I apologize deeply for the unnecessarily long delay. I just didn't have the time (or energy on some days) to upload the chapter. Nothing too exciting, though the end does leave some questions! ^^ So, thanks for reading and try and figure out what's going to come next, ya? R&R!

Enjoy!

M. Neko

Awkward doesn't even begin to describe the situation between Sasuke and I the few weeks and then months after we had sex. Others would consider it making love. I hated that term. And it certainly wasn't fucking- it was simply too slow for that word. So I used the plain term. The happy medium. Too bad there was nothing happy between us.

Suigetsu sensed it. Karin refrained from punching my brains out. And Juugo, well, he was himself. I stayed silent most of the time, suddenly realizing that I meant literally nothing to him. He needed me for power. I'd give it. He wanted me for sex. I gave it. He asked and I obeyed. And to think I once had a backbone.

I sat cross-legged outside the inn the group and I were currently residing in. People walked back and forth, talking, thinking, and watching. I sighed, wondering if I would ever have a normal life. Not that I minded this one. I had always liked chaos and my life was full of it. At age three, I had met Suigetsu, living in the Hidden Village of the Mist. My parents went back and forth between The Mist and Konoha, mainly my father for business. I loved visiting the bustling town, but it was never my home. By age nine, my parents had left me. Just like that. Up and went without even a note. I lost my life then. I didn't give a shit anymore. I still went back and forth between Konoha and my home. I met Itachi Uchiha when I was ten. He had been on a mission and I just happened to cross his path. We met sporadically for a year before the day he killed his clan. And then I never saw him again either. After that, I relied more on Suigetsu and I also realized how much of a tool sex could be. I had always been hot in an exotic looking way since Shakkri, go figure. Suigetsu had never wanted to use me that way.

When I turned twelve, I got a little to bold with a man that I knew nothing about. His talk of power and smooth voice corrupted me and I got in way too deep before noticing I needed to get out. Orochimaru had his fun and ruined my life. Feeling pathetic and vile and useless, I let Shakkri control me for the first time. I don't remember how long I let her have me, but it was long enough to come out of her hold with a piece of my soul missing. Suigetsu had left soon after. And when I found out he had been taken by Orochimaru, I joined my ninja team with Henri, nicknamed Heni since he was a child, and Cara. Our sensei, Mikita, had been an ANBU of the Leaf , but trained us well. Little did I know then, but she had been planning to have me captured. That was when I met up with Sasuke and Suigetsu. That was when the Sharingan , which Itachi had foretold I'd acquire, came forth out of nowhere. And that was when my life began to spiral.

After waking from my dream like memories of Suigetsu and I, I let the bitch Karin get a hold of my emotions and used the aftereffects of Shakkri against her. Me and Suigetsu got into a fight and then I went inside my soul to give Shakkri power. Sasuke magically appeared within my soul and pulled me out. I revealed to Suigetsu what happened to me concerning Orochimaru, which he then dealt with my ignoring me. Through this period, I trained with Sasuke. When Suigetsu got over his fit, he professed his love and I told him I felt the same, which was a complete lie. We screwed around and I stilled trained with Sasuke. Sasuke decided to fight Shakkri, which resulted in her using the Sharingan. That attack left my eyes useless and I had to train blind. But then my eyesight came back. Meanwhile, the sexual tension between me and Sasuke never left. We fucked. And then we went on a mission to Konoha where I found out that his ancestor, Madara Uchiha, told Sasuke to use me for power. That made me feel wonderful. I told him to fuck off and left, only to injure myself horribly and meet up with the first Uchiha I had ever met. Feeling suicidal, I bantered with him only to have Sasuke swoop in, scare Itachi off, though Itachi said he'd leave because of the torture Sasuke gave me, and me and Sasuke made up…sort of. Later that night, we had sex. And weeks later, here I am, sitting outside of a freaking inn wondering what the hell happened in my past life to make me deserve this mess of one.

And how my teammates Heni and Cara were doing. I missed them.

"Hey. How's the people watching going?" Suigetsu sat next to me.

"Well, that old man has been staring at my chest since I came out here. And the old lady next to him can't stop staring at the young man down the street at the ramen shop. The young girl with the balloon runs around the block, passing by every five seconds to ask me if a hot young boy went inside. I smile and say what's his name. She runs off again."

"You think?"

I gave him a look. "Honestly, I don't care to know. What exactly is going on in there?"

"Sasuke's finalizing plans."

Ahh. Plans. I hated those. "Mind filling me in? Or am I not allowed to know?"

"He didn't really say anything about you, which means on of two things. One, he wants to tell you himself. Or you're not involved."

"I hope it's the later."

"If it was," Sui sighed, "then you wouldn't be here."

I nodded. "Yup."

The little girl came by, but seeing Suigetsu made her stop, her eyes wide. I stifled a laugh as Suigetsu waved. She shuffled her feet.

"Would you know if a boy went in there?"

"I do. Is he tall?"

She nodded.

"Does he have dark eyes?"

She nodded.

"Does he have spiky hair?"

"Only in the back," she said.

Suigetsu laughed. "He's in there. Would you like me to get him?"

She squeaked. "Just give him this." She threw a riceball into Suigetsu's watery hand. We watched her dart off, disappearing behind the stores. I had a feeling she wouldn't be coming back.

"Well that's nice of her. Sasuke will enjoy it."

"Why? It's just a riceball."

Standing, Suigetsu grinned down at me. "Didn't you know? Riceballs and tomatoes are his faves."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course they are. How could I have not of known."

He laughed again. "Go. I'll tell him you went somewhere to relieve your stress."

I stood, stretching. "Not a lie. Just don't tell him the truth."

Sui winked. "Nah. That'd be no fun."

I tilted my head, wondering what the heck that boy meant. Suigetsu never failed to confuse me. Since I was off the hook for a little while, I decided to do something I hadn't done in a long time, since I was a little kid. It'd take me all night to get there, but I was feeling rebellious and lonely. And she was really the only person that I could talk to at the moment. Everyone else had baggage or were nowhere to be found. Just my luck.

I touched the engravings on the stone. God it had been to long. I bowed, placing my head against the stone, the cold stone that always cleared my head.

"I miss you," I whispered.

No reply. There used to be, but that could've been Shakkri playing with me.

If it allowed you to believe your grandmother could hear you, then how was I playing with you?

"Go to Hell," I growled softly. Seeing a lily nearby, I grabbed it and pulled. I placed it on top of the gravestone. I sat back on my knees, staring at her name. She died when I was seven, just two years before my abandonment.

"You wouldn't be so proud of me now, Grandma. I've done some pretty stupid shit and I had no idea how I'm going to get out of this one."

Nothing but the gurgle of the nearby stream. I hadn't been home in a long time. The country side, if it could be called that, of the Hidden Mist was unlike any other. Half land and half water, one could get lost and never return, the water hiding you forever. My grandmother loved it out here and requested to be buried here, so one day she would go back to her birth, the water. She always had a strong connection to water. I never understood it. She wasn't made of it, like Suigetsu, and she could use it for cloning and attacks, but she had a certain way with it. I could never describe it and still couldn't.

"I mean, I've fallen. I've fallen pretty hard. I don't think I can get up alone. I've lost Suigetsu too. I mean, he's still here, but I can't rely on him. That's how bad it is."

God I wished so hard that she would talk to me. She always had advice for me and always, always knew how to fix my problems. Now, I couldn't do a damn thing with my life. I had no control. I never did. It went from my Grandmother to Shakkri to Mikita to Suigetsu to Sasuke. Never once did I ever control my life. And I never would.

Tears dripped like a leaky faucet from my eyes. "Guess what? Today I'm fifteen. You always said I'd grow up to make you proud. You believed in me." I made a noise, something between a laugh and a sob. "I've let you down. There's no way you'd be proud of me. Not with all the shit I've done and the way I treat people."

Would you stop? You look pathetic.

I ignored her. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I'm so so sorry, but I'm in deep shit. Like horrible deep shit and I have no idea what to do. I don't have control. I need to control my life. Especially because of him."

Wind blew my hair back. If she were here, she'd tell me what to do. She always did. But that was when I had a clear head and when Shakkri could manipulate me. But not anymore. I couldn't figure out what to do or how to do it, so what did that leave me with? A whole lot of nothing.

"He mentioned you'd be near here."

I frowned. Suigetsu never could keep a secret. "What Sasuke?"

"You left."

"You took too long."

"Is that how we're playing this game?"

I crossed my arms, concentrating on the kanji of my grandmother's name. "Yes. It is."

"Then let's make this game more complicated."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. Why wouldn't it get complicated?" I was dealing with Sasuke Uchiha after all. What else could he do to make this situation more complicated and awkward than it already was? We were a train wreck. Nothing more and nothing less.

"Look at me."

Bowing my head in honor and respect, something Sasuke had very and I mean very little of, I stood, looking into his black eyes. He stood still, but he was strong. He knew what he wanted and he would get it. I had nothing for him. I would give him nothing more. So why the fuck had he followed me? No. Not followed, intentionally searched. He had intentionally searched me out like I was of importance to him, which I wasn't.

Not that he knew anyway.

He smirked. "We're going to Konoha."

"Again?" The last time we had gone it hadn't turned out very well. It hadn't turned out well at all.

"My business there has yet to be finished. You'll escort me once more."

I groaned. "Fine. Whatever."

His smirk grew and, if I had been optimistic, I would've considered it a smile. "You've got business there as well, don't you?"

My eyes narrowed. "I do."

"Your former team members?"

I nodded.

He turned, looking back at me. "And other things, am I correct?"

I froze. Fear made my heart constrict, to stop working, forcing my lungs to close down too. No. He couldn't know about that. No one did. I barely- no. No he couldn't know. He was only messing with me. My anxiety at controlling the situation was getting to me. He was merely guessing, playing mind games like he always did. He knew nothing. I would make sure he knew nothing. Always.

His eyes went their blood red color. "I always get what's mine, Sana." The unmentioned "remeber that" didn't need to be said aloud. I understood his intentions clear enough.

Sooo, what did you guys think? Good enough for the wait? Probably not, but I can wish, can't I?

Review! And speculate!

Thanks and look for an update soon!

M. Neko