Ladies and gentlemen, I ADORE the fact that you want to send me characters, but seriously… I need guys, too. Not just girls. Girls can be bitches.

P.S. OMIGOD BLINK IS GETTING BACK TOGETHER!!!! -dies from the happiness-

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Dedication: To vine, because she's writing a beautiful ShikaTema story that you ALL must go read!!! Now. GO.

---

Patrol was strangely quiet. I only killed two leeches, and we didn't go back to the hotel until dawn.

And then I fell into bed, and slept a good three-quarters of the day away. I hate missing out on my sleep. It's bad for my immune system, and honestly, I was in no mood to get sick.

Getting sick right now would not help us find Kakashi and Anko.

I flicked my gaze to the clock, and watched the glowing red letters slowly change from 4:48 to 4:49.

I heard the door open, but I didn't turn around. Whoever it was was breathing, soft, shallow, a slight bit nervous. Probably Hinata, then, because that's just how she breathes.

"Sakura?"

"I'm over here Hinata," I called, and she came over, and squinted at the work I was doing over my shoulder. This normally would have freaked me out, because I hate being watched when I'm working, but seriously, come one. It's Hinata. She's the least scary thing on the planet (except when she's destroying wooden dummies, because, let's face it, that was terrifying).

"What's that?" she asked, and I knew she was referring to the black sludge I was currently experimenting on.

I turned to look at her, and sent her a half-shrug. "It's the stuff we found in Kakashi and Anko's room, and in Kurenai and Asuma's. I don't know what it is, but I know it's organic - it's all carbon and hydrogen molecules. But they're… I dunno, it's like they mutated."

She blinked at me. "Can I take a look?"

I nodded, and carefully handed the microscope I was working with to her, careful not to adjust the focus. I had just gotten it right, I think, and I didn't want to fuck it up.

Hinata fiddled with said focus for a few seconds (life be damned, she'd probably made it clearer then I had… Please remember, I fail at intel, and research in general), and then carefully looked through it. She mumbled something to herself, and I realized she'd gone into researcher-mode.

So I let her sit down, and she went to work without even being told what to do. I knew she'd figure it out; she's way smarter then I am, that's for sure.

So I decided to go and look for Tenten, because I was bored, and the boys had left a while ago to do some grocery shopping. Grocery shopping? My ass they were going grocery shopping. They wanted to do some scouting without us girls around.

They, all three of them, seem to have this idea in their heads that Hinata and Tenten and I can't take care of ourselves. I don't know where this clearly incorrect notion came from, but… it's rather annoying, to be quite honest.

I walked out into the hallway, and rap my knuckles lightly on the room next to ours, and the door was opened by a bleary-eyed Tenten. I grinned at her, and she grinned back at me, and then she let me in.

"Where's Hinata?"

I rolled my eyes with a laugh. "She's investigating that black sludge that we found in the other rooms."

Tenten chuckled. "So she did her researcher-mode thing on you?"

I nodded. "Yup, she did. Oh, hey, do you guys have cable in this room? Ours doesn't. It annoys me on many levels."

"Yeah, we do, the remote is… somewhere…" she said, and pointed vaguely in the direction of the TV. I rolled my eyes at her, and went to route out the remote, until deciding that I'd rather just change the channel by hand.

Remotes are kind of annoying, anyways.

I turned the TV on, and I guess Tenten went to go get changed into some clothes that weren't pajamas.

I yawned, and started watching Transformers.

Happy sigh. I love robots.

Especially huge-ass, organic-non-organic robots that blow shit up. Seriously. Best movie ever.

Tenten eventually came back in, and, after taking three seconds to find the remote (it was sitting on top of the TV… how I missed this, we will never know) she settled down on the bed next to me, and the two of us happily watched the movie together. When it ended, we channeled flicked for a bit.

Of course, that was until we came across the movie 'Enchanted', and decided to ruin it for each other, because we found a common annoyance with stupid love-story movies. Because, let's face it, real life does not work like that.

And so we proceeded to rip the movie to shreds.

"Look at him! Look at his pants!" I snorted out, pointing out the horrid 14th-century-esque pants. Really. They're terrible.

Tenten shook her head sadly. "He fails at singing. If that's even his real voice, which I sincerely doubt."

I nodded sagely. "I think I must agree."

We continued in this vein for some time (commenting on the fact that birds do not fly into random homes and start singing, and that no-one wears a bright, hellishly frilly, white dress like that to anything, because it's so totally impractical… and ugly. Very ugly), until eventually Hinata re-surfaced from my room, with some very… strange… news.

She sighed softly and rubbed her eyes. "Hina? I asked her, probably looking concerned.

"Sorry, it's just that… well… that black guck, it's not normal."

What'cha mean?" Tenten asked her, blinking at her, and then at me. I blinked back at her with a shrug, indicating my total lack of intelligence. I dunno, I couldn't figure that gross crap out…

"It's like poison," she said. "Like thick, concentrated poison. It's nothing I've ever seen before, and I've seen some pretty freakin' weird poisons, working with my father and Tsunade in the intel department."

We blinked at her. "Not getting it." I said.

Poor Hinata groaned. "You two are so dumb that it hurts my brain to even talk to you," she muttered, before continuing in a slightly louder voice, "It's not of human origin, or even of anything else we've ever seen. I'm not even sure if it's vampiric in origin, because I'm seen vampire venom, I've seen the way it gnaws through steel, and it leaves holes."

She stopped, shook her head, and took a breath. "This is something totally different. It's like… hmmm… how do I explain this… If vampire venom is acid, then this is a super-strong base. It's like the opposite, you know? It'll still corrode skin, and plenty of other stuff, but… I dunno, it's just weird. Like, really weird."

"So… what is it?"

She shook her head again, her eyes like closed window shutters, her mouth a thin line on her face. "I don't know. But whatever it is, I think it doesn't like us very much at all."

---

I gobbled down some golden-brown fries, sitting in a MacDonald's restaurant, right near our hotel. We still hadn't seen the boys, but none of us were worried. Tenten wasn't hurting, so Neji couldn't be far away. And if Neji wasn't far away, then neither were Sasuke and Naruto.

So it didn't really matter that we were totally ditching them by going out for dinner. They ditched us first!

And so there we were, sitting in a dingy Mickey D's, gobbling down unhealthy, but, at the same time, oh-so-good, fries. I groaned in something like happiness. Whenever Anko got a migraine (which, considering, was often enough), she'd send Kakashi out for fries.

I don't know why this is, but they always got rid of her headache, especially when she dipped them in chocolate milkshake (I continue to find this habit disgusting), which was exactly what Tenten was doing right at this moment.

I winkled my nose at her. "Tenten, how can you eat that?"

She shrugged, and stuffed another milkshake-covered fry into her mouth. After she swallowed, she said "I dunno, it's something Tsunade does all the time. She told me to try it once, and I did… and it was like love at first taste."

I shook my head at her, my mouth probably gaping. "Damn, if Tsunade wanted to take over the world, she probably could…"

Hinata nodded sagely, and muttered in a snarky voice, "And like we would stop her!"

I laughed, and then noted with some panic that the fries were disappearing mysteriously fast. "Good point. Tenten, gimme some fries, you're ea-ting them a-ll!!! No-o-o-o-o!!! I wan-t some!!!"

Hinata, eating her own fries in a corner, snorted out a laugh into her milkshake, and tossed me a couple of dollars, and pointed in the direction of the counter. "Go buy your own, Sakura. Tenten, don't eat her fries."

She rolled her eyes. "Why am I always playing mother to you two?!" she muttered to herself with a groan, and Tenten and I snickered. Poor Hinata. I got up after that, taking Hinata's money with me, to buy some more fries, and, oh yeah… "Damn it, Tenten, you better not touch my damn milkshake! And if you do, I will be severely pissed!"

When I got back to the table (with a fresh batch of large fries, to boot), the sun was starting to go down. Hinata and Tenten were staring out the window at the sunset, all blood red and fire orange and dusky blue and soft pink and royal purple. I sat down next to Tenten, in my previous spot, and stared out the window with them. There was so little time…

So little time, because the faster the sun was going down, the faster we'd have to be out there on patrol, figuring out just what the hell it is that's causing these people so much pain.

I winced as I thought of Emma, and the little boy. No child deserved to have something like that to deal with at such a young age.

It continued to be silent, for a while, and the three of us simply enjoyed it.

Of course, that was until Hinata's phone rang, and I covered my ears with a groan. I turned and looked at Tenten while Hinata pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Ten bucks says it's Naruto."

"Twenty says it's Neji. The kid's way too overprotective of his darling little cousin."

I grinned at her. "Done," I said, and waited for Hinata's reaction. If it was Neji, she'd hand the phone to Tenten almost immediately. If it was Naruto, I was probably going to have to break her hands to get the phone away from her. Hinata was extremely attached to Naruto.

I smirked at Tenten when Hinata's eyes lit up, and she started in a conversation that I knew she and Naruto had been having earlier yesterday. "Pay up, Tenten, I'm buying more fries."

Tenten groaned, and was just about to hand me the cash, when we both noted the look on Hinata's face. It had gone from 'happy and carefree', to 'suddenly, inexplicably, concerned'. We both froze, and waited the three seconds it took for Hinata to get off the phone (a feat in itself, considering her adoration of Naruto's voice).

"We have to get back to the hotel, right now. Naruto says they've found something that we're not going to like."

I groaned. "Damn it! Tenten, pay me later. And, let's face it; we never like anything the boys can cook up on their own…"

The other two nodded, grim looks on their faces. I grabbed my coat, and we dashed out of there, and ran the three blocks it took to get to the hotel.

We waited nervously for the elevator, reflexively clenching each other hands as we got up and went in. If one of them was dead (or hurt), I was never going to forgive them. Wait, that couldn't be right, Tenten would have known if Neji was hurt, and Hinata talked to Naruto…

So it only could be Sasuke. My throat and jaw clenched involuntarily. Or maybe it was just my heart.

---

I shoved the door to my hotel room open, panic speeding my movements. Sasuke-Sasuke-Sasuke-please-don't-be-dead-dead-dead, giggles in my mind make me think of black eyes and white pupils and inky blue hair, and I shudder as skeletons dance through my subconscious, and everything is flashing black and white, and I'm so worried…

And then I saw Sasuke sitting there, like nothing was wrong, and I felt slightly sick.

I threw myself at him, and I ended up knocking the breath out of his lungs. We were pressed so close together, I could feel the air rush out of him.

"You idiot!" I screeched, my voice ripping through a half-octave on the last syllable. "What were you thinking?!"

He looked up at me, trying to catch his breath, and he seemed a little bit bewildered. Bewildered, my ass. "Sakura, were you worried about me?" he asked me with a laugh.

I punch him in the gut, but I hissed out "Yes, I just might have been. What was I supposed to think?! Tenten would have known if something had happened to Neji, and Hinata talked to Naruto! You were the only one not accounted for, you stupid asshole!!!"

He chuckled, his breath still raspy from having just been winded. "Sakura, turn around, and you'll see why we needed you girls to come back."

I pushed myself off his chest, and rolled over to look at the door. There, in the pretty-much-destroyed-by-me doorframe stood three girls, and three boys. I quickly identified the faces I knew; Temari, Karin, Ino, Shikamaru, and Suigetsu. There was also a boy I didn't know, with an infectious grin much like Naruto's, and unruly brown hair.

A smile stretched my lips.

So they'd decided to send us back-up, after all.

---

It didn't take us long to get going. Temari and Shikamaru took over the research part of things almost immediately, and I watched Temari spend most of the time yelling at Shikamaru for being a lazy-ass.

Karin came and sat down on the bed next to me with a snort, Ino curling up next to the new boy on my other side, a coy grin on her lips as she nuzzled into his chest.

The new kid, the one I'd never met before, was named Kiba. Apparently, Ino had gotten annoyed with Sai and had dumped him on his ass. And now she was dating this new kid, and it was obvious to me that she really liked him.

They hadn't let go of each other in my sight, as of yet, so I think that's probably what tipped me off.

Karin poked me in the shoulder, and I blinked at her. "Wha-?" I mumbled. I was falling asleep by then. I get tired easily.

"Wake up, we should probably get ready for patrol. It's just us girls tonight, you and me and Hinata and Temari."

"Wha' bout Ino and Tenny?" I had picked up Hinata's nickname for the bun-haired girl, and despite my exhaustion, my interest was pique. Sasuke was letting me out, without being around? What was going on here?

She had obviously read what was going through my mind, because she grinned slightly evilly. "I prodded Suigetsu into keeping Sasuke out of it. And Ino's staying with Kiba, and… I dunno about Tenten."

I grinned sleepily at her. "That means you just kicked him in the shin, I'm guessing."

She smiled with a snicker. "Damn straight I kicked him into it. You know, I've never seen Sasuke this… uh… -protective, maybe?- of anyone. It's really kind of weird, and I've known him ever since he moved here.

I shrugged. "It's a long story."

"Tell me sometime?" she asked me, her eyes flashing behind her glasses with a mischievous intent that I grinned at. Karin had guts. I liked it.

"If we get out of this place alive, sure, why not?" I said with a grin

She grinned back at me, and turned her attention to the TV. There was nothing on, but it was more interesting then watching Ino and Kiba shove their tongues down each others throats. That was just slightly disturbing.

An at some point, both her and I screamed at the two of them to "GET A ROOM, DAMN YOU!!!", and they left, looking disgruntled. Karin and I gave each other high-fives, and settled down to wait util the others were ready to go.

Tenten came bounding in a few minutes later, in the process jumping on me and Karin and making the two of us groan in pain.

"Tenten, gerroff me!!" I yelled, but it didn't do too much. Tenten seemed to be very comfortable, sitting on top of me and Karin, as she was, nor did she seem like she was going to be moving any time soon.

I pushed her off me, and onto the floor, and I laughed when she hit the ground with a 'thud'.

She yelped, and just as she did, Neji came rushing into the room, looking for the source of whatever it was that was causing Tenten pain, and to destroy it. When he realized we were just having fun, he turned slightly pink, and skulked out of the room.

The three of us watched him go, more then amazed. Well, Karin and I were amazed. Tenten seemed used to it.

"Did he just… blush?!"

"Naw, he can't have!"

"The robot, showing emotion? It's just too weird!!!"

"I totally agree. He's only like that about Tenny, which is kinda strange, and yet, it isn't."

Obviously, Karin didn't know about the blood-bond, and if she did, she didn't know the full extent of what it did to Tenten and Neji. I wasn't about to enlighten her, either, because it wasn't really my place.

And people who tell other people's secrets are on the same low level as hypocrites, in my mind. This is also why spies annoy me, especially when it comes to them snooping around what we do. Administering the serum that makes people forget what they've seen is never fun. I've only done it once, and I, uh, I kind of gave the poor guy too much… I made him forget everything that had happened in the past three years of his life, which included: his marriage, the birth of his first child, the death of both his parents, and the fact that he even went to spy school.

To put it mildly, Tsunade wasn't happy with me.

I sighed softly, and enjoyed the silence that had fallen. It wasn't awkward, the way silences sometimes are, when people don't know what to say, and when they don't know each other. No, this silence was comfortable.

It was a different comfortable then the comfortable silence I had achieved with Sasuke, but it was still nice all the same.

I yawned, and looked out the window. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, leaving them gold-tinted and bloody red.

Time to get to work.

---

Hinata was snarling at the thing in front of us. Karin and Temari had gone off and were taking care of the east side, so that left Hinata and I to take care of the west side.

I had a sinking feeling we were going to get the worst of it.

I was right.

"Hina, get behind it; behind it!" I screeched as the leech came flying at us. We split apart, and I dashed off to the right, and Hinata raced behind it.

There was something… off… about this leech. It was faster then normal, and stronger, too, but stupider, like someone had jacked it full of steroids. It reminded me of a big, dumb jock, and I glared at it, furious with myself.

I swung my rifle up, and sent another bullet through its shoulder. It howled in pain, and charged me.

It was only then that I realized that I was kind of backed up against a wall. Shit. I winced as I waited, and waited for it to give me an opening, and just as it was about to, the things head fell off.

I grinned at Hinata, breathing hard. "Damn, bitch, you just saved my life!"

She grinned back, still out of breath. "I had to wait… until it had… totally focused… on you."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know, don't worry about it. I'm not any worse off because of it, and this is good training for the both of us."

She had her breath back. "Did you notice the way they all seemed… I dunno… dumbed down?"

I nodded, the cogs in my mind working. "Don't you think it's kinda weird how the leeches are holding a council, and yet, every other leech that isn't noble seems dumber then normal? Because, face it, that trick wouldn't have worked on any leech with a normal amount of brains."

She nodded. "He was a steroidsaurus." Her lips twitched as she said the word.

I let out a snort of laugher, and checked the time. Three AM. "Damn, Hina, we should probably get back to the hotel, it's pretty damn late… And the boys'll be worried about us by now."

She shrugged. "They didn't want us to do this at all, you know that, right?"

I nodded, an annoyed grimace on my lips. "One day, we'll escape them, and we'll go to New York, and I'll show you what I grew up fighting. It was scary."

She grinned. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

And so we went, racing through dead-silent streets, where not a soul was awake.

We got back to the hotel, and the creeper gate-guy grinned maliciously at us (but what else is new, right?). I flipped him off, and we ran to the elevator, even though we were both past the point of over-exhaustion.

I pushed the door to my room open, and was horrified by what I saw.

Karin and Temari were sitting on the bed, looking like they had been torn to shreds. Karin was stitching a gash in her leg up, without anesthetic I would guess, from the way she was biting her lip to keep from screaming, and Temari had blood-soaked bandages wrapped around both of her forearms, and her fingers were dripping with the thick red substance.

"What the hell…?" I asked.

Temari whipped her head up, her eyes sharp with pain. "There's something out there, Sakura."

"What?"

"Something big, something evil, and something that really does not like us."