Alright, again with the not updating soon enough. I apologize. I just get distracted really easily with other things i'm working on and then BAM! It's two weeks later and I haven't posted anything. It's partially your fault though because I just now got a second review on the last chapter haha. I'm just kidding, it's entirely me and my lazyness. Please enjoy the next chapter and if memory serves correct, this is a good one. :)

~X~X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~

"You have got to be kidding me!" Rayne was leaning against a rock with Kankuro to her rigtht and Akio and Hitoshi to her left.

"Holy Shit" mummbled Akio. Hitoshi nodded his head in agreement.

"Knock it off you guys. Didn't you ever learn to not disrespecct your clients!" hissed Kankuro.

A large woman who had to weigh over 250 pounds was stepping our of a carrige pulled by a single horse. Her face was plastered with make-up and she wore very expensive, not to mention very heavy, clothing. Her hair was done up with beads and sat atop her pudgy face.

"I can see why she didn't go get it herself" said Rayne

"Eating someone that big would leave me full for a week! And with all that fat, the flavor would be marvelous!" said Madarao

Rayne chuckled softly, earning a strange glance from Akio. "Yeah but we don't eat people remember?"

"You might not, but I still would"

"Not while you are in my body you wouldn't"

"You are no fun at all"

"And I'm also not a cannibal Madarao"

"Suit yourself. Oh how I wish to eat them once more," he sighed "I fear we will never be seperated and I will never again have the chance"

"Maybe if you are good, we can make an exception"

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"No"

Rayne turned her attention back to her team. Kankuro had just recieved the case of money from the client and she was climbing back into her carriage. Rayne smirked as the carriage sagged lower to the ground as she entered it. "Let's get going then" Kankuro called to them. Rayne pushed herself off of the rock and followed behind Kankuro. Akio and Hitoshi followed behind her quietly.

Three hours later they stopped for a quick break and Rayne passed the case of money to Hitoshi, for it was now his turn to carry it. On the trip here he and Akio had both been completely silent. It was obvious how scared they were. The two boys had not been on to many missions like this. Rayne kicked at the sand on the ground. She had started to hate the dessert. There was nothing but sand and dunes. No trees to scout from or hide in. No grass to lay down in, just seemingly endless sand and rocks. Up ahead she could see the large rock formations that they were supposed to be nearing. From what Kankuro had told her, they were heading into the mountainous terrain where they would meet at a large bridge that crossed a deep canyon. They were about an hour away and she was getting impatient. She really was ready for a fight.

A while later they were into the mountainous area. Large cliffs above them cast shadows on the ground below giving the team of shinobi some welcomed shade. Rayne stopped when she heard voices comming from ahead of them. Voices. They were only suppose to be meeting one man. Kankuro had been right, this was probably going to be an ambush.

"What is it Rayne?" questioned Kankuro, noticing her sudden stop.

"People, up ahead."

"People? As in more than one?"

"Yeah, sounds like four or five of them."

"How do you know?" asked Akio.

"I can hear them. Their voices are being carried by the wind back this way."

They were all silent for a moment as they listened "I don't hear anything" Akio said annoyed.

"Well I wouldn't expect someone like you to. I have pretty good hearing." she replied and then resumed walking. Kankuro started walking as well.

"Wait!" called Akio "We're going to just walk into a trap then?"

"I didn't think you believed me?" mocked Rayne.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing" replied Kankuro.

Their team slowly approached the bridge now. Rayne continued to listen hard and watch the area for any signs of more people. They turned the corner and found themselves facing the bridge. Four armed men stood on the other side. Rayne had been right.

"Stay back you guys" whispered Kankuro. He headed out farther to their side of the bridge. The men on the other side started to cross. "I take it you have the scroll we are here to get back." he called to them.

"Yeah" said the one in the front of the group. "But your not going to get it. Hand over the money and we will let you out of here alive."

"I don't think so" Kankuro stood his ground, clearly not intimidated by the group of men. "We are here to take that scroll back and are not leaving without it."

"Then it looks like were going to have to just kill you and take the money."

"You must have no idea who I am" laughed Kankuro. "Very well, if it's a fight you want then that's just what you'll get. You three gaurd the case and protect each other." The men on the bridge drew weapons. Kankuro stood before them and pulled scrolls from off his back. He bit his thumb, opened them and smeared blood across the seal, activating it. A cloud of smoke appeared and when it disapeared Kankuro stood with a large puppet drapped over his back and two larger ones on either side of him. Three of the man charged at him while the largest of them went around him and headed straight towards Rayne, Hitoshi and Akio.

Rayne quickly drew her attention away from Kankuro and towards the large man standing in front of her. Akio and Hitoshi both seemed to be paralized by fear for a moment. "Watch that case!" she yelled at them before stepping out in front of them. She took several large strides ahead of them before taking out her swords and combinding them. She gave it a quick spin before dropping into a deffensive stance. "If you want that case you will have to get through me." she grinned. The large man stopped in front of her. She swore he was a giant. He towered over her by at least three feet and outweighed her by about one hundered and fifty pounds, which really wasn't that hard because she barely weighed one hundred herself.

"You three are going to stop me? Don't make me laugh girl! Those two back there look like their going to shit their pants at any second! What can one girl do against me?" he said in a thick accent that Rayne didn't recognize. He went to step around Rayne and advance towards the others but she swung her staff towards him, suprising him and cutting a slash on the side of his face.

"Leave them out of this. I am your opponent."

"Fine" he growled wit annoyance. "I will just crush you and then your little friends!" He brought his fists together and smashed them down on the ground. Rayne jumped to the side and avoided being crushed. Unlike the other men he was with, this guy wasn't armed. That's because he does enough damage with those sledgehammer fists of his thought Rayne as she avoided another swing. She continued to jump away from him, leading him away from the boys. The guy was strong but Rayne was faster. He couldn't land a single hit. They continued like this for a while. The man starting to grow impatient.

"Quit running away!" he growled.

The kunoichi laughed, which only further irritated him. How could she be enjoying this? Rayne disappeared then reappeared behind him using a body flicker tecnique. "Who said anything about running?" she smirked. He swung around quickly and she flipped backwards to avoid him. Hitoshi suddenly yelled and she whipped her head around to see Kankuro's puppet infront of him. Kunai intended for the boys stuck in its wooden body. The puppet charged forwards and back into the fight.

Rayne remembering she was in her own fight, quickly turned around. She flipped back just in time to avoid being hit by a fist flying at her. She landed on her hands but lost her ballance as she landed on her feet. She tried to steady herself but fell backwards, catching herself on her hands. She kicked her legs up to kick at the man but he caught her foot. He picked her up by the ankle and she dropped her staff. He swung at her but she pulled herself up. When his fist soared under her head it just annoyed the man even more. He swung her, releasing her leg and sending her flying into a rocky wall. She cried out as her side hit the wall and the wind was knocked out of her.

Rayne's yell seemed to bring Akio back into the fight. "Shit!" he swore to himself. Rayne needed his help but he was too scared to move. Rayne hit the ground and the man laughed in his deep booming voice. "Who is laughing now little girl?" he called at her. Akio shook his head and looked over at Hitoshi who still was just standing there watching with wide eyes. "Hitoshi! Gaurd that case. I'm going to go help Rayne" the boy simply nodded to him. Akio looked over at Rayne to see that she was steadily pulling herself back up as the man walked towards her. He ran towards them. "Hey, shit-head! Over here!"

Rayne looked up to see Akio running straight at the large bandit. She stuggled to catch her breath as she pulled herself up. The bandit turned towards him. Akio didn't stand a chance fighting that guy head on. The man aimed a fist at Akio but Rayne jumped at him, tackling the smaller boy out of the way. "Stay down" she told him before performing another body flicker tecnique she jumped and kicked their attacker in the jaw. He stumbled backwards and she sent a series of strong punches to his face that were too fast for him to dodge. She sent another quick kick to his face and he fell backwards hitting the ground, his face now bloodied. Rayne panted, holding her bruised side.

"Is he out?" Akio asked stepping up next to her.

"Stay back kid. I don't know."

Akio ignored her warning and stepped closer to him. She called his name as a warning again.

"It's okay. I think we knocked him out."

"We? Listen, there was no we. I-" she cut her sentance short when she saw the man's hand clench.

"What?" he asked turning towards her.

Rayne swung her leg out, knocking Akio to the ground as the man got back up. His hand shot towards them and Rayne felt his fingers tighten around her throat. Her eyes widened as she was lifted from the ground and her hands went the the man's arms as she tried to pull him off her.

"I am going to kill you!" he shouted, spitting blood into her face. Akio looked up from the ground horrified. Rayne's one hand dropped to her side where she fumbled with her kunai pouch. He had cut off her air and black spots began to swim before her eyes. She pulled out a knife and stabbed it into the man's arm. He howled in pain and dropped her to the ground. Rayne coughed and scooted herself away from the man as she clutched her throat. She tried to yell to Akio to run but the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. She heard a horrible scream from the behind her as Kankuro killed one of his opponents. Then another yell from infront of her as the man kicked Akio towards her. He stooped down and lifted Akio by the front of his face only inches from the boy's own frightened face. He punched the boy in the stomache and then once again, causing him to cough up blood. He then tossed him away towards the the cliffs that the bridge crossed

Rayne struggled to her feet. Another cry came from behind her as Kankuro killed his second opponent. Akio was lifted in to the air again by the giant and he moaned weakly. Akio you fucking idiot! You should have stayed out my way! she thought, trying to think of a plan to save him. An idea suddenly popped into her head and she pulled an explosive tag out from her shirt. She had stolen it from Akio this morning while they were waiting for their client. She ran towards the man as he faced Akio.

Kankuro finished his second opponent. He turned to see Akio being thrown dangerously close the edge of the cliff. Rayne pushed herself of the ground and pulled out a slip of paper. The man lifted up Akio over his head and held him there for a moment. Hitoshi yelled and then Akio was thrown over the cliff. Rayne kept running though. She looked over and made eye contact with Kankuro. It took a few seconds but then he realized what planned on doing.

"Rayne! No!" yelled Kankuro but it is too late. She jumped onto the man's back and stuck the paper between his shoulder blades before jumping off his shoulders. His hands reach back to try and tear it off as Rayne dove over the cliff after Akio.

Rayne heard the explosion go off as she began to fall over 100 feet towards the ground below.

"Rayne what the hell are you doing? Are you crazy!"

She ignored Madarou and reached out towards Akio. Rayne knew this was crazy but it didn't matter. She didn't like the kid but they were a team and she was going to save him. Her hands grabbed the back of his shirt and she pulled his limp body close to hers, wrapping an arm around the smaller boy. She sent a flow of chakra through her free hand and her feet as she tried to grab hold of the wall. Her hand and feet caught but they were going to fast. Rayne continued to slid down, gritting her teeth and pushing more chakra through her body. Finaly they started to slow as they get closer to the bottom and the walls of the cliff start to slant. Suddenly a rock came free, sending them both falling. Rayne crashed onto her side two feet down and they started to roll before they hit an ledge and fell the remaining eight feet to the bottom. Her back hit the ground and the wind was knocked out of her as they rolled to her side again. Akio was still held in her scraped up arms as her head hit the ground and she fell unconscious.

Kankuro finished off his final opponent as the explosive tag went off. His opponent was released from inside one of his puppets, his blood splattering to the ground. He rushed towards the edge of the cliff, avoiding the messy remains of Rayne's opponent. Hitoshi ran up behind him breathing heavily. Kankuro peered over the edge and cursed. There was no sign of the other two on his team. He sighed and pulled down his black hood, running his hands through his sweaty hair. "Shit!" he cursed under his breath. Hitoshi's knees give out and he fell down to the blood soaked ground.

"Akio? Not you too" he whimpered.

"Hitoshi?" The boy didn't respond. "Hitoshi, are you alright? Were you injured?"

The boy looked up at Kankuro. He looked confused for a moment then the look faded. "Yes, I'm fine. They didn't hurt me."

"Good, listen to me. Rayne and Akio will be fine. I'm going to go get the scoll we came for. Then we will take it to the drop off location a few miles away from here." Kankuro knew if they got it there on time Gaara wouldn't have to know that something had gone wrong. Rayne was smart. She wouldn't have jumped like that if she didn't think she could save him. They would be alive. They might be hurt but they were definitely alive.

"But-"

"Just listen. After that we will come back here and try to find a safer way down. I promise you we will find the two of them alive. We won't go back without them."

Hitoshi nodded. "Alright sensei" he said quietly. Kankuro held out his hand for Hitoshi to take and pulled him up. He led the younger boy away from the area they had fought in and started to look for the scroll. They found it after a few minutes and they took off running to the drop off point.

~X~X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~ X~

Cliffhanger! Haha, oh no! I really like this chapter and I really hope you did too. Just a funny bit of information for you, I had to go through and edit the last third of my story because for some reason I started to randomly write it in present tense instead of past tense. That was fun changing everything. Well I hope you enjoyed it. Please review it. To be honest I really want someone to send me a flame. I have never really gotten one so someone please, go ahead. Say something bad, I'm literally begging you. Normally I'm rather sarcastic but not right now. I want someone to say something bad! Also I'm slightly a lot paranoid that Rayne is starting to seem like a Mary-Sue. Please, please, please! Tell me if she is so I can fix it. I really can't stand characters like that so I don't want Rayne to turn into one! (Kyra: yes that would be bad... wouldn't it?) Help me save her! Alright, I'm done ranting. Thanks for reading. Please review and I will be your best friend! ( Kyra: and let me know about my editing)
~Reiko