I do not own Naruto! Or any of the music in this fanfic! I will do my best to cite my music sources in the end of the chapters in the A/N! I do, however, own the OC's.

"It's a pity that the two of you lost control of your Justus. I was rather enjoying that fight," Orochimaru chuckled a few days later when I finally woke back up.

"How bad was it? Did they consider it a war attempt? Am I in trouble? Who all became Chuunin?" I asked, worried for my life and sanity.

"Very chaotic, no, and no. Well, not with me, you're not. The Hokage and Mizukage on the other hand aren't happy with the – ah – results of the testing. The two Hyuugas, the Yamanaka girl, the Aburame boy, and Kirari," he replied slyly. "However, you were also on the list of those who were recommended for Chunin – most especially after making the jutsu lose control like that, and I must say I'm quite proud of a job well done."

"Thanks," I said sheepishly. "What do I have to do to become Chunin?"

"Nothing much – tis a simple task, really," he chuckled. "All you need to do is return to Earth and torture a man. I'm afraid that it will have to wait for another few weeks to let you recover."

A few weeks later, Orochimaru had approached me in the hospital – which Kabuto had insisted that I go to for better and proper treatment of any and all injuries I may have had. The others had been promoted to Chunin without me, and Orochimaru had finally decided on my assignment.

"I'll do it," I said immediately, only then realizing that I hadn't set requirements.

"My my, so eager…" he gushed quietly. "Very well. The man you are to torture is a man by the name of DeShaun Thomas – dark skinned male who is a year or two younger than you, and a convicted felon for statutory rape and sexual harassment. He began his career in high school, and has been on the incline ever since. You may go."

"Thank you!" I gushed, leaping out of bed to embrace him. "I've been trying to put that jerk out of my mind ever since I came here!"

"You know him?" Orochimaru asked, suddenly alert.

"Yeah – he picked on me for three years in math class," I replied curtly. "And in my sophomore year, he touched me where he shouldn't have – upper left, if you know what I mean."

"I do," Orochimaru growled. "Three years? And nobody noticed this?"

"I told the counselors, but nobody listened," I whined, gathering things I would need for this mission.

"What are you taking?" he asked, honestly curious.

"Senbons that will heat up with my chakra, summoning scrolls, my kuchiyose scroll for the things in our room of course, and last, but not least, my aunt's chair. Oh, come on, it's only fair that I give it back," I laughed, and he shook his head. "Besides, I'm also taking a little something that will force him to remember me – a little something that he'll soon come to hate and fear. Don't worry – I'll be sure to mentally and physically scar him in as many ways as I can."

"You must really hate whoever you're talking about," Kabuto said as he walked in. "Wait – what the devil are you-?"

I walked onto the scroll that allowed me to go back to Earth once more, and I willed my mirror to show me Orochimaru. I realized then that I hadn't had a menstrual cycle since the beginning of the chuunin Exams, and that none of the other Otonin, not even the Sound Five, knew about what was going on. I suddenly realized that Orochimaru and Kabuto were the only Otonin who knew whether or not I was alive and healthy.

"You sent her there? Sir, she's pregnant again!" Kabuto pled, and orochimaru wheeled around to face him.

"What did you just say?" Orochimaru growled menacingly.

"Ah, Sarah-sama's pregnant with your child again, sir! Kinara is playing the role of surrogate mother perfectly and carrying Tenshi-sama safely in her womb like you wanted. And, um…well, Ruka is perfectly healed, sir. Her nerves will act up two days a year, but she'll be just fine now, sir."

"Well done. Let's see what Sarah does now, shall we?" he asked, and I shut the mirror off, knowing he'd be tracking me with his. I raced out, and realized I had no idea where DeShaun Thomas was at all.

"Well, if I were DeShaun, where would I be?" I asked as I walked into the Fayetteville High School. As fun as it would be to explore the new layout, which was a restoration of the old one alongside a new building and some new floors, I refrained for the sake of the mission.

When I finally found my target, I cornered him inside a classroom and began torturing him cruelly. I pulled his pants down and stuck the Senbon needles in his vital male areas through the underwear and boxer shorts. I began slashing his face brutally, and right as I was about to slash his gut, a hand came onto my wrist. I turned around to face my opponent and kill him or her for ruining my fun.

Orochimaru smiled back at me.

"Come," he said simply as he turned away. I gathered all my Senbon, and walked after Orochimaru as we headed back to Konohagakure.

"Orochimaru, I thought," I began, but trailed off, confused. He told me to go torture someone, then stops me. What was going on here?

"Well done," he smirked. "You were the last person I expected to willingly torture a man. I daresay you've made quite a good impression of the Sound for the other villages – our village will be getting many more requests now. As a result, I think you'll find that they shall be a bit more receptive, and…open to your needs and abilities."

I was left to wonder what he meant the entire day and a half journey back to the Sound. I stared at him in awe and amazement, wondering what his brilliant mind was cooking up now. I knew it probably had something to do with the Sharingan, but also that he could easily have been plotting the destruction of a different Shinobi village. I sat down and ate my dinner in silence, wondering what he was thinking. He was looking at me with a newfound light in his eyes, one that I hadn't seen since I'd pleaded with him for marriage. I looked away, and began avoiding him. It didn't feel right to have him look at me that way, it wasn't natural – even for him. We slept in silence, with nothing interrupting us since we were on the way back from the Chunin exams, rumors of my strength and abilities having already gotten around.

As soon as we walked back into Otogakure, we were met with a loud chorus of applause. I could hear the applause before we even reached the village. I could hear people rejoicing as we made our way to the City square. The timing and everything made me feel like I was listening to Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas movie at the end.

"Sarah's Okay!"

"And she's back okay! "

"She's alright! Let's shout!"

"Make a voice! Scream it out!"

"Sarah's back! Now, everyone sing in our town of Halloween!" I grinned, knowing that some Leaf ninja referred to Otogakure as "Halloween-Town" since it was filled with people that gave them the creeps.

"What is this?" one of the ninja yelled in shock, then whispered. "What is this?"

I left the town center, crying at staying a Genin. I could still hear the others conversing amongst themselves. I scoffed. It was April, and Christmas was December. It was also a leaf nickname, though.

"I haven't got a clue. Why, it's completely new! Must be a Christmas thing - It's really very strange. This is Halloween. This is Halloween."

"My dear Chunin, if you don't mind - I'd like to join you by your side – where we can gaze into the stars."

I turned around to face Orochimaru, joining him in his song for joy at his approval. I was Chunin now!

"And sit together – now and forever. For it is plain as anyone can see – we're simply meant to be," we sang, pulling each other's fingers together and kissing on the hillside near the Otogakure cemetery.

I mentioned the song in the Chapter, but I'll list it again for good measure and say that I don't own it. The song was "Final Reprise" off of Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas, and I own nothing from the song, scene, or movie!