. My Yuribikari flared then started to fade, not being fed by the required energy. I, half-conscious, saw Kakuzu retrieve all of his now-bloody weapons and, with a final glance at me, vanish. I groaned, feeling red, life-giving liquid leak out of my abdomen. The smell of it was making me sick.

My mind began to wander uncomfortably. Where's Sasuke, I wonder? I hope he's okay, was among my scrambled thoughts. Wait, why do I care? Oh…yeah…that's right—he's pretty much the only one who knows I'm out here. I winced, feeling dizzy. Seriously, Duck-Butt, I may hate you but PLEASE don't abandon me. If you forget about me, dangit, I will find away to kill you myself. Blackness started to eat away at my vision. Please…be okay…Sasuke…I'm counting on you…

*Sasuke's POV*

I came-to with a horrible headache. What the heck had happened? Oh—yeah…that stupid Hidan…leading me off like that and then knocking me out with the scythe butt—what a coward! He had said he wanted to kill me anyway!

I sat up painfully and then froze. Where was Karinami? Crap. Jumping up, I made my way back with the markers I'd made while chasing Hidan back to the escape-route's "end". There were some indications of a fight like charred branches, but the battle seemed to range across a wide area. I followed the destruction, thinking. Why had that Kakuzu guy seemed to have fought with Kari when Hidan just knocked me out? The two obviously had very different views about what to accomplish on a mission. Looking at the ground, I blanched at the sight of blood—and a lot of it. I forced my gaze up and—

My heart stopped and almost literally dropped into my feet. There, feet away, Karinami-chan lay unconscious on the ground, blood seeping out of three deep cuts in her abdomen. She was paler than I'd ever seen her; nearly blue-skinned; and there was no indication of life.

Quickly, I dashed over to her still form and checked the pulse on her neck. I sighed with relief as I felt a slow beat. Ripping out some cloth from a pouch on my leg, I removed her symbol plate and outer dress (thank God she has enough sense to wear leggings and a tube-top undershirt) and tightly bandaged her stomach before replacing her outfit. The bleeding had slowed, but she would still die if I didn't get back to civilization soon.

Biting my lip, I picked her up gently and began to run as fast as I could.

Don't die, Kari-chan, I thought urgently. Please don't die.

AN: Sorry, short chapter, but did you like it? Yes! Cliffhanger! As always, questions and comments can be directed into reviews! Thanks for reading!