Yep. This is a thing.

I'm back, bebeh. (For now)

Shylah's P.o.V.

I woke up with a runny nose and puffy, tear-filled eyes. Last night, after arriving home from my trip (When had I started referring to this place as home?), I was too tired to follow Sasori all the way to his room, so I ended up sleeping in my own bed. The door had been left propped open, apparently letting in… some kind of allergen that was threatening to induce an asthma attack.

Sitting up, I yawned wheezily and hastily used the inside of my blanket to dry my eyes. Upon looking up from said blanket, I glanced back at my pillow to find the space that had been surrounding my head occupied by two kittens. "How the… Why are there cats in my room? Whose bright idea was it to adopt frickin' kittens?" Scrambling out of bed, I hastily threw on some clothes and walked quickly into the hallway. A quick look behind my shoulder showed me that the little allergen-producers were tailing me, curious kitten eyes watching my feet walk.

After a few minutes I arrived at Sasori's door and pushed it open unceremoniously. "Help me out, puppet-boy."

He glanced at me, eyes narrowed. "Shut the door. Why should I help you when you've suddenly forgotten your manners?"

"Because someone brought in some – these things," I complained, nudging one of the kittens that had followed me in with my foot. "I'd rather not end up suffocating myself because these things don't know to stay away."

"What makes you think anything I make will be able to help you?" He asked, taking out a vial of blood and some other solutions nonetheless.

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" I replied as I sat on his bed and tried to relax my breathing. "I mean, the alternative is that I most likely die from an allergy-induced asthma attack." The kittens, meanwhile, had hopped up beside me and begun kneading my legs through my pants. Their little claws pressed on the material momentarily before popping through, and I knew that within a few minutes the skin underneath would break out into an uncomfortable rash. "Really?" I muttered, brushing them off of me. "You two are little demons come to torment me, huh?"

"I could possibly be persuaded to make a suppressant, but you seem to be in a relatively stable position and I see no need to waste unnecessary time working on such things when I need to repair one of my puppets." With that, he placed the materials aside and returned to his original task of repairing his most recently-damaged puppet.

"Gee, thanks, I just love feeling like I'm constantly going to die in the next hour or so," I muttered irritably. "Can't you just make an exception because you love me?"

Rather than dignify my teasing question with a response, Sasori continued to stubbornly work on his puppet. I stared at him with as much force as my gaze could muster, intent on making him uncomfortable enough to cause him to get back to helping me out. After a few seconds that were silent aside from my nearly-failing attempts at breathing, he sighed and put his puppet parts away. "Fine."

"Fine, you'll help, or fine, you're admitting that you still have a heart that is unable to resist my womanly charms and stunning good looks?" Ignoring his scoff, I relaxed and snuggled up under his blankets. "I guess it was worth it to willingly enter your bed."

"Now I know you're just using me for my expertise."

I rolled over to face him and raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Yeah, 'expertise'. We'll go with that." Rolling back over, I encountered two obstacles of the fluffy, kitten variety. "Move over, balls of fuzzy death. I'm trying to make my last moments in this world as comfortable as possible, since Sasori is seemingly uncaring about my pitiful plight. Such a jerk," I added for his benefit, scooting the white one while the black one moved obligingly towards my feet.

"I said I was going to help you, and I am. Stop whining, it's annoying."

"Yes, dear."

Rather than acknowledge my sarcasm, he continued working on some kind of medicine. "So…" I muttered, petting the little black kitten absentmindedly. "How long until you're done?"

"Perhaps if you would stop whining and sit there like a good girl I would be finished by now."

"Not even you could work that fast. And I'm insulted that you would dare imply that I should be good. Actually, I'm downright scandalized. In what demented alternate reality does a criminal such as yourself desire the people around him to be simpering goody-two-shoes? Excuse me, but my mind is too valuable to give up to the delusion of things like 'the greater good' and 'humanity's inner goodness'." Through with my rant, I coughed wheezily and attempted to inhale. Finding that my nonstop talking had made it extremely difficult to breathe, I began to panic, making involuntary choking noises and gasping breaths that barely admitted any oxygen.

Turning towards me, Sasori withdrew a needle from a drawer before walking over and plunging it into my leg. A few tense seconds later, my breathing calmed down and slowly returned to normal. "You idiot. What kind of person is willing to literally talk themselves to death?" When I made to retort, he made a swift silencing motion with his arm. "No. Don't speak. Give yourself time to recover."

I nodded, put off by how weird I must have been acting to willingly endanger my own life by talking. Of all the ways to die, talking myself to death? I wasn't about that life. Death. Whatever.

"Good," he muttered under his breath, returning to his seat at his desk and working on some of that allergy medicine for me to take before things got as out of control as they just were.

Still embarrassed, I maneuvered myself under the covers so that the only visible parts of me were my eyes and a tuft of hair poking out as I watched Sasori work. The white-haired kitten suddenly hopped in front of my face and stuck his nose inside the little opening, determined to make my eyes itch and water again. With a swift flick of my fingers, he was sent reeling backwards until he almost fell off the bed. His lesson learned, he retreated out of sight, and I could hear the faint sounds of the other kitten and him getting into a playful fight. I ignored them in favor of closing my eyes and hoping for blissful sleep to come my way.

Tracey's P.o.V.

"You're back!" I squealed, doing my own little happy dance as Kisame and Itachi walked through the door, unscathed as per usual. "You'll never believe it! Ice and Neko went on a trip because Sasori and Deidara decided to take them with. They didn't bring back any souvenirs, though, which was totally mean. Fire went on a trip, too, except she went with Tobi and they're still not back, yet."

Kisame smirked. "At least wait until we're halfway through the door before talking our ears off. Don't you want to know how our trip went?"

Waving my hand nonchalantly in front of my face, I followed them to the living room. "You met some baddies and kicked their asses. What's there to tell?"

Falling back onto the couch, Kisame sighed dramatically. "I miss the days when she was hanging off our every word. Don't you, Itachi?" As Itachi took his seat next to Kisame, he stopped his mock-sorrow. "Where's Emi? She's usually following after you like a lost puppy, isn't she?"

I snuggled in between the two of them, grinning in satisfaction as they obligingly made room and scooted over to their respective ends. "Well, she was allowed to adopt these two kittens that she found on the street, so she's probably being their doting mother. It's adorable watching them follow her around like, well, lost kittens. She named the black one Akuma and the white one Tenshi, in case you were wondering."

Kisame nodded indulgingly before fixing his gaze towards one of the entrances to the living room expectantly. After a few seconds, he was rewarded with the sight of a visibly-worried Emi pacing into the living room, apparently searching for something. "Looking for something, Emi?" Kisame asked, startling her out of her concerned inner musings.

"Eep!" She squeaked, whirling to face us. Her face brightened, and she walked over to us. "When d-did you g-get back?"

"A minute at most. What have you been doing while we were gone?" Kisame asked politely, even though he already knew. I don't waste time filling people in on important details.

"Um, w-well, I adopted two kittens. I-I was allowed t-to," Emi rushed, her stuttering more prevalent as she stressed out about the possibility of being reprimanded by Kisame – who, no matter what she will or won't say in opposition, matters a lot to her. "K-Kakuzu let me keep them." Her frantic expression softened into a fond smile as she spoke about her darling babies – obviously not human babies, but around the same sentiment was conveyed. "I n-named the white one Tenshi, and the black one Akuma."

"Where are they?" Kisame inquired, looking around curiously.

"I-I don't know!" Emi exclaimed, a bit too quiet to be considered much of an exclamation, but it was enough to be considered one for her. She even covered her mouth and winced at us apologetically. "I've been looking for them for the past few minutes. Usually this is the time when I feed them, so they always make sure to come to me at this time of day. I'm kind of worried."

"Ice, Neko, Deidara, and Sasori all got back late last night. Maybe they were investigating the new people and got locked in a room with them," I pointed out helpfully. That didn't seem to soothe Emi's worries, though – if anything, she somehow managed to look even more stressed.

As if on cue, Ice walked grumpily into the room, a kitten under each arm. "These little furry death-traps tried to kill me this morning." When I giggled involuntarily as she placed them unceremoniously in Emi's outstretched arms, she narrowed her eyes. "I'm not even joking. Whose bright idea was it to allow felines in my presence? Was it you, Tracey?" She stared at me accusingly.

"I-It was me," Emi squeaked. When Ice focused her gaze on her, Emi shifted the kittens into a more protective position. "I named the w-white one Tenshi and the b-black one Akuma."

Cue comment about racism, I thought, suppressing another giggle to keep her attention off of me.

"The white one should be named Akuma instead. He's the devil incarnate," Ice announced. "Despite trying to kill me on multiple occasions, Akuma was a little angel." As if in protest, Tenshi sneezed before hopping out of Emi's arms and twining himself between Ice's ankles. "See? He's trying to trip me!" Ice exclaimed, nudging him back towards Emi with her foot. "Welcome back, guys," she called back over her shoulder as she made a hasty escape.

"Aw, she didn't mean it, Tenshi," I cooed, reaching my hand out to pet his soft, furry head. "She's just bitter because she's more of a dog person than a cat person. She'll warm up to you eventually, I promise." Tenshi glanced from me to Itachi before walking forward and jumping on my lap. With a little encouragement in the form of some professional petting by me, he settled down and began purring. After a few seconds, I winced when he began kneading his kitten claws into my leg.

To my left, Itachi shifted subtly, startling Tenshi into hopping off of me and onto the floor. I glanced up at Emi. "He's kind of skittish, isn't he, Em?"

Emi frowned concernedly at him. "Not usually…"

"I think the eight of you are magnets for strange things," Kisame put in. "Your kittens are no exception."

"What'cha mean?" I asked, studying Tenshi and Akuma suspiciously as Emi hugged her protectively again. "They look pretty normal."

"Their actions are a bit… off," Itachi pointed out.

"I did f-find them on the streets," Emi defended. "We d-don't know what their living c-conditions were like b-before now. For all we know, they could have been a-abused."

"Then I'm sure you'll give them a good home," Kisame placated, standing up and petting Akuma. Have you ever seen an extremely tall, buff man awkwardly petting a little kitten in order to appease an irate and equally tiny teenage girl? It's really funny, trust me.

The moment was soon over, and Kisame sat back down while Emi perched hesitantly on an armrest of our couch. "So what d-did you do while you were away?"

"It's a long story," Kisame began.

"Weren't you just complaining that I didn't ask about your trip?" I interrupted.

"At least Emi wants to know how our trip went," Kisame retorted, smirking down at me. "Back to what I was saying. We'd just gotten out of Ame when we were confronted by a small group of bandits. They took one look at us and ran away. We had to chase after them because Ame is already under scrutiny when it comes to the Akatsuki, and being spotted just outside of the border would be problematic. Once we took care of them-"

"You killed them?" I queried, more or less numb to the idea but wanting to make sure anyway.

"Of course we killed them… Sometimes I forget that where you come from isn't as dangerous as it usually is around here."

"Some parts are," I put in, feeling defensive for no particular reason. I mean, who wants to be able to brag that their homeland has a super-high death rate?

"Did you live in those places?" Itachi queried politely.

"Not the really dangerous parts. Reia went to some of those places, though."

"She seems rather trusting for someone who has been put in life-threatening situations."

"I-I think she tries not to think a-about it," Emi supplied, shifting Akuma over in order to allow Tenshi room to hop onto her lap.

Kisame nodded. "That makes sense. Now, about our mission…"

Reia's P.o.V.

Breathing deeply, I inhaled the soothing scent of an anemone. I was looking for a specific kind of flower, one that had been requested by a young woman who was planning to give the arrangement to a suitor she was too shy to confront on her own. Sure, it was odd to think that the flowers were for a girl to give to a guy, but there were stranger things and it was meant to be a form of communication that she couldn't express with words - poetry in the form of flowers.

Wading through the aisles of blossoms, I plucked a few anemone from their stand, since the others I'd been smelling previously weren't quite in full bloom. A few steps further and I had reached the bluebells I was seeking, before plucking an Erica branch from the main bush. Finally, I decided to make the message as clear as possible by grabbing some sweet pea and yellow tulips. Flower message in arms, I carried them over to a shallow pot and arranged them in a quick, nearly effortless Moribana upright style.

My employer, who insisted I call her 'Hanakotoba-san' or just 'Hana-san', waltzed over and inspected my work. She had an absentminded air about her most of the time, and was clumsy everywhere except for in her shop or her personal garden. There was something about being around flowering plants (because anything without flowers lacked the same effects) that changed Hana-san from oblivious and forgetful to alert and far more energetic.

"Good work, Reia-chan. Your Ikebana techniques have improved greatly over your employment here. Are you quite sure you want to add that churippu? Your message is fairly clear without it."

"Yes, Hana-san. I think it would emphasize that she doesn't reciprocate his love, and would rather he left her alone," I supplied.

She nodded as though I had given the appropriate answer to a vital quiz and began walking away. At the door, she paused like she'd just remembered something. "Oh, one of your friends is here."

"Is he?"

"He? Oh, no, not him. Would you like to keep that churippu to give to him, dear? Maybe add a nice sumire or shiragiku and a butakusa or jasumin to get your own point across?" She didn't wait for my answer before continuing. "No, dear, I meant a friend of the female persuasion. She had dark blonde hair, glasses, high cheekbones, a small mouth… I can tell her to go away, if you like. Otherwise, I don't mind if you take a quick break to chat with her. Let's see, I think her name was Shaira, or something along those lines."

I nodded. "Thank you, Hana-san. I'll go see her if that's alright with you." Taking my leave, I went out to greet Shylah. "What's wrong? You never seemed inclined to visit anyone's workplace before now. Did something happen? Are you looking for Mischa?"

Shylah opened her mouth to reply before closing it for a brief second. "Where's my sister?"

"I think she and Tobi went on a trip of their own the same day you four left. It must've been a spur of the moment thing, because she didn't leave a note or tell us. We didn't actually find out until a week later, when Zetsu apparently tracked Tobi down and learned why he was gone. He didn't say when they'd be back, though – their goal is to visit all of the known countries on a 'field trip' to educate Mischa about all the different countries."

Shylah was silent for a moment, her normally blank face contorting into a mixture of worry and rage. "If she survives I'm going to kill her!" Shylah practically shrieked in a rare display of emotion. "What was she thinking? I mean, she knows!" Here she began to pace back and forth in the street, paying no heed to the passersby who were forced to move out of her path. "She knows how dangerous that is! Cavorting around with a member of the Akatsuki, much less Tobito."

Ignoring the odd way in which she referred to Tobi, I decided to go for pointing out the obvious. "Tobi isn't actually a member of the Akatsuki, and wouldn't that make you a hypocrite since you did the exact same thing?"

Shylah seemed to sober up, and looked around skeptically before grabbing my hand and leading me into a nearby makeshift café. It was really a tea house, but they served almost the same purpose. "Right. I forgot myself for a moment, there. Nearly… It's different, though. Mischa's not…" She trailed off as a waitress came over and silently gave us a small menu, then resumed as soon as she was out of earshot. "Mischa's not as level-headed as I am. Not to mention that I didn't travel the world with Sasori. She's also less responsible-"

I snorted, interrupting her tirade. "I'm pretty sure you're the least responsible person I've ever met. What makes you say she's less responsible than you?"

Her cheeks tinged pink, made even more obvious by her extreme paleness. That was also out of character, because she rarely got embarrassed or flustered. "It's not that she's not responsible, it's just… y'know… She's easy to provoke, and doesn't think her actions through."

"That much is obvious. Tobi should keep her out of trouble, right?" We both lapsed into silence, most likely picturing equally concerning images of Mischa and Tobi egging each other on into greater and more elaborate versions of pranks and practical jokes. "Never mind. Still, that's not nearly as bad as what you're implying. He won't let her die, Shylah. They're friends, as odd as that sounds."

"You say that now…" Shylah muttered, a dark look passing over her face.

By the time the waitress came back to take our orders, Shylah had regained her blank mask and was able to give her order with a toneless voice. While she ordered kukicha, I ordered a simple sencha tea. We agreed on a combination of dried seaweed with rice crackers for a snack, although Shylah wasn't sure how to feel about eating seaweed. While we waited, I assured her that it wouldn't taste bad.

Once our orders arrived, we settled back to the topic we'd been speaking of previously. "I'm just worried about her, I guess."

"The almighty, unfeeling Shylah is worried for her little sister. How sweet," I quipped teasingly.

"Watch it," she muttered before nibbling on a bit of seaweed. "Not bad… Speaking of emotional attachments, according to Tiamat, Zetsu seems convinced that you're avoiding him. Any opinion one way or the other?"

Avoiding her gaze, I sipped my tea while I gathered my thoughts. "I'm just taking your advice," I defended lamely.

"I didn't say to avoid the man… men… whatever. I just said to keep your distance." When I opened my mouth to retort, she held up her hand. "Drink your tea, Reia. You know I meant emotionally, not physically. It's just a little suspicious when you randomly distance yourself from the dude you've been hanging out with since you first arrived here. Need I remind you that ninja in general, not even taking into consideration criminal ninja, tend to be excessively paranoid?"

"I know, I just thought that some distance would be good to let me gather my thoughts and be ready to face him… eventually. I do miss the greenhouse."

"I'm sure he'd feel flattered knowing that the only reason you hang around him is to use his greenhouse," Shylah commented dryly. "Not like you made him believe you actually care about him or anything."

"It's not like that!" I exclaimed, heat flooding my face. "I just… It's something we both did, together. It's our thing. In a way, it almost symbolizes our… friendship."

Shylah gave me a penetrating look that seemed to last for centuries. "Maybe you do need a break. You're talking about your greenhouse biome – which he would've made whether you were here or not – as if it was your baby. In case you hadn't noticed, you were neither pregnant nor giving birth to a child. You shouldn't be making comparisons like that, even in reference, considering that we'll be leaving eventually.

"Yeesh, you make it sound like people just wake up and suddenly want to marry somebody."

"It doesn't work that way?"

"…For a genius, you can be rather naïve."

"Says Miss Goody-Two-Shoes."

"Am not!"

"Are, too!"

"I'm not having this argument with you right now," I muttered, placing some money on the table and getting up to leave.

"Maturity is overrated!" Shylah called after me.

Tisha's P.o.V.

Kakuzu and Hidan still weren't back, yet, which was just fine by me. I didn't need either of them. I was a strong, independent female with a sexy body that would make Aphrodite jealous. Not to mention the fact that I could just bother Cat and Deidara until more appealing prey – er, friends – happened along. As things were, I was joyfully playing the third wheel to the duo's little hangout session, supervising them in the name of spending more time with a childhood friend.

At the moment, Deidara and I were discovering a common interest in pyrotechnics – specifically, one particular side that Cat had a harder time sharing our… enthusiasm… for.

"What's it like to just explode someone?" I asked after Deidara demonstrated his 'art' for my benefit. I didn't see anything particularly artistic about it, but then again I didn't see any merit in painting random lines and squiggles on a piece of canvas, either. To each their own, or whatever phrase it was that people used to seem open-minded when they really just thought it was stupid but didn't feel up to arguing about opinions.

"Why do you want to know, hm?" He asked, raising his one visible eyebrow at me. Sure, it was a weird question, but you'd think he'd be happy I was taking an interest in his 'art'.

"Uh, because I can?" I retorted, rolling my eyes at Cat to emphasize how stupid his question was. She returned my eye roll with one of her own, more at my antics than at anything he did.

Deidara frowned momentarily before smirking in that cocky way that totally pissed me off. "It's inspiring, yeah. When you hear their screams as they realize their own mortality, it feels like at that moment they truly understand the meaning of art. Of course, they don't appreciate it as much as I do, but at least they get to know the finite qualities of the universe as they go out in one glorious, artistic bang, un."

I was silent for a few moments, processing through his mini speech. "You sound like a raving lunatic. Have you been talking to Hidan, by any chance?"

Scoffing, Deidara turned away from me and focused on the clay his hands were shaping. "Don't mistake a zealot's psychotic rants for an artist's monologue, hm."

I met Cat's eyes and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, mouthing that it was a sensitive topic. I smirked before addressing Deidara again. "Is this all you do? Sit here, make bombs, explode them, make more bombs, explode them?"

"No, I don't. I also work on jutsu, but to actually test them out I need to be out of Ame so that I don't piss off Leader-sama, hm. That reminds me, I think Sasori-danna and I have a mission to do now that we're back from getting supplies. See ya, Cat, un." With that farewell – in which he clearly left me out because I was irritating him – Deidara let loose his clay creation, blowing it up once it reached the ceiling before leaving with one of those ninja fast-step things or whatever they're called.

Cat looked over at me, her eyes clearly blaming me for Deidara's hasty departure. "Really?"

"What?"

Shylah's P.o.V. (Again) (Flashback to the Trip)

Contrary to what my sleeping habits prior to living in the Akatsuki hideout, where every moment in peace and silence was a gift I treasured while in my dreams, would tell you, I like my sleep. In fact, I can't function normally without at least my full eight hours. I get irritable, and snappy, and all my negative traits are emphasized all the more by the misanthropic feelings that seep from my very pores when I don't get enough sleep.

I'm ranting because, one hour after we arrived at the little inn on the outskirts of a relatively large village in Kawa, I have awoken. Actually, I have been awakened by an irritating puppet handler who had apparently needed to get out of his protective shell in order to wake me up without being loud enough to disturb the blond and redhead on the other bed.

"What?" I grumbled, sleep limiting the volume of my voice when lack of sleep would have increased it.

"We're here to replenish our supply of weapons. Let's not waste any more time here," Sasori muttered, barely loud enough for even my hearing to pick up. Sure, I didn't have the advantage of chakra, but my hearing was remarkably high.

"Can't you wake up Deidara and take him?" I half-whined, closing my eyes and letting sleep overtake me.

A whack on my head woke me up quickly, and I sat up with a start while Sasori tossed me a cold, wet cloth. "Use that to wake up if you need to. Deidara can sleep because, as ninja, our rest is more important than yours. He will protect Neko if any enemy ninja saw us when we entered Kawa."

"Why did you wake me up? You're a big boy, you can take care of yourself," my wit replied for me as I gingerly pressed the cold cloth to my eyelids and the back of my neck.

"You will be carrying bags."

"My precious sleep is being missed because you're too lazy to carry your own stinking bags. Great." Tossing the cloth in a random direction, I pouted at Sasori. "Why did we even walk at a civilian pace in the first place? We could've been here by sundown if you'd just shunshin-ed us all the way here."

Sasori gave me a deadpan stare before turning back to Hiruko. "We were trying not to attract suspicion. There have been rumors that Ame is suspected of housing one of our hideouts, and we couldn't risk being seen entering Kawa no Kuni coming from Ame." He entered Hiruko's protective shell, closing himself off from the outside world like an emo teenager entering his room.

"I was awake until three in the morning because I had to hang on to your cloak." I paused as a curious thought hit me while Sasori scoffed at my weakness. "You guys have a hideout in Kawa?"

"Whether or not we do, it would be idiotic to risk detection simply because you were tired," Sasori replied, moving towards the door.

As far as I'm concerned, that's an admission. "You totally do," I chimed as I followed him out of the room, only thinking after the door was shut that Cat wouldn't appreciate waking up next to Deidara. "D'you think we should-a moved Cat to the other bed?"

"As I recall, you wanted your own bed and refused to share with her."

"Well, now that I know I won't actually be using it…" I trailed off, still reluctant to give up my claim even if it made sense to do so. "We better get back when they wake up so I can see her reaction."

"We'll see."

"Dude." He didn't react. "Fine. Be that way. When do I get to eat?"

"Tell me when you're hungry."

"Deal."

While I waited for my stomach to growl in hunger, I occupied myself with studying my surroundings. When we'd arrived in Takumi, I'd been more preoccupied with my lack of sleep than the appearance of the village. From what I remembered in the anime, Takumi was originally the hub of the ninja weapons' trade, with its craftsmen far surpassing those of the other nations. Of course, that didn't last forever, and they weren't as great as they once were. As far as the actual filler plot revolving around the village, though… I couldn't exactly ask Sasori about it without garnering suspicion, and it didn't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

Actually… That guy looked like one of the people who went after Gaara. Had it not happened, yet?

That would definitely make this pre-Shippuden, maybe even pre-original series. We can't be that far in the past, though, since Hidan and Deidara are part of the Akatsuki. No matter when we are, as long as we get home before the start of Shippuden we should be relatively safe. Er, as safe as we can be when living with an S-ranked criminal organization like the Akatsuki, which would be not very.

After walking for an excessively long time (having to keep pace with Sasori when he's inside Hiruko would be effective as a punishment), we stopped in front of a nondescript shop that was too plain to be anything other than either a secret lair or a weapons shop for ninja. Considering that we'd stopped in front of it, I was willing to bet the latter.

"Wait out here," Sasori ordered as he managed to open the door without a huge struggle to reach up that far.

"Hold up. Why do I have to wait out here? Shouldn't I stick close to you, where it's… well, not safe, but well-protected?" I complained, eyeing the surrounding area suspiciously.

"You're clearly not a ninja. Your presence would just attract unnecessary attention to us when we want none," he replied before entering the building without a single glance back to make sure I was safe.

"Jerk," I muttered, wandering slightly to look in the windows of another store. I didn't trust the windows of a shop for ninja to actually show what was on the inside. Of course, having just complained that it was unsafe for me to be wandering around Takumi alone, it had yet to occur to me that maintaining a close proximity with the shop Sasori had entered was safer than going window shopping. To be honest, I'd only brought up my safety because I wanted to go into a weapons shop and inspect all the shiny, metallic objects of death.

"It's a good thing we didn't send our genin team to Konoha for the chunin exams," a nearby man said to his friend. I perked up slightly, and, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible, sidled over to a better location for eavesdropping.

"No kidding! But it's not like they would've taken our team seriously, anyway. No one has any respect for Takumi anymore."

"Fair point. I hear their last Uchiha left them. Don't know where he went, though."

The second man scoffed. "Konoha must not be what it once was if they can't keep one entitled brat from leaving the village."

"Just think, there's a valuable bloodline running loose with no one to protect it. Think we could catch 'im? Might help us get some prestige back, or at least some of our manpower."

"Yeah, and then we'd have Konoha ready to take us all out when word gets out that some of our ninja have the Sharingan. Not worth it. We should just stick to weapons and let the other nations battle it out."

"Damn shame, though," the first man lamented as they moved from where they'd been talking and went on their way after buying something from an outdoor stall.

Pre-Shippuden, then? In that case, we have around two years before we reach the Naruto danger zone. I don't want to be here for that long! I raged just as my stomach began to growl. Hoping to spot Sasori magically heading towards me as though he could sense my hunger from the weapons shop, I glanced around, right hand lightly resting on my stomach as though to protect it from its own hunger pains.

My search didn't yield any hunched over criminal ninja, but instead served to show that I had no idea where I was or how to get to the weapons shop. 'Lost' was a new concept for me. Sure, I could be absentminded, but my sense of direction was usually impeccable – or, at least, not so bad that I'd ever gotten lost.

Just like that, the old anxiety came back. The people seamlessly passing around me seemed to push in on all sides, intent on overwhelming and suffocating me. My vision focused on a pinpoint directly ahead of me, and I stumbled towards it, hoping for the pressure to end without falling over and being trampled like a wounded horse in a stampede. For once in a very, very long time, my breath's shortness was caused by something other than asthma.

Like a drunkard I burst from the crowds of people, breathing harshly as I leaned against the wall to a building at the mouth of an alleyway. I wondered bleakly if this was what some varieties of genjutsu felt like before doubling over as a wave of nausea swept through me.

This… wasn't normal. Even before, my reaction wasn't ever this extreme. I had been slowly overcoming it during my time here, learning ways to cope without the pills. I risked a glance at the crowd of people, almost guiltily checking to see if anyone had seen.

I shouldn't have.

People passed me by, and my vision swam until all I could see were the glance that everyone gave me when they thought I wasn't looking.

"There she goes again." "No wonder her mom ignores her." "Why does she get praised? She's nothing special." "I bet they feel bad for her." "Another disappointment." "Another failure." "Failure." "Trash." "Worthless."

"Die."

I unconsciously stumbled back, losing my footing and falling harshly on the ground. It's true. What did I mess up this time? I got lost. I came here first, and everyone else got dragged in with me. I must've caused this. It's my fault. We're all going to die because of me.

Someone walked out of the crowd, staring me down. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take the judgment, the hatred, the disappointment I saw in those eyes.

I blacked out.

This got a little darker than I imagined this story being. Sure, I wanted to make this story reasonably realistic, but I originally hadn't planned to give Shylah this particular mental issue. I had planned on giving each of my characters a phobia that would play into the story, but after Caitlin's phobia turned out not to pertain to the world of Naruto, I felt that I had to make up for it by implementing Shylah's phobia to be rather... extreme.

Challenge: Who can name what Shylah's phobia is? My official hint is that she doesn't take criticism well.

For anyone wondering, I will be finishing this story. It may take me years, but it will be finished if I have anything to say about it. If you have any questions about anything in the chapter, let me know.