AN: Many thanks to Child-1763, you're review made my day. And I think that you might enjoy this chapter a little bit.

I walk with Suigetsu, Sasuke and Kai to the North base to get Karin. I grimace as I think of working with her. She really sounds like a pain, and I don't feel like dealing with someone like her. Sasuke and I had a private meeting while Suigetsu was taking one of his breaks. Kai waited with Suigetsu like I asked him to. After we had discussed my private mission, we had rejoined the group and continued on our way.

Suigetsu looks at Sasuke and me; we're walking side-by-side, in front of the other two. I hear him mumble something and turn to face him, walking backwards.

"You say something, Suigetsu-san?" I ask him with an innocent look on my face.

He smirks at me with his sharp teeth, "Oh, nothing Popori-san. It's just, I'm trying to figure out what you two where talking about at your little, 'meeting'," He smirks at us again.

I grin at him, "Huh. Well, too bad you'll have to wait to find out." I said, turning my back on him.

I regret that now. I can hear him leap at me. I turn just in time to catch the huge blade between my two hands, holding it a few inches from my face. Suigetsu snickers at my blank, yet somehow troubled face. He lands on the ground then lifts his sword.

I release my hold on it, then look at him with a cocked eyebrow. The other two males have stopped walking as well. Kai is looking at Suigetsu with scorn.

"What the hell, man?" He growls at Suigetsu, his eyes filling with hatred.

Suigetsu turns to him, "I'm just testing her. I wanted to know why Sasuke-kun is so fond of her."

Kai glares at him, and is about to attack when Sasuke's calm voice sounds. "Enough. Suigetsu, stop starting things. Kai, learn to control yourself." He turns to me and nods, "Don't be an instigator, Pori-chan."

We all stay quiet for a while, our faces blank. Then as if some force had been lifted, we all returned to walking in our formation. Sasuke is obviously the leader of our group. He has the most authority. And we are working for his goals, anyway.

Just to pass the time, I glance over my shoulder at Kai. He was watching me, and as I meet his eye he smirks. I grunt then ask him a question.

"How did you come to be with Orochimaru, Kai?"

I can almost feel the dumb stare on his face. The chuckle from Suigetsu lets me know that it is indeed there.

He clears his throat then begins, "My clan, the Aoki clan, was destroyed by Konoha. They thought us to be evil, because of the acts of one of us. They based their whole view of our clan from one of our actions.

"Anyway, my clan was almost completely wiped out. Along with me, there were probably only a few others conscious. But we were all dead or dying.

"I was laying in the rubble of our burning village as someone approached me. He had a hood on, and it was hard enough to breath, let alone turn my head and focus on one thing. The man crouched beside me and snickered. To me it was just like a snake's hiss.

"He took me up in his arms and carried me away. I didn't want to go with him. I could tell just by his presence that he was evil. But I had nowhere else to go, so I didn't struggle. Not that I would pose much threat in my state.

"As you might have guessed, that person was Orochimaru. He took me back to his base and brought me back to full health. It took me a few times, but he finally answered my question of why he wanted me.

"He told me that he needed more followers, and that since I had no one to go to he suspected that I would have to be loyal to him. He was right. Don't get me wrong, I hated the snake with everything I had, but I obeyed him because I believed that I had no other purpose in life but to serve him. I was brought up to believe in fate. And if serving Orochimaru was my fate, then I would go with it."

I glance back at him, "That's quite a story." I say simply.

He looks back at me, "What about you? Why were you with Orochimaru?"

I look in front of me as I walk. After a while I answer him, "Orochimaru marked me as one of his own when I was nine. He slaughtered my three sisters and my father. They all died protecting me. I got away, obviously, but I chose to come back because I have a promise to keep. And, I'm loyal to only one person."

I glance at Sasuke to see him staring at me blankly. When I meet his gaze, he smirks, then looks up ahead. Behind us, I can see Suigetsu crinkling his nose in disgust and Kai's face darkening as he turns his gaze to the ground.

Suigetsu chuckles, "Well, damn. You're obviously Sasuke-kun's bitch!"

I smirk as Sasuke activates his Sharingan and casts a warning look at Suigetsu.

The sharp-toothed boy chuckles again, holding up his hands signally surrender. "Easy, I was only joking."

Sasuke's eyes return to normal as he shifts his gaze to the area ahead of us. Now, we are almost at the base. It's surrounded by water, so we're all walking on top of the aqua. Karin was left in charge of the place, so she is likely to think she is better than us. I frown at the thought. If she starts any trouble, I will just have to kick her were it hurts - her pride.

As we enter the base, I notice that everyone is pretty much locked up. We walk down the halls, men whispering on either side of us. I look to one side, then the other, all then men are staring at us. I hear a few of them asking if this is indeed Sasuke Uchiha. I make a sound signalling that I have no interest, then turn my gaze ahead.

Someone approaches. Karin. Her reddish hair and eyes gleaming. She's scantily dressed. She adjusts her glasses as she address us.

"So it really is you guys. What are you doing here alone Sasuke? Have you killed Orochimaru like the rumors say?" She says.

I glare at the girl as Suigetsu voices my problem, "Hey, there are other people here than just Sasuke. But yeah, he wants to talk with you. Why don't you show us to a room so we don't have to stand here."

She crosses her arms, sheilding her chest, "Why should I allow any of you here? What do you want?"

I snort, "Are you hard of hearing? Suigetsu just told you that Sasuke wanted to speak with you. Huh, you must be stupid then."

She gawks at me for a moment then points to me, "Hey! Shut up you shrimp! I could kick your tiny ass any time I want."

Shrimp? That's it. Quickly now, Popori, you have to kill her quickly before Sasuke can interfere. Quick movement. In a mere second I'm in front of her, bringing my palm to her throat and smirking as she makes a gurgling sound. I follow through and now she's laying on her back. I perch myself on her chest and hold both of my stealth knives to her throat, the blades crossing paths.

"Don't call me a shrimp you whore. I could kill you in a heartbeat." I snarl in her face.

Someone places a hand on my shoulder, "Calm yourself Pori-chan. You're better than this. And anyway, we need her abilities." Sasuke.

I glare down at the four-eyed girl beneath me, "Your chakra sensing and healing ability aren't anything special. They don't impress me; and you're still a wench."

Reluctantly, I stand and put my knives away. Behind me I can hear Suigetsu snickering and Kai swooning.

"That was way hot!" He says and as I turn around I can see that he's almost drooling.

Karin looks half enraged and half disappointed. "Pori-chan?" I can hear her whisper in dismay as I get off of her.

Suigetsu chuckles darkly and gives me a thumbs up then looks at Karin, "Okay, to the room now."

Karin glares at him, but turns around rubbing her neck and leads up down the hallway. When we get into the room, Kai shuts the door and the rest of us take a seat on the single couch. Sasuke rests his arms on the back of the couch, one rests behind my head as I close my eyes and rest my head against the back. I can feel Karin eyeing me, what the hell is this girl's problem?

"Come with us, Karin. We need you." Sasuke says. I open one eye to look at her reaction.

Kai comes to stand behind the couch, behind me, as she opens her mouth. "Why? I've been put in charge of this place!"

Sasuke lets one of his arms fall to his knee as he leans forward, "Orochimaru's gone."

Karin flings her arms out, gesturing her dilemma, "What about all the prisoners here?"

"Suigetsu, Kai, Pori-chan," Sasuke addresses us. "Go release all of them."

Suigetsu smirks, "You're still talking like you're the boss."

I roll my eyes then stand and start out of the room, Kai not far behind me. Karin swings her head around to glare at us.

"Don't you dare do it!" She says as Suigetsu gets up and joins us.

We all ignore her and leave the room. Suigetsu and I go to one of the cells, and Kai whistles as he watches us work. The men on the other side of the cage are amazed.

"So Sasuke did defeat Orochimaru!" One of them say.

Suigetsu smirks, "That's right."

I nod, "Don't forget it."

"What's gonna happen to us?" Another asks.

Kai looks at him, "You're free obviously."

"Really?" The seem to all say in unison.

Suigetsu places the key in the lock, "I'll open this up, but first I need to ask you guys something."

"Anything!" A few of them say.

"Spread the word that the one who defeated Orochimaru and freed us was Sasuke. That a man who will bring peace to the world has appeared." Suigetsu says.

I look at him, studying his face. He's serious. I smirk then nod. "That's Sasuke for ya." I mutter.

I hear Kai scoff behind me and I turn to give him an evil glare. "What was that I heard?"

He gets wide eyes, "Ah, nothing, Popori."

I smirk, "That's what I thought."

We walk back to the room. Suigetsu places his hand on the doorknob then attempts to open the door but fails.

"Hn, seems like she locked the door from inside. . ." He mutters.

"Why?" Kai asks bewildered.

I narrow my eyes then press my ear to the door. When I hear Sasuke saying something about not getting so close, I snort then straighten up. I look at Suigetsu.

"Break down the door. She's assaulting Sasuke-kun." I say, backing away from the door.

He snickers, "Of course, Popori-chan." He takes his sword then slices at the door, his arm also starts getting bigger as he strikes it with that as well. After a few seconds, the door collapses and the two figures of Sasuke and Karin are far from each other.

"Come on Sasuke, Karin doesn't wanna come." Suigetsu says, his arm looking bigger and more muscled then before.

Kai and I stand in the doorway behind him as Sasuke speaks. "No, she's coming."

I peer around Suigetsu as his arm goes back to normal and Karin yells. "I'm just going in the same direction is all."

"Heh, good. I'll only have to deal with you part of the way then." I comment dryly.

She adjusts her glasses and glares at my, "Part of the way." She agrees.

Kai stretches, "Well then, next we get Juugo right?"

Karin flinches, "Did you say Juugo? You're including him in the team?"

"Why do you care? You're only going halfway remember?" Suigetsu and I say in unison. I look over at him as he looks over at me, we smirk as one. I'm really starting to like this guy.

She makes a pouty lip, "Yeah."

Sasuke stands, "Alright then, let's move out."

We all nod then start out to retrieve Juugo. When we get outside, Suigetsu sits down.

"Man I'm beat. We're walking already?" He says.

Karin looks at him, "You're going to the North hide out, if you keep this up, you'll end up dead."

I study her cool face, she seems overly serious. Kai speaks up, "I've heard about it a lot. Is it that bad?"

She looks at him, "It's not a regular hideout. They keep all the human experiments there. All the monsters that are born there are kept locked up."

Monsters, she says. Huh, I wonder what Juugo will be like. Suigetsu says he's an uncontrollable beast. He's even fought him once. I wonder if he has the curse, like me and Sasuke.

We walk for a while longer then Suigetsu stops again and drinks some water. "Can we rest awhile?"

Karin and Sasuke are up ahead of him, they stop and look back at him. Kai and I were walking behind and on the outside of them. We all made a kind of diamond shape. I crouch down and look at Suigetsu.

"You're pathetic," Karin spits. I glare at her, but she ignores it. "We still have a long way to go!"

"Where we're going should be different then yours," He says. "No need to worry about me."

"Just leave," I say acidly.

She screams at both of us, "I just remembered I had something to do at the North hideout!"

"You're so damn annoying." I mutter.

Suigetsu sets his sword down and Karin looks at him, "Suigetsu, why are you going with Sasuke?"

He smirks up at her, "I have my own goals. And traveling with Sasuke will help them."

She makes a slight "Humph" sound then turns to me, "What about you. Popori Ikame."

I look her over, completely bored with her. "Shouldn't we be asking you that?"

Her eyes narrow behind her glasses, "I don't know your guys' goal. But if you're planning on including Juugo, it must be serious."

Kai cocks an eyebrow at her, "Why? Is he that loony?"

She pauses dramatically, "He chose to be captured by Orochimaru. So he could be put in rehabilitated. He wants to suppress his killing urges."

"So he's crazy. Is that it?" I smirk. "Well then I might not clash with him so much."

"That's not it," She continues. "When the urge reaches it's limit, he looses himself. His appearance and personality change completely into a murderous monster. Orochimaru found this power appealing. So he took Juugo's body fluids and made it into an enzyme that he could inject into other shinobi's. You know about that right?"

I can feel that Sasuke has the same look on his face that I do mine. We both definitely know. But we both keep quiet, there's no need to tell them of it just yet. They'll find out soon enough. Well, at least Karin will. If Suigetsu and Kai didn't get the hint I threw at them earlier, well, I don't know what to tell them.

And thankfully, Kai doesn't blurt out anything either. He must know of Sasuke, he spent the most time with him while he was with Orochimaru.

"He has, the cursed seal." Karin finishes.

For a moment, we're all quiet, then Suigetsu says, "I see. How interesting. I didn't even notice he had it when we fought."

I smirk at him, then stand back up, "Alright, let's go get the big boy."

AN: Well, that's the chapter! Sorry it took so long to get up . . . reviews are highly appreciated!