Stop stalling, make a name for yourself.
Boy you better put that pen to paper, charm your way out.
If you talk you better walk you better back your shit up
With more than good hooks while you're all under the gun

-London Beckons Songs About Money Written By Machines, Panic at the Disco

------------------

"What about this, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up from the cloaks that he was looking at, Sven standing before him. He then looked at what Sven held.

"That's perfect, Sven!"

Sven gave a cheery smile as he handed over the short sleeved thin over-coat that he had found. Said coat was knee length, black with the bottom hem dyed bright orange to simulate flames. Trying it on over his new clothes, he knew it was perfect.

Naruto paid for the over coat and pulled it on as he left the shop. Besides the new coat, he had on a pair of lower-calf length pants and a black zip up shirt that had pockets with a very thin crimson lining.

Sven had denied buying any new clothes because Iruka had bought some for him in Konoha just a few days before they had left.

Instead of the clothes he had worn his entire life, Sven settled for wearing a thick thigh-length shirt that was tied shut by a sash. He wore the standard ninja pants that reached near his ankles and sandals.

Beneath the sleeveless robe-top, Sven had on a black skintight elbow length high-neck black top made out of some stretchy material. The robe was icy blue and the sash black as well. Tied to his sash, he had his pouch of seeds and his mask.

Just outside, Kimimaro stood waiting for Naruto patiently. Having just found out that his master was metaphorically dead just last night, he was staring thoughtfully up at the sky.

"What's the matter, Kimimaro?"

Kimimaro looked at the concerned Sven, who was leaning forward in his curiosity. Beside him, Naruto looked curious but didn't say anything.

"He has taken everything from me."

Kimimaro looked down at his hands and flexed his fingers, satisfied at the cracking bones that moved beneath his skin on his command. Since he had woken up this morning, Kimimaro has stared in wonder and in satisfaction at how easily he could use his kakkei genkai without feeling pain from the disease that had killed him years ago.

Orochimaru hadn't recently dug Kimimaro back from his grave beneath his bone-forest. This was obvious because when he had been put in the coma-like sleep in those sealed chains, he had continued to age. Now, he was 17 instead of 15.

"Sasuke?"

Kimimaro nodded as he and Sven followed Naruto from the shop out of town along the dirt road. Just outside of town, they stopped briefly for some dango and continued on their way instead of sitting and eating.

"Yes, that Uchiha bastard."

Kimimaro finally spoke up to elaborate once he finished his first dango.

"What did- I'm sorry."

Sven ducked down to Naruto's other side and continued to stare at the ground as he silently ate his own fried balls of food.

Despite having been freed from his father and the Akatsuki weeks ago, Sven would randomly regress to who he had been when imprisoned in his room. Become withdrawn and fearful to ask any questions that were 'too bold' as he put it.

"He stole my life."

Kimimaro pocketed the wooden skewer to throw into that night's camp fire. If Orochimaru-sama had taught him one thing outside of training, it was that he must take care of himself and clean up his messes. Orochimaru liked order.

"I was to be Orochimaru-sama's new vessel. I had trained for years, been his prized nin. Then he took my place, my life and took my master's life."

Again, Kimimaro showed a slight inkling of his rage through releasing small tendrils of dark purple chakra. His bones also creaked ominously beneath his skin.

Sven darted forward and turned around, smiling as he caught Kimimaro's attention. "I know what you feel."

Kimimaro's lips twisted into the faintest of frowns as he studied the smallest male in the group. "How would you know what I feel?"

Sven waved his hand to Naruto, who was currently finishing his third dango.

"Naruto saved my life, yes he did!"

Sven stepped into a puddle left over from last night's rain but the two ninja behind him noticed that the backwards walking ninja had walked on top of the water using chakra without any forewarning. It was quite the thought that Sven always radiated a bit of chakra from his feet and not be exhausted.

"Naruto-kun has been very kind to me, same with Iruka-san."

Naruto rolled his eyes and popped the next fried dumpling using his mouth.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to them."

Sven's comment was quiet, almost a whisper and went along with a sad face.

"I would be very angry if someone hurt my Naruto-kun." Naruto almost choked on his food, completely caught off guard that someone thought so highly of him. "Iruka-san as well, I think."

Sven then looked up with a bright smile.

"They showed me kindness for the first time in my life, and I don't want to lose that." Naruto coughed as he pounded his chest with a fist. "Okay you two, enough talk. I might gain an ego."

Sven giggled- another sign at how androgynous he looked and sounded.

"Yes, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto shook his head as Sven darted back to his left side. The two demon holders looked at one another after a moment and Naruto started to chuckle as Sven giggled.

Kimimaro stared at Naruto thoughtfully.

Orochimaru-sama was kind to him, wasn't he? He gave him clothing, food and a home. But did they smile at one another, have fun merely being in each other's presence?

Kimimaro wasn't too sure about having fun, but he did enjoy Orochimaru-sama's presence. And if Orochimaru-sama hadn't of found him and given him a purpose, he would of died long ago.

With that, Kimimaro found himself vowing to keep Orochimaru-sama's command to keep Naruto alive. Not only because it was his master's order; but so that Sven wouldn't have to feel as empty he did himself with his Orochimaru-sama gone.

Kimimaro looked back to Sven and Naruto and found himself smiling just slightly at the sight. The two males were arguing over who was to have the last dango stick.

He plucked the dango stick from Naruto's hand and the two demons turned to look at Kimimaro with their eyes narrowed and ready to fight for their food. Kimimaro dared them to say anything with a look, and they pouted in near unison.

A smirk grew on the bone wielders' face and he snapped the skewer in two, keeping two dangos on each half before he handed one to each of the males.

Sven passed Kimimaro a very bright, kind smile before he started to eat.

Naruto looked put out at how mature Kimimaro was, but gave him a small smile in thanks. Kimimaro merely looked ahead, feeling the constant weight that had settled in his chest, since he had heard about his master's supposed 'death', lighten just the smallest bit.

---

"Naruto?"

Naruto didn't look up from the letter in his hand. It had been addressed to him and had been waiting in the last village they had passed through. Beside him, Sven was curled up with his face pressed against Naruto's thigh as tears ran down his petite face.

Naruto looked up from the letter only when Kimimaro sat down cross legged in front of him.

Giving a deep, pained sigh, Naruto swiped a hand over his face and tilted his head back so the sunlight could warm him. "My last sensei is dead. Killed by the Akatsuki."

"That is sad."

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, seeing Jiraiya-sensei's image pop up. The old man had a grin on his face, nothing like Naruto expected him to look like now.

"He killed one of the bodies of the leader- Pain."

Naruto's mouth tasted sour as he swallowed and lowered his face before he opened his eyes to look at Kimimaro. "We are going after Pain, especially. Jiraiya managed to kill one of his bodies and had it brought back with some information."

Indeed, Naruto had a copy of that exact information in his hand. The letter was thick with at least ten pages of Tsunade's cramped script. It had taken Naruto over an hour to work through the letter, the three having stopped in the meadow so he could read at his leisure.

His smile had faded over the time it took to read the letter. Sven had been collecting some witch hazel and reverting it to seed form before he had caught the slightest scent of salt from Naruto's direction.

Following the scent, he came to see Naruto clenching his jaw painfully in order to not cry. Kimimaro had been wandering the edges of the desolate forest and placing several traps here and there for detection if any ninja came wandering too close. Naruto had told Sven was had happened in a wooden voice before he fell silent and continued to read.

Now, Kimimaro was back and he felt slight sadness for the male in front of him. The three had been traveling together for several weeks, stopping at every village to ask around for either Sasuke or the Akatsuki.

They had learned several things.

One, Sasuke had three followers now that made up 'Team Snake', two males called Suigetsu and Jugo and one female named Karin.

Two, Akatsuki was now searching for Sven in particular.

Naruto knew that Kyuubi had listened to Naruto's inner dialog of the letter and was now passing it onto Sven via Chimei-teki.

"Here, if you are going to help me then I want you to know what's going to happen." Kimimaro took a lot less time to read through the letter. He skimmed through it with an understanding of what was being said due to his basis of knowledge that Orochimaru-sama had shared with him and what Naruto had just recently filled him in on. He didn't have to ponder anything, or fret over the distraught news of death and pain.

Soon, Sven was sitting up and rubbing the tears from his face on his forearm. He leaned against Naruto and felt a deep pain within himself, having not exactly liked the old pervert but knew what Naruto had to be feeling.

Sven had cried for Naruto, not for himself.

"I shall hunt dinner and build the fire. You two should relax."

Kimimaro handed the letter back and Naruto used a small amount of Kyuubi's chakra to burn the letter to ash so it couldn't be apprehended by any enemies.

Soon, Kimimaro had a fire burning in a freshly created circle of ripped up earth, several rabbits skinned and skewered. He had found that the two demons ate what several humans would eat in one sitting.

"Thank you, Kimimaro. You were told to help me in my search, not to feed me."

Kimimaro shook his head as he crouched down and turned the rabbits so they would cook evenly.

"Its my pleasure to be of use."

Naruto knew Kimimaro meant more like 'I must be useful, have a purpose.' but didn't correct the bone wielder. Especially now that he had seen what Kimimaro was capable of in battle.

Several rogue ninja had dropped down on them the week before…

-----

"Step back, Naruto. I wish to take care of the trash."

Naruto was pulled back by Sven, who was staring in avid fascination at Kimimaro, who stood before them. "Let's see what he can do, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded and the two hopped up into the trees where they perched on a low-hanging branch in order to have a good view. Naruto and Sven were not disappointed.

Within seconds, Kimimaro had pulled his kimono down so he was bare from the waist up. From there, he literally pulled out his spine from the base of his skull.

Naruto was gulping at the sight, wincing at the grotesque noises that came from Kimimaro's body. As Kimimaro pulled out the spine, his flesh knitted itself back together in mere milliseconds.

Soon, Kimimaro had an elongated whip that was curled up at his feet. The bones gleamed wetly in the waning light, and where the knobs on each spinal vertebrae had lengthened and slimmed into sharp spikes.

The rogue ninja were just as shocked as Naruto and Sven. Only, one of them actually puked and several looked green around the gills.

Kimimaro looked emotionless, except for the small smile that graced his pale lips.

After the shocking performance of pulling his own spine out of his body, Kimimaro leaned forward and started to dance. Or, used taijutsu so graceful and so perfect that as he moved, the whip never made a jerking motion. It was like watching a macabre ballet, Naruto personally thought.

Blood flew through the air in arcs each time Kimimaro's whip just barely touched a ninja. It severed limbs and decapitated heads from their bodies. Kimimaro managed to dodge every attempted strike without body nor hair being harmed, even dodging the spurts of blood with a simple sweep of his body.

Naruto was fascinated by Kimimaro's bone dance.

Sven was just as fascinated, even leaning forward slightly as he drunk in the sight.

When the last ninja was split in half by Kimimaro's whip, Kimimaro absorbed his original spine back into his body and turned to look at the two catalysts from his spot in the middle of the clearing filled with dismembered bodies.

"Are all your battles so… artful?"

Kimimaro shook his head.

"I was itching to test this body without feeling the agony of being disease ridden. I went a bit overboard and I apologize."

"Don't apologize," Naruto spoke up after finding his voice. "I'm glad to know that one such as you is on my side."

Kimimaro gave the first small true smile that Naruto and Sven had ever seen.

"Thank you."

Naruto merely nodded as he eyed the somewhat normal scene, at least for those in his line of duty, before him. The only thing that came out unscathed, untouched and otherwise undisturbed in the whole clearing was Kimimaro: who didn't have a droplet of blood on him from the tens of rogue ninja he had just killed.

----------

Naruto's thoughts were cut short by a loud, earth shaking explosion.

Only, it wasn't caused by Kimimaro's explosive alarms placed around the camp. It came from-

"We just left that village, didn't we?"

Naruto nodded silently and stood up slowly. "I think we should check it out, guys." Sven grabbed their bags without question as Naruto turned and gave a sad look before he stomped out the fire and tossed the meat onto a patch of dirt.

As they sped out of the clearing, Naruto saw out of the corner of his eye Kimimaro used his bloodline to fire sharp and deadly projectiles from his fingertips into the traps so that they exploded harmlessly.

What had taken more then half a day to travel at a sedate pace took a fraction of the time to retrace.

Just as they crested the last hill, Naruto stumbled to a stop and stared gape-mouthed at the absolute devastation that laid before him. Right behind him, Sven stared at curiosity and Kimimaro's face didn't do so much as twitch at the sight.

"That explains why even we felt the explosion."

Naruto gulped back the sarcastic remark he wanted to say to Kimimaro. He almost, almost, forgot that Kimimaro didn't appreciate sarcasm. At all.

"What do you want to do, Naruto."

Naruto looked grim as he spoke, his eyes staring at the ruined city before him.

"I know that it is a useless gesture, but we should do a sweep for any survivors. That, or look for who did this."

With that, the three males flickered out of sight as they went in opposite directions towards the city. Naruto forward, Sven to the left and Kimimaro to the right.

Naruto looked around suspiciously, his eyes darting left and right as he leapt over crackling rubble. Even if he didn't have the smarts of say, Shikamaru or Neji, Naruto noted how there was no real heat coming from any large pile of rubble. That meant that this wasn't an explosion set off by a spark and a large amount of fuel. Whatever cracked or popped was from the immense release of energy, which was weird.

Naruto almost missed the rumbling behind him.

Almost.

Leaping back, Naruto just barely got a kunai up to block a… scythe?

Naruto looked up at his attacker and nearly lost his lunch, or what would have been his lunch if he hadn't of tossed it away.

The woman… thing… was half blown away!

Naruto yelped and scrambled back when he saw the inside of the woman's head. She was missing her lower jaw, one whole half of her skull and an eye. There was no way in hell she was still alive, it was physically impossible.

Very interesting…

Naruto ignored Kyuubi's amused whisper and without thinking he flung his armed hand out and severed the thing's head off.

"Ewww, gross! What the fuck?!"

Naruto quickly wiped the noxious fluid from his hand when the wound he made sprayed… blood, was it?

It smelled horrible!

Naruto nearly got his head sliced off in retaliation. Only a few hairs were sheared off when Kyuubi slipped into control and fluidly dropped his body down to avoid the blow.

Honestly, Naruto did not like the feeling of losing control of his own body. Yet at the same time if felt surreal at how easily Kyuubi moved his body like a puppeteer from within.

Don't just stand there, dumb ass. Move!

Naruto jerked to the side and kicked out. He caught the thing with his heel in her/it's gut. He didn't expect for the thing to explode on contact!

Naruto wanted to puke at the smell of putrid bodily fluids as they splattered over the ground, rubble and himself. The only problem with the whole thing was that the creature lost only its gut. Its spine was in tact, something Naruto expected. His kick had been strong enough to hurt a normal ninja, perhaps cause a little internal bleeding, but not to make his opponent literally explode.

With a quick jerk to the left, Naruto barely avoided the demonic half bone/half hand that swung out at him. The scythe had been lost with the quick attack.

Naruto didn't fail to notice more of the things rise from the ashes like some demented phoenix like replication.

"They won't die, damn it!"

Kyuubi shifted inside of Naruto's belly and Naruto felt only unease.

Use this, brat. I want to escape this scent as soon as fucking possible. It makes me irritable.

Naruto didn't comment, only nod as Kyuubi's chakra started to warm his belly, then travel up through his chest and down his arms and into his hands. If he could of seen his skin, he would of noticed a faint crimson glow pass over his skin wherever Kyuubi's chakra passed. Following the crimson, black tattoos faintly appeared on his skin and started to darken steadily.

Naruto shoved his crimson glowing fist into the first thing's face and watched as her whole body… dusted on contact. It started at her skull/face from where he touched, and quickly encased its whole body before the whole creature started to disintegrate.

It made Naruto sicker, if possible to see the thing's single eye disintegrate last.

It has a much better effect on live humans. Use my chakra in a rasengan, you idiot

Naruto dodged the rapidly approaching creatures as he clapped his hands together and started running at the same time.

As he held his hands about a foot apart and about chest level, Naruto used ninety percent of his concentration on creating that one tiny ball of energy without blowing it up. The other ten percent of his concentration was used by Kyuubi, who took over his motor skills.

Focus faster, you asinine human!

Naruto grumbled to himself and finally his blue chakra took to condensing into a small ball.

Only, Kyuubi's varicose chakra started to invade the humming concentration of pure energy. The ball grew into the size of a child's play toy, yet started glowing in an eerie way as it went from humming to crackling angrily.

"I… I can't hold on-"

Naruto gasped for air. It took more of his chakra and more of his physical prowess to both dodge attacks and keep the ball from exploding.

I wouldn't let down my concentration, this little ball would do more then a simple explosion if it isn't released into another being

Sweat drenched Naruto's shirt and he felt like his heart was going to give out on him. That or his stability in the chakra ball.

"How can I even do this, I don't have the-"

Naruto clenched his teeth together and stopped trying to talk out loud.

This isn't your ability, you asinine creature. I am controlling the chakra output. You merely hold the 'switch' so to speak

Kyuubi jerked Naruto's body to a stop and turned slowly.

He suddenly leapt forward and shoved Naruto's hands out.

The ball of condensed chakra went flying out from Naruto's grasp and into the large gathering of disgusting creatures.

As it left Naruto's hands, the perfect sphere quickly started to lose both shape and stability.

Instead of flying through a straight line of the creatures and dusting them on contact, the chakra quickly leapt from one creature to another. The faintly sphere shaped ball passed right through the rapidly decaying crowd and out the other side.

Naruto didn't expect the 'boom', but Kyuubi did.

A shield of inhuman chakra washed over Naruto but didn't protect his eyes from the shock of white that encompassed his vision. Nor were his ears protected from the ear-shattering explosion that more then rocked the earth beneath him.

Naruto lost consciousness. Either that, or he shut his eyes and lost all sense of hearing.

Either way, when Naruto's eyes fluttered open an indistinguishable amount of time later, he found both Sven and Kimimaro sitting on either side of him.

"What-"

Naruto leapt up into a sitting position and nearly screamed when his body decided to tell him that it hurt. Not only did it hurt, but it HURT.

"You killed those things in that explosion of chakra."

Sven gestured around as Naruto gingerly tried to lay back down.

"How are we okay?"

Sven blinked.

"Chimei-teki says that the demonic chakra only targeted those weird human-but-not-humans," Sven shrugged helplessly. "like you did with Kimimaro-kun, he believes."

Naruto looked confused.

Fucking idiot. I can control my chakra, unlike some creatures I know

Naruto didn't contradict Kyuubi, he didn't believe that he could handle a metaphysical attack from Kyuubi. "What were they, though?"

Even the stains left from the exploding of that thing was gone from his clothing. "We were discussing that. We have no idea."

Kimimaro didn't like his lack of knowingness on whatever had just happened.

"How long was I out?"

Sven smiled.

"Less then fifteen minutes!"

Naruto felt like he had been out for five days, not fifteen minutes.

Chimei-teki cannot agree with me on what occurred

Sven nodded silently when Chimei-teki said the same thing to him.

Kimimaro only waited patiently beside the two. It was useless to try and understand what was going on until one of the two hosts spoke up.

These humans were the undead, that is all we can agree on

Naruto looked disgusted.

"Undead? Like in those cheesy horror movies?"

He spoke out loud to clue Kimimaro in.

This is life, not a fucking waste of time

Said words were punctuated by a sharp pain in Naruto's head, or on it really. It didn't take a genius to know that itchy wet feeling that slid down his temple was a trail of blood. The injury itself throbbed painfully and yet he didn't feel dizzy, nauseous or any of the likes. must have been because it was only a split in the skin and not the skull.

Wouldn't be wise to give you more brain damage then what is already present

Sven giggled when he heard Kyuubi 'say' that, despite Naruto's look of betrayal.

Naruto finally made a different face, this one of distaste, as a sour wind came and plucked at his clothes. Reminding him strongly of what had splashed on him mere minutes before.

"I need a bath… badly. Preferably with hot water."

Kimimaro looked around slowly as he contemplated what Naruto said.

"Twenty miles north, a rather small village with a nice inn."

Naruto nodded and told Kimimaro to lead on.

As the three slowly made their way through the utterly destroyed village, they studied their surroundings in order to think over the predicament later. "Wait a minute, what's that?"

Naruto split from his companions and jogged over several large piles of rubble.

When he came to a stumbling stop, he was confused by what he saw. It was a… a…

Naruto had absolutely no idea what he was looking at. Kyuubi said 'bone' but Naruto didn't process that idle and curiously tinted thought.

"I had seen a flash and instantly raised a bone barrier. Sven found me just in time and we escaped the worst of the systematic removal of undead beings." AKA, Kyuubi's chakra reinforced Rasengan.

"Chimei-teki couldn't raise a chakra inforced barrier?"

Sven shook his head as he fondly touched the bone shell that was seven by seven feet tall and wide, a perfect dome. One half was pulled back like it had been pushed out from the inside. In Naruto's amused opinion, the thing looked like a demented artists rendition of a bubble being burst with a needle.

He was sure that Kimimaro wouldn't take his humor lightly.

Instead, Naruto settled for walking around the structure.

"Its amazing. How did you-" Naruto searched for a polite way of phrasing his thought. "create, such a barrier?"

Kimimaro looked up from whatever he was studying and shrugged. It wasn't a childish or emotion filled response, so on Kimimaro it seemed like a dismissal.

"I pulled out the top half of my skull from my forehead."

Naruto's eye twitched and he hoped to whatever god that was out there that he would never have to see how Kimimaro managed to do that to himself. Bloodline or no-

Naruto shivered.

Studying the structure closer, Naruto swore he saw the pin-thin lines that showed where the skull plates of infanthood had sealed together.

That was waaaay too much for Naruto to know.

"Next time I won't ask."

Kimimaro gave him a raised-eyebrow look and Naruto pouted.

"I thought it was fascinating. Especially when he pull-"

Naruto held his hand up and bit back the urge to jump around and scream for silence. Scream for Sven to not finish his sentence. "Thanks, but no thanks."

Sven merely tilted his head before nodding in understanding. Even if he didn't understand, whatever Naruto-kun wanted, he would give.

"What's that?"

Kimimaro didn't bother looking away from whatever was imbedded in the ground at his feet this time. "My clavicle."

Naruto barely fought down the urge to puke.

"It was melted in your little attack. I wonder why." Kimimaro's words were curiously soft, even as he nudged the bone weapon with his foot. "Most curious."

Naruto eyed the creation before shaking his head with a frown.

"Let's just get out of here."

Kimimaro and Sven nodded at Naruto's command.

"Stay behind us, Naruto."

"Why should I?!"

Kimimaro didn't look over his shoulder at the fuming blond shinobi.

"You stink."

Naruto huffed loudly and crossed his arms jerkily while he glared at Kimimaro's back.

He didn't, nor did Sven for that matter, see Kimimaro's face as a smile touched the very corner of one side of his lip for but a second before it disappeared.

Naruto continued to amuse Kimimaro at every turn.

----

"I will return you your clothes the moment their dry, sir," the maid smiled cheerily and Naruto eyed her as she shifted the basket of clothes in her arms, keeping the smile despite the waft of truly eye-watering funk reached her nose. "we handle ninja wear all the time."

Naruto thanked the maid before turning to face the single room he had rented with a bit of Iruka's gift of money. When the door was shut, Sven giggled in the left over silence. "You should of seen your face, Naruto-kun!"

Kimimaro looked down and touched the robe he had been forced to don when the offer to wash his clothes had been too much to resist.

Another lesson from Orochimaru-sama: keep a presentable front.

"It could be much worse."

Naruto and Sven agreed silently.

"At least, lets enjoy the hot spring."

Sven tilted his head in confusion. "I've never been to a hot spring."

Naruto's eyes widened comically and he waved his arms with exaggeration. "Then we really need to enjoy it! Come on, you two!" both Sven and Kimimaro stood and followed their fellow group member and somewhat unofficial group leader. Not that Kimimaro wasn't the leader in terms of knowing where they were, and where they had to go.

"This is a hot spring, Sven!"

Sven looked around and his fine eyebrows lifted. "It's a big bath."

Naruto pouted as he pulled his robe off behind a screen and came out with a towel wrapped around his narrow hips. "Just enjoy it, Sven."

Sven and Kimimaro changed into their towels and went to join Naruto in the steaming water. That was, after they had washed themselves off using the offered buckets, rags and soap. Naruto had already done all that in his haste to relax.

"Do you not fear for attack, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto opened one eye and peeked at Kimimaro. The bone-wielder was looking around curiously, mapping all the hiding spots. That, and the fact that the spring was fenced in and not fully enclosed. It would have been way to hot to have an enclosed hot spring.

"You got natural weapons and Sven and I have demons residing inside of us. Besides that, there are no tall buildings surrounding the inn and the hot spring. Unless the enemy was already inside the hot spring, they'd have a hard time sneakin' in on us."

Kimimaro nodded and yet kept an eye on his surroundings.

The three silently and unanimously found the hot spring to be both relaxing and utterly revitalizing.

-------------

"What the fuck is that smell?" Sasuke glared at Suigetsu, who merely shrugged innocently. "What; it smells like a shit pit!"

Sasuke ground his teeth together and tried to remember that as a member of the group, Suigetsu was much less annoying that that demon cage formerly known as Naruto. When Suigetsu made to cover his nose, with a shark fanged grin at the same time, Sasuke tried to remember why he didn't want to kill the idiot.

"This happened maybe a day ago."

Karin commented idly as she looked around. Her duel length hair waving around her bespectacled face as a gentle wind tugged at the longer length.

"How the hell can you tell, bitch?"

Karin sniffed at Suigetsu. "There is no smoke, its died down."

Jugo merely grunted as he looked around. "I wonder what kind of massacre happened here." Jugo dropped the bags he carried on a thankfully bare clearing in the dead village and started jogging ahead.

"What the hell, butt-head!"

Jugo looked up from studying the maimed remains of what looked to be a clothing store. "Don't you notice that there are no bodies of any kind?" the giant looked around again and Karin felt uncomfortable that she had noticed such a big clue.

Peeking at Sasuke, she sighed to herself in relief when he didn't notice her lapse.

"What are you saying, Jugo?"

Jugo grinned at Sasuke's question and he straightened.

Karin distastefully studied the lug, who in turn was studying their surroundings.

"In this scale of devastation, there should at least be bones somewhere. Maybe an arm being blown off in the explosion?" Jugo was pleased by Sasuke's raised eyebrow. "These remnants lack scorch marks. It was a giant explosion. Much like when I lost my temper on my family. After killing them, I took some chakra-charged-"

Jugo started mumbling happily to himself and Suigetsu made a noise of annoyance. "Focus you damned ape! No murderous thoughts, now."

Jugo glared at Suigetsu and his hands started cracking ominously as he thought of what weapon to turn his hands into to kill the fool that-

"Ignore the idiot. Go on, Jugo."

Jugo's mentality flipped after a few more terse moments and he nodded amiably.

"I think-" Karin made a sarcastic remark about how butt-heads couldn't think and Sasuke shut her up with a glare. In which she sidled closer and- "we should spread out. Maybe a clue about the lack of bones and the rank odor can be found."

Sasuke was by no means an idiot. Orochimaru had not only taught him how to be physically stronger, but how to take advantage of his rapidly rising intelligence. Despite that, he knew without a doubt the seriously off-kilter murder inclined Jugo would know more about this type of thing then he would ever know himself.

Seems his always spot-on intuition was right again.

"Fine. Everyone split off and report if you see or notice anything."

Karin finally spoke up and Sasuke mentally wondered how he got stuck with a girl who was so similar to the pink haired Sasuke-obsessive Sakura.

"Why should we? This has nothing to do with us!"

Sasuke glared. "It could be Akatsuki's doing."

Karin nodded obediently after that and the four split off without another word.

Twenty minutes later, Suigetsu sent up a flashy show of water jutsu into the air to show he found something.

The four congregated around the off-white dome.

"What the hell is it?"

"Hell if I know, a clue maybe?"

Karin glared daggers at the smirking Suigetsu.

Sasuke turned and eyed the unusually quiet Jugo. The living curse-seal was only silent when he was-

Jugo nearly sent Karin and Suigetsu flying when he shoved past them towards the object. Suigetsu dug his heels into the ground to remain on his feet and Karin landed in a crouched position.

"What the hell?! Sasuke-kun, you're not just going to let the lug shove me, are you?!" Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment and wondered how the hell he got stuck with a rendition of Team 9.

"Jugo?"

Jugo had started to mumble to himself as he ran his hands over the smooth dome. He fingered the fine hairline cracks intimately and his voice grew more fervent.

"…kill him…"

"…Big guy?" Suigetsu tilted his head with his eyebrows raised.

"…bury him alive…"

"-Hey, butthead, snap out of it!" Karin looked somewhat worried.

"…bloody lungs… black eyes… snap his neck… lack of oxygen…"

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed as he finally spoke. "Jugo."

Jugo started rocking on his heels. "…choking on blood…"

Sasuke felt a tick in his temple.

"Hey, lookie here."

Suigetsu was crouching on the ground, reaching for another bone-white thing.

"Don't touch it, you lower then dirt creature!"

The words were hysterical as Jugo sent Suigetsu flying with a well aimed punch. He then dipped down and came up gripping the item like his life was going to end if he ever let go.

"What is it?"

Jugo looked up from caressing the object like some maniac lover.

"Clavicle Sword."

Jugo said it so simply before he bent his head and cradled the object like some rare gemstone.

"What the fuck is that, again?"

Jugo's eyes narrowed on Suigetsu, who wisely, and finally in Sasuke's opinion, shut his fang lined trap.

Karin's eyes lit up and yet she frowned in contemplation. She stepped up and slowly started for the dome like object. Well aware that Jugo was eying her suspiciously, ready to snap at any quick motion.

"I just want to check something out, Jugo. No need to get alarmed. I'm just going to study the dome."

Jugo continued to glare at her, even as he whispered some creepy deathly threats to the item cradled in his large hands. Seeing no other motion, Karin sighed quietly in relief before she critically eyed the large object.

"I don't believe it."

Karin secretly glanced to both Suigetsu and Sasuke and the feeling of smugness washed through her when she saw they were both waiting for her to continue speaking.

"This is literally, a giant human skull piece."

Suigetsu looked ready to burst out laughing but Jugo quickly silenced that impulse with a stare that dared him to.

Sasuke took the logical approach to the situation.

"There is no human that could be so large." Karin glanced quickly to Jugo who was rocking back and forth muttering to himself. His eyes were darting between his team mates before returning to the thing he held in his hands.

"That is true. But there was one clan who wielded their bones and shaped them to whatever they wanted. In this case, a barrier."

Karin pointed gingerly to the one place in the dome where someone had literally broke through from the inside and had pushed the bone out and curled towards itself like some wind shutters. It looked too odd, seeing a material that splintered, shattered and yet melded to its users hands like some calcium enriched clay.

"The Kaguya clan."

Jugo shook his head quickly as his fingers fluttered over the melted remains of the sword. It was only a foot long, without the bone handle. "Not just the Kaguya clan. Kimimaro was the only one able to create such a thing like a bone barrier. Only he was powerful enough in the Kakkai Genkai."

Jugo was rocking to a harsher beat.

"But Kimimaro is dead… buried alive… bloody breath…"

Jugo lapsed into his insane mumbling once more.

Sasuke decided it might be time to leave, now.

"We're leaving."

The two sane ones- or sane compared to Jugo- nodded instantly.

"Jugo?"

Jugo blinked and looked up. "We need to leave now."

Jugo looked so utterly lost, that even Sasuke felt the tiniest flutter of pity in his chest before he squished it back violently, and viciously. "I have to find him. I have to find Kimimaro."

The five words became a mantra as Sasuke nodded silently. "We will."

As the four started moving, Suigetsu sidled closer to Sasuke. He glanced back to Jugo, who was so immersed in stroking and whispering to the melted bone weapon to notice anything around him. "Why did you say that?"

Sasuke came out of his thoughts. "Because it's the only way he'd leave that dead village." Suigetsu smirked at him in secret.

"So we're not-"

Sasuke shook his head. "We'll hear the rumors out for some bone wielding ninja. I figure that would appease Jugo."

Suigetsu looked around. "Why are we heading north?"

Sasuke gestured to his clothes. "A village lays over the hills some miles up ahead. It would be the obvious choice to go that ways. That, and I wish to remove the rancid scent from my clothing."

Suigetsu gave a silent, tentative whiff of his own clothing and agreed with the second option.

"Well… whatever."

The group lapsed into silence again, and yet the quiet rambling of Jugo punctuated the air.

----

"I will return you your clothes the moment their dry, sir," the maid smiled cheerily and Sasuke eyed her. She wasn't drooling like one of his fans from the old days, which was beyond odd. The maid then sniffed daintily and shook her head. "The same scent as the guests several rooms down. Must of come from that poor village, right?"

Sasuke didn't say anything but knew without looking that Jugo was perking up from his futon when he heard that.

"Are they still in the room, miss?"

The maid shook her head.

"I still have to finish their clothing as well, now that I know what removes the scent." the maid chirped perkily as she shifted the basket in her arms. "They said they'd be in town and should return by the time I've finished their clothing."

The maid nodded and wandered down the hallway.

"I'm going."

Jugo stood. His plain white, inn-issued robe was just a bit small on his large, muscular frame. "Not now," Sasuke picked up his wallet and pocketed it. "We're going to eat first."

Jugo growled audibly but didn't resist Sasuke's order.

Ten minutes later after gathering Karin from her separate room- being a girl and all- the four went wandering through the village.

Almost pulled by instinct, Sasuke turned down where some stalls were located.

He brushed off a tingle of familiarity when he heard someone shout something unrecognizable.

The shouting grew louder the closer the four got.

"You're kidding me! Kimimaro, give that back!"

Sasuke's eyes widened almost comically when he saw exactly who was yelling….

-------------

Done!!!! Nice cliffy, eh?

I haven't gotten a singlereview for the last four chapters. If I don't get one more, I might stop writing the story.