"Alright, I admit it, I'm lost!" Kyoko said, quite frustrated with herself. So much for her expert navigation skills; they certainly did her no good when she couldn't find her hair brush.

She sighed again, and then began climbing a tree to get a better lay of the land. It was dark in the woods, but the moon shone bright above the tree tops. When she broke free of the thicket, she was nearly blinded by the moon's light. She squinted until her eyes adjusted.

Had this been a different time, under different circumstances, this sight would have been one to marvel at. The trees continued on for another half mile then abruptly ended and a large field began. It spread out for miles to the north and south, lush with wild grass a two meters tall. Where the grass ended a stream began and wound its way around and out to the mountains surrounding the field. The moon reflected off the stream, as smooth as glace and cherry trees dotted the banks if the stream; blossoms in full bloom.

She did a quick scan of the area. She needed to head went, to Tamaka. From her current location, she couldn't see it, but knew of its general whereabouts. Directly behind here lay the village from which she had just come. She could faintly make out its outline and the faint flow of light emitting form it.

Confident she knew where she should be going, she quickly descended the tree and began heading westward. The trees grew thicker before she finally broke free. She began sauntering through the filed, momentarily forgetting her main goal. It rushed back to her when she heard the loud snap of a branch. She panicked as all instincts kicked in a crouched down in the grass, keeping low as she slowly began inching her way to the safety of the trees.

Before she could reach them, a figure loomed out of the forest. She knew who he was right away. His Akatsuki cloak, sharingan eyes and the sickly feeling his very presence left in the pit of her stomach made it all to clear.

'How did he know I left?' She thought, going over her exact escape. Granted, she had gotten slightly sloppy; her feeble desperation interfered with her naturally flawless abilities. She drew in a sharp breath, and watched him closely.

He roamed the tall grass; aimlessly. Was he aware of her disappearance? If course he was, why else would he be this far from his village? Kyoko entertained for an instant the notion that he was merely out for a 'stroll'; which fit perfectly with her first notion of him, he was crazed.

When he stood there and just stared out into the distance, she mustered up all the courage she had to get to the forest.

"You do know you're still wearing that collar, right?" his voice rang through the filed, rolling off the grass and floating through the wind. She gulped; this wasn't going to go over well.

With this collar, all her jutsus, and ever her sharingan, were completely useless. She searched her memory for any form of jutsu that could be even remotely possible; nothing. All were useless at this point.

'Great, maybe I can make him laugh himself to death.' She thought bitterly.

"Do you have something against shoes?" He asked, looking down at her feet.

She arched an eyebrow and looked down at her feet; bare save for the socks that were getting close to a muddy brown color. She cursed silently, in her haste she had made a point of changing into Sasuke's old clothes but, once again, forgot her shoes. Why had she not noticed till now?

While she was distracted by her thoughts, Kiyo advanced towards her, a series of punches greeting her. She braced her arms in front of her, blocking each blow as best she could. She finally had an opening! She planted both feet firmly on the ground and waited for his next attack. When it came, she crossed her wrists, catching his arm between them. She grabbed his wrist with one hand and braced his elbow for leverage with the other. Twisting her body around, she shifted all weight to her right leg. With one great heave, she threw her brother over her shoulder, slamming him upside down into the ground.

"So you really are a ninja!" He smirked.

"Don't act so surprised."

He slid his wrist from her hand and lifted his feet off the ground. Planting his hands palm down on the ground above his head, he pushed off and sprang to his feet.

Anticipating his next move, she side stepped swiftly coming up behind him and kicking his feet out; but he recuperated. He spun; fist extended and hit her in the jaw, snapping her head back. With the extra momentum, she spun down wards onto one knee. Bracing her weight with her hands, she extended one leg upwards, nailing Kiyo in the jaw and sending him into the air. She then turned over on all fours and jumped up.

Directly behind him, she drove her fingers into his back on a pressure point; immobilizing him for the moment. With that, she grabbed his arm and spun him around and kicked him in the side. Kiyo blocked it easy enough. With another twist, she was then beside him and brought her arm down on his face and sending him spiraling to the ground. Seconds before he hit, she landed one more kick to his gut; causing his body to curl forwards as it hit.

'Lion's Barrage!' She thought. Kyoko landed beside him, a few feet from the stream.

A cloud of smoke settled in suddenly and made it hard for her to see. It filled her lungs and caused her to cough, straining her lungs and throat. When it finally did clear, Kiyo was not where she had left him; instead a large log had taken his place.

'Replacement!' she thought worriedly. She had to establish his position and quickly before……

A cold hand wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air supply. She was thrust backwards, into the icy stream. Her head was pushed under the water and it filled her mouth and lings. She closed her eyes when her lungs began to burn. She gaped like a fish and her lungs were begging for air, refusing the water that now spilled into them.

He mind began to race and she started to panic. Her heart had rapidly begun to speed up from the panic, but slowly began to slow to a frightening pace as it got less air.

Was this the end?

XXXXXXXXX

Temari stared at the group in front of her, confusion creasing her brow. She and Gaara had arrived at Tamaka moments ago and were searching the perimeters for the three genin. Instead, they had run into a bunch of bakas.

They had heard the group long before seeing them; no thanks to Naruto. They came up and Temari had spoken, startling them and causing Ino, Sakura and Naruto to call out in alarm.

Scream, as Gaara had put it.

"Jumpy much?" Temari asked, arching an eyebrow. "What are Nara and Yamanaka doing here?"

"Just Nara, they got married remember?" Gaara said, correcting his sister's error.

"My apologies," She said sarcastically. Kazekage or not he was still her little brother; but perhaps there was more to it. Was it, jealousy? "What's with the party?" she continued, placing her hands on her hips. Her large fan strapped to her back.

Naruto had calmed down enough to reply, "We're looking for our kids."

"Did something happen to them? How's Konoha?" Gaara asked; monotone.

"The village isn't doing as well as we would like, bit it's standing firm." Sasuke answered, still slightly annoyed with the three's out burst and Temari and Gaara's sudden appearance; without the children. He had hoped to have found the genin already with them. "We're trying to find the kids, Sakura was worried."

Gaara nodded, "They're close,"

"How do you know?" Sakura asked.

"Cause I ran into your song not two minutes ago." He said, addressing Naruto. "He went to go get the others."

"Ruuto," Hinata said excitedly.

Her happiness was soon increased when Kankuro, Rai and Ruuto rounded the corner.

"DAD!" Ruuto cheered and ran to embrace him. "Mom, I missed you!" He said, holding them both in a hug. They both smiled and encircled him, merging into a group hug.

Ino ran to Rai and hugged him rightly, soon joined by Shikamaru; who was trying his hardest not to cry.

Sasuke and Sakura waited anxiously as Kankuro rounded the corner, followed by a girl. When she stepped into full view, their hearts sank.

"Kankuro, where's Kyoko?" Sasuke asked him.

The man sighed, "Look, Uchiha, Kyoko…" hr paused and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What happened to her!?" Sasuke nearly yelled; panic obvious in his voice.

"She was kidnapped," He finally said.

Sasuke could feel his hear give out and his breath die in his lungs. "Who…when…" he couldn't speak properly.

"Suki said it was by a Kiyo Uchiha, any relation?"

With that, Sasuke's heart completely obliterated. His hands shook and his eyes were bursting with fresh tears. What broke him the most, was hearing Sakura's sob converge with his own.

XXXXXXXX

Her lungs hurt more then when she was underwater. She lay face down on the bank of the stream, regurgitating the water in her lungs, strings of saliva hanging from her chin. She gasped through he flow, one hand clutching her stomach.

"Do not cross me again, or next time, I will kill you." Kiyo said, watching the pathetic little creature clasp onto her pitiful waste of a life.

"Wait, I think I've heard this one before." She said hoarsely, immediately regretting it.

Sharp pain spread through her ribs as he delivered a hard kick to her abdomen. Two, maybe three ribs were broken. He grabbed her shirt collar and lifted her off the ground, delivering a second strike to her jaw. Satisfied, he dropped her, a pleased smirk plastered on his face. All thoughts of compassion he had once held for the incompetent creature were now gone. All he wasted to do, now, was to beat her; possibly kill her. He had had enough of her and thoughts of killing her pleased him immensely.

He needed to focus on the goal. If he killed her now, all that he had worked towards, all his efforts would have been in vane.

Kyoko, once again, lay face down on the ground. A groan emanated from the back of her throat and she curled into her self, both arms wrapped around her middle. Her mouth was filled with a revolting iron taste. She tried to spit it out, but it just proceeded to run down her chin.

"Get up," Kiyo ordered. When she didn't, he began to kick her until she complied; staggering to her feet. "Not, walk," Her ordered again as he blindfolded her and began leading her away.

Kyoko no longer contained the strength to resist him, so she complied; realizing all further actions and any hope she once had was superfluous.