Finally hit over 100 reviews. Big shoutout to people like The True Not Important, Charrmed and Akatsuki no Kyara a complete TON. You guys have supported this story so much and it just feels awesome to know I have so many readers per chapter, and of course, a shoutout also to my 100th reviewer, imsabbel. Tremendous support. Thank you everyone.

Surprised to see no one reviewing about how I'm overpowering Team 7. Brilliant.

P.S. Just a short notice: I have rewritten the scene with the Sound Trio in Chapter 18: Kabuto's Plan B.

imsabbel: Why not? ;)

Charrmed: Yeah, Itachi is a bit tough to write, but I'll try my best.

diandra: Gotta agree with you about the first part of your review, I'm not content with how I've written Itachi in this story. But why wouldn't Itachi treat his little brother like he would Naruto & Sakura? To me, Sasuke really loved his brother before the massacre, and they could have patched whatever issues they had in the 6 years they spent together, that in canon were cut off by the horrible massacre. :P

TheOrangeStar802: Don't spoil it for the rest! ;)

Thanks to imsabbel, Charrmed, Pyr00tje, The True Not Important, Akatsuki no Kyara, diandra and TheOrangeStar802 for the reviews!

"Holy cow nuggets..."

Sasuke stared at the huge dent in the wall.

"I did that...?"

Kakashi blinked. "Yeah, of course you did. The Chidori is a very destructive jutsu. That's why, I have to remind you. Don't use it on any of your comrades. You got me?"

"Of course. Thanks Kakashi-sensei."

Smiling beneath his mask, Kakashi nodded.

"Well, you've been quite a good student, Sasuke. It's just one more day until the third exams, so why don't you take the day off today?"

"Good idea. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke bowed, and hurried down the mountain. He was craving for rice balls.

Sasuke walked down the streets of Konoha, his steps getting larger every time he inched closer to his destination.

The rice balls. Oh yeessss. Rice balls.

He had not eaten any in four weeks.

The Chidori had proven to be extremely tough to learn, but he'd mastered it, and that was what counted. Half the time he trained to master the Lightning Style technique, the Cursed Seal had broke out. Sasuke had managed to push the influence of the evil mark back every single time.

Looks like I'm improving with the control thing, Sasuke smiled.

His typical shinobi senses suddenly picked up, and Sasuke turned his head sharply.

Unfortunately, it was too late as he was tackled to the ground. He caught the sight of long, flowing black hair as he landed on his bum.

"Ouch... what the hell...?"

Kin Tsuchi shook her head adamantly.

"No! I refuse to..."

Kabuto tugged at her hair. Kin felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She cursed herself. A kunoichi never cried.

"You don't have a choice," the voice of Orochimaru came in the darkness.

"N-No... Please... Orochimaru-sama..."

"Let go of her. Kabuto."

Nodding, the bespectacled man released the Oto nin.

"Today is your last day in the world of the living." Orochimaru addressed his subordinate. "Tomorrow, I expect you to report to the location of the third exam at 9 o'clock in the morning sharp." He hissed. "If you don't turn up, we will hunt you down."

Kin felt herself shaking.

"Since today is your last day..." Orochimaru smirked. "I won't be so harsh. You can do whatever you'd like, here in the pathetic village that is Konoha." He gestured for the girl to be brought out. "We will see you tomorrow."

Getting up on her feet, Kin ran. She didn't know where she would run to. She just ran.

Kabuto looked towards Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-sama... Are you sure she will turn up at the stadium?" Kabuto asked in concern. "We need two sacrifices for that summoning after all. Zaku has already agreed, but..."

"That's why I want you to keep an eye on her, Kabuto."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right. I will do that." He turned. "Say, Orochimaru-sama. What happened to Dosu?"

"He's the leader of the team, so of course he's being punished for how pathetic Kin and Zaku were in the exams." Orochimaru snorted. "I expected more."

"Oh right. Of course." Kabuto nodded in understanding. "I will take my leave now, Orochimaru-sama."

"Go. And keep a close eye on her."

Kin raced from Orochimaru's Leaf hideout to the busy streets of the city. She couldn't help a few tears running down her eyes.

I'm going to be a sacrifice, the Sound nin almost burst into tears at the thought. For some stupid Reanimation Jutsu! Why? Why me?

Kin didn't want to die at the age of 14. Even if she did, she wanted to be dying on the battlefield. Not as a sacrifice in some creepy jutsu.

Her mind ran through a list of things she would never get to do.

To her surprise, Kin felt herself colliding with a solid body. Cursing her clumsiness, the teen quickly tried to pick herself up.

"Ouch... what the hell...?"

Kin looked towards the person she'd bumped into, surprised at how the voice was eerily familiar. Sasuke Uchiha was on the ground beneath her, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown.

Picking herself up, Kin glared at Sasuke.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Me?" Sasuke got up as well. "Wha-? Hey it was..."

He noticed tears on the lady's face, and quickly brushed them away.

"W-What are you doing?" Kin snapped.

"Sorry," Sasuke apologized. "Did I bump into you that bad?"

"No," the young girl snarled, her tone warning Sasuke to get away from her. She didn't need to talk to anyone right now. She just wanted to be alone.

The Leaf Genin either didn't catch her tone of voice, or chose to ignore it. He smiled at her. "You are Kin Tsuchi, aren't you?"

Kin blinked. She didn't expect the cockatoo-haired bastard to remember her. "Y-Yeah."

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"That's blatantly obvious," Kin snorted.

"Right," Sasuke sighed. "Are you okay? You were crying, you know."

"I know-" Kin blurted out. Then she stopped herself. "I mean, I wasn't. I just had dirt in my eyes. That's all."

"Right," Sasuke repeated, with an unconvinced look. "Anyway, I'm sorry for bumping into you and making you cry." He knew it wasn't his fault, but it was basic Uchiha politeness.

When the tears continued rolling down the cheeks, Sasuke started panicking.

"Uh, look. Since I made you cry, I'll treat you to lunch, as like, compensation, okay? Just don't cry anymore," he said nervously, looking around. Surrounding passers-by were all glancing curiously at him and the scarfed girl.

Kin said nothing, but after a few seconds passed, she gave a slow nod.

She felt a tug on her hand as Sasuke led her away.

She looked up from her tears after a minute to see that the Uchiha had led her into a small restaurant.

Kin was dragged to the deepest end of the restaurant and to her surprise Sasuke very gentlemanly pulled her seat out for her.

"You don't have to do that," she spoke softly.

Sasuke shrugged. "My parents taught me manners, so yeah."

Scowling, Kin looked at the menu.

"Order anything you want! I'll pay." Sasuke grinned.

Smirking evilly, she said, "So I can order one of everything?"

"Yeah." Sasuke shrugged again.

Kin stared at the boy in disbelief, but nodded and called the waiter over. She was going to treat herself to a feast on her last day.

Sasuke swore he saw the waiter's eyes being replaced by dollar-signs as Kin rattled off every dish on the menu. When the waiter finally turned to him, he grinned and pointed to a picture of rice balls on his menu.

Nodding, the waiter rushed off to the kitchen.

"So, what's the Sound village like?"

"Um, it's nice." Kin replied, looking downwards. He didn't need to know this 'village' of hers was no village, simply a piece of large land surrounded by numerous hideouts and bases of Orochimaru. The only building that wasn't a hideout or base was this huge tower, where Orochimaru stayed whenever he was in Oto.

"I'm sure," Sasuke smiled. "So, when's your team returning?"

Never, Kin wanted to say, but bit her lip. Then she wondered why she was doing so.

"Never," she replied boldly.

"What?"

"Oh, I mean..." Kin looked away sheepishly. "I don't know."

Briefly, she wondered how this boy was acting so calm around her when her team had attacked his in the forest and declared their mission to kill him. Perhaps he didn't take us seriously, Kin frowned at the thought.

The food soon came and Kin dug hungrily into her meal.

Sasuke watched her eat in amusement as he popped a rice ball into his mouth. He savored the taste, before swallowing it. Rice balls were the best things in the world, he was sure. Then he turned his attention back to the female in front of him.

"You know, you're eating as if there's no tomorrow." He joked.

Kin stopped. She dropped her chopsticks. Sasuke's eyebrow raised.

Then, the Oto nin burst into tears. She couldn't stop herself. Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm.

"Wh-What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Shut up, you bastard," Kin sobbed.

Sasuke wondered if the girl was on her period.

Going over to her side, he awkwardly patted Kin's head.

"I'm um, sorry for making you cry again." Sasuke sighed. "Please stop crying." He mentally swore as Kin started crying harder. Looking around, Sasuke frowned at the number of people in the restaurant that were staring in their direction.

Girls are tougher to handle than missions, the Genin shook his head. He had to end her crying fast.

"Come on, stop crying."

That didn't work.

"You look beautiful when you aren't crying, so don't."

Kin stopped.

Sasuke mentally cheered for himself.

These cheers turned into a string of curses as Kin continued her sobbing, but this time the raven-haired boy was surprised as Kin pulled him into a crushing hug while continuing her waterfall of tears.

Not knowing what to do, Sasuke timidly placed his hand on her back.

"Kin," Sasuke spoke her name, but Kin wasn't about to let go. With a sigh, he reluctantly hugged her back. "Stop crying, okay? Please?"

Kin stopped after a minute. Sasuke wiped the tears off her face and grinned. "There."

Taking his arm, Kin started pulling him away. "Come on. Let's go."

"W-Wait, what about the-" He stared at the table. Kin had only finished a quarter of what she'd ordered. Grumbling, Sasuke dumped a few yen onto the counter just as Kin dragged him out of the restaurant. Sighing, he turned to the scarfed ninja. "Where to?"

Looking around, Kin spotted a sign.

"The amusement park."

"Whaaaaat?" Sasuke frowned. "Do you have any money?"

"No."

"Then I'll have to pay for you."

"Yes."

"But if I do that I won't have money for lunch next week."

"Too bad."

"You're lucky you cry easily," Sasuke grumbled.

"I do not cry easily!" Kin shrieked at him.

"Right," Sasuke replied, unconvinced as they walked through the entrance of the amusement park.

"Konoha's Forest of Fun?" Kin read, amused.

"Worst name ever, right?" Her companion laughed. "Stay here. I'll get tickets."

As Sasuke left her, Kabuto pondered going in, capturing the foolish girl and bringing her back to Orochimaru before she told Sasuke anything about the invasion tomorrow.

However, Sasuke returned pretty quickly, and Kabuto returned into the cover of the shadows.

Flashing two tickets, Sasuke handed Kin one. "I think you'll like this place."

"I will?" Kin looked around. "I've never been to such a place before."

Well, that's one thing that I haven't done before checked off the list, she closed her eyes, trying to hide the depressed look that she knew she had in her eyes. Thankfully, Sasuke didn't seem to spot it, and led her away.

"Roller coaster?" Kin grinned, looking up at the attraction. "What's that?"

"You don't know what a roller coaster is?" Sasuke spluttered.

"Nope."

"That's good. Let's have you stay that way."

"No, I want to ride on it," Kin said excitedly, as she watched the train-like thing move around swiftly on the rails.

Sasuke paled. He was hoping she wouldn't ask that. With a defeated look, he pulled Kin into the queue.

Being a ninja was easier than riding on a roller-coaster.

Sasuke realized that when he first rode the terrible train of doom, and the same thoughts returned to his brain as he unbuckled the seat belt and got off the, in his opinion, worst attraction in the amusement park.

"Wooo! That was fun! Let's go again!"

"No way," Sasuke shook his head, leading her away.

"Is the big brave Uchiha-san scared?" Kin teased.

Blushing, Sasuke didn't answer.

He spotted a cotton candy stand.

"Cotton candy?" Kin walked up to the stand and examined the pink fluffy thing with curiosity. "Can these be eaten?"

Sasuke shot her a look. "Are you kidding?"

"I haven't seen these before," she retorted. "Are they tasty?"

"Oh, very," Sasuke's lips curled into a smile. Kin then shot him a pleading gaze, and with a heavy heart, Sasuke got out his weasel-styled wallet and emptied all his money onto the table of the stand. Coincidentally, it was just enough for two cotton candies.

The owner of the stand handed Sasuke two of the pink snacks. He handed one over to Kin, and watched with a smile as she bit into the candy floss and nodded approvingly.

"Let's go to that!" Kin pointed out a huge wheel.

The Ferris Wheel, Sasuke thought. No way.

This particular Ferris Wheel wasn't particularly a slow, moving circle that allowed you to view the beautiful scenery. No, it was a fast-going wheel where you would be seated in one of the seats, buckled with a seat belt, and then just go spinning around the wheel until it stopped.

"I'm not going-"

Kin didn't wait for him to finish, and instead jumped onto his back.

"Full speed ahead!" She screamed into his ear.

Wincing, Sasuke walked slowly over to the wheel, a feeling of fear rising in his stomach. Then his attention turned to the smiling Kin on his back, arms wrapped around his neck.

He didn't know why, but he was enjoying the presence of this crazy lady on his back.

I could get used to this.

Sasuke and Kin collapsed onto the benches.

"Heeeeey." Kin slurred.

"I told you not to drink any of that," Sasuke scolded. Kin had stumbled upon a man giving out free alcoholic drinks.

Ignoring him, Kin wrapped her arms around Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kuuuun." She breathed into his ear, making him shiver. "Fuckin' amazing day, hmmmmm?"

Sasuke couldn't help but agree with that. He had spent the entire day with a stranger, and he enjoyed it. Smiling a little, he nodded. "I suppose."

"Youuuu are such a gooood guy, Sasuke-kuuuun." Kin had a goofy grin plastered on her face. "It's a..." She paused, releasing Sasuke and turning the other way to release the vomit from her mouth. Sasuke looked on in disgust.

Kin's head snapped back to Sasuke and she sighed happily, finishing her sentence. "It's a pitaayy I won't see ya 'gain, huuuh."

"Do you mean when you return to your village?" Sasuke smiled. "Don't worry-"

He was cut off. "Naaaaaw. It's 'coz I'm gunna die 'morrow y'know!" She chuckled loudly.

A few passers-by glanced their way, but this time, Sasuke didn't care.

"What?!" He yelled. "What do you mean?"

"I aaaam gunna be uuused as some shitty sa-qwee-fyce," Kin shrugged, her mad grin remaining on her lips. Sasuke miraculously made out the word she was trying to say as 'sacrifice'.

"Thank you all for coming to Konoha's Forest of Fun tonight! We will now begin the fireworks display!" A booming voice announced through the nearby speakers.

Fireworks shot into the air.

"Beeeee-yoo-teeeful," Kin commented. She turned to see Sasuke staring at her with a worried look on his face. "Why sooo seeewious?" She giggled, and leaned in.

Sasuke's eyes widened as Kin's lips slammed into his.

His mind registered a few things.

This was his first kiss.

She tasted like alcohol.

Sasuke's first instinct was to pull away, but Kin forced him to remain by placing a hand behind his neck. Gradually, Sasuke began to return the kiss, and as they pulled away, he could feel his cheeks reddening.

"That was aaaamazeeeeeeng." Kin declared.

Crushing her into a hug, Sasuke spoke the first words that came to his mind.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

For some reason, Kin felt a content smile crawling onto her lips. Then her eyelids drooped, and she dozed off.

A smile hung onto Sasuke's face as he released the sleeping Kin.

A fuckin' amazing day indeed.

I'm not much of a romance writer, but hey, it was worth a shot. What do you think?

In the next chapter, Itachi is introduced to Kin, and the third exam begins.