The Hebi cell were now beginning to search for Itachi Uchiha, or at least that was what 3 members of the team had thought. After all, Sasuke had his four man cell of members from Orochimaru's experiments, now he just needed to avenge his family.

Instead Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu were surprised when Sasuke lead them to an old, abandoned medical centre. As they walked in, Karin looked around in disgust; the walls were crumbling, the place hadn't been cleaned in a good while, and who would, or could, live here?

"How can anyone want to work here?" The red haired girl said, eyeing the broken windows that looked ready to just break at any second.

"It's not by choice dearie," An old female voice said behind them.

They turned to look at her; and old woman, who probably should have been in a village surrounded by her grandchildren, and possible her great grandchildren by the looks of her, and telling them stories of what used to be; was standing there, hunched over and obviously not completely stable on her feet any more since she shuffled when she walked.

"An Uchiha… Not many left from what I heard," She mumbled as she looked at Sasuke, cranking her neck up slightly to get a better look at the raven haired boy.

"Where is it?" Sasuke ignored the comment; no point in telling the old crone that he was the only one left… Not including Itachi; and the woman smiled slightly, showing her missing teeth, which was most of them.

"The last one…" She turned and shuffled away, gesturing with her wrinkled, bony hand for them to follow her.

"What's with this old crone?" Karin asked Sasuke as they walked along; she didn't lower her voice, assuming that the old crone wouldn't be able to hear her.

"You are a rude young lady," The old woman snapped at her, as fast as a snake turned her head round to glare at the red haired girl; "Thinking I can't hear because I'm old?" The Old woman began to shake her head and mutter under her breath about the youth of today.

"But who is it?" Suigetsu asked, having enjoyed Karin being thoroughly put down, he wanted to know what the point of the visit to this place was. He didn't like it, it just reminded him of being back in the lab, stuck in that tube for so long.

"An old Uchiha friend," Sasuke told them, continuing to follow the crone.

"Why here?" Juugo asked, confused as to why a friend of the Uchiha clan would be in a crumbling medical hospital.

"Not out of choice," Sasuke repeated the words of the old crone.

"What does that…?" Karin began, confused at how an 'old friend' would be in a medical hospital; but trailed off when they entered a laboratory.

In the centre of the room was a large tube; inside, elevated by chains on the wrists and neck, as well as her ankles was a young woman. The water kept her in an induced coma; which gently moved her dark purple hair about, her ivory skin was nearly covered in a black cat suit.

"An experiment," Suigetsu said quietly, thinking how he had also been entrapped in a tube. The only difference was that he became water while in it and wasn't changed up, or kept unconscious.

"Exactly, this place is falling apart; they have abandoned this place… Ever since he returned…" The old crone trailed off, she didn't need to say any more; it was obvious that the hospital was falling apart and that the experiemtn had been left behind, the men who had run the place valued their own lives first and foremost.

"Why didn't you free her?" Karin looked at the woman with an eyebrow raised, wondering why the old crone hadn't free this girl before now.

"She's been in there for some time, I have no idea how she will react. And what if she decided to go on a killing spree? No where would be safe," The crone argued, gesturing to herself; meaning that she might not be alive if she had done it.

"That's why we're here?" Juugo looked to Sasuke, who had already drawn his sword and moved towards the glass tube.

"Back away now," The old crone advised the three as Sasuke shattered the glass with his sword.

The water rushed out, and quickly soaked Sasuke as it poured out, but it came to a puddle at the other's feet.

Now the girl was only suspended by the chains on her ankles and wrists; though her eyes remained closed.

The red haired girl looked surprised as she looked at the unconscious girl in the broken tube, "She's… Not dead?" She narrowed her eyes, the chakra was there, but it was faint; it appeared to be growing; almost as though it had been repressed when she had been inside the tube.

"Let's just get her out," Suigetsu walked into the shattered tube, focusing on his arm to change strength to help Sasuke break the chains that kept her in the tube as Juugo came over to catch her. The tallest boy walked out of the broken tube and placed her on a table, backing away from her slowly; unsure whether she was actually alive or not, regardless of what Karin had said.

"She's still breathing, just give her a moment," The old crone told them but never took her eyes off the girl, noticing that she was slowly opening her eyes, and wincing at the brightness that she was unaccustomed to.

Blinking, she slowly sat up looked at them, confusion evident in her grey eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on and who were these three teenagers in front of her.

"Youki," At the sound of her name, she turned and looked at the raven haired young man to her right.

Uchiha.She thought in her head, and noted the crone was behind the tall teen.

"I'm surprised you're still here. I figured you would have left with the rest of them," Youki looked at the crone, but knew that Sasuke wasn't one to be ignored, so she ran a hand through her hair and sighed; "You're after something," She looked directly at Sasuke now, after quickly glancing at the members of his team.

"I want you to join us," He stated bluntly.

"To?"

"Kill Itachi,"

"Uchiha's always did have a funny way of dealing with things," The old crone commented and shook her head.

Youki raised an eyebrow, but said nothing; but felt that the girl with red eyes watched them talk, glaring at her; though jealousy was rolling through her veins.

How does this girl know Sasuke?

The purpled haired girl looked once more at the crone; "Why did you stay?"

It was a reasonable question, after all everyone else who had worked there had left once they heard that someone could possibly be heading towards them, since they might have had information that was required.

"How could I leave?" She laughed, once more showing her lack of teeth; "Where would I go?"

Youki didn't argue; it was true, where could she have gone? A village was unlikely to take an old woman in, especially someone like her.

Instead she slowly began to stand up; it had been so long since she had been let out, gravity felt very… odd to her now. It shouldn't take her long to get used to it though.

"How do you feel?" Juugo asked her, cautiously watching her.

She studied him; blonde hair, well built and tall. What kind of ninja would he be?

"I'm all right," She told him, allowing the dizziness to pass and getting used to the gravity as she finally stood up on her own two feet.

"The sooner you all leave the better," The old crone advised them, keeping a close eye on Youki as she swayed slightly.

"Why?" Karin looked at the crone wearily, sure she had helped them, but what reason had she to stay in this crumbling place?

"The alarm was set off," Youki replied for her; "There will probably be guard's coming here to see what has happened,"

"We'll deal with them," Suigetsu told her and smirked; she noticed his shark like teeth, his violet eyes and pale skin; he was sure of himself and of his fighting abilities it would seem.

"You need them off," The old crone gestured to the remnants of her chains.

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow, not understanding until Sasuke had pulled out his sword and freed her from the excess chains.

"You're staying," Youki looked at the woman as the team started to leave.

"You expect me to travel quickly? Go now," She waved the five off, as if they were just annoying her; "I have spent my entire life here, I may as well die here,"

Before Youki could protest, the old crone created a jutsu and she was gone.

The group moved as quickly as they could; however Youki found that the silver haired Mist Nin required breaks to rehydrate. Which was annoying to some member's of the cell; or more to the point the red haired girl called Karin; Youki found it rather useful after all she had been unconscious for some time in that tube, she need the extra breaks to get used to being able to move properly again.

It also didn't escape her notice that Karin had instantly disliked her; although whether it was because she preferred to be the only female in the group or something else; Youki had no idea.

It was when they were having another break however that she had decided to ask the silver haired Mist Nin; Suigetsu; about Karin's dislike to her. Since it appeared that the red haired girl didn't appear to like him much either; although it appeared to be a mutual feeling. The two sat down near the river, so that they could refill there flasks as well; though Juugo and Karin had gone off to get fire wood, and Sasuke had gone to get some food.

"How can Karin just dislike people instantly?" Youki asked him; straight to the point, which surprised the Mist Nin.

Suigetsu grinned as he spoke; "She hates you. Since you're a friend of Sasuke; she see's you as competition for our leader,"

"We're not friends," Youki clarified; "Our families used each other for there own ends, that's all,"

They became silent; but Suigetsu, as Youki was starting to learn, liked to have some conversation flowing.

"Why did they experiment on you?"

She looked at him, unsure how she should answer. However she could tell that he didn't mean it to be a blunt and direct question, he just wasn't tactful.

Suigetsu was giving up that question and was ready to start talking about something else when Youki finally answered;

"I'm just an average shinobi,"

He raised an eyebrow, interested. So she wasn't like Sasuke, not part of a special bloodline, or even strong in any way that would make her unique.

"I was decent at what I did; not perfect like the Uchiha clan; but reasonable enough. However unlike the rest of my family or even the rest of my class; I had an…. Ability, I guess…" She looked over at the swordsman who looked intrigued; "I was able to get premonitions. I could easily force see certain things that were going to happen. At first I just ignored it; but over time the teachers began to notice…. They told my clan, who were happy enough, since it gave me an edge over those I fought."

She paused to look at the Mist Nin, who looked interested in what she was saying;

"My family were interested in my… Ability to see the future, Niko was probably the only one who never harassed me about it," She smiled slightly; "That was the old woman back at the hospital,"

Suigetsu was surprised; "Why didn't she…"

"Old being one of them. I was surprised that she would even stay behind. After all I was unconscious, so not much use to her if something had happened," Youki informed him; "The rest of my family kept testing me; they found that I was only able to foresee certain things, and that anything could change my vision. That's why I was in there, they wanted to have someone who could foretell the future to them, and be all knowing about it. From what I can tell, nothing has changed; all their experiments were a waste of time,"

She became silent; thinking about all the experiments that she had been put through and wondering why her gift didn't work directly for her own benefit.

"What about you?" She inquired; "How did you meet Sasuke?"

Suigetsu rubbed his neck; "Orochimaru experimented on me… So did Karin," His eyes narrowed when he mentioned her name; "I'm just here 'cause Sasuke set me lose,"

She nodded; her outfit had remained the same, the black cat suit was comfortable; though she did want to change as there were too many memories from it that she wanted to leave behind; though they were getting close to a village which Sasuke had said they would go to prepare for battle

She looked thoughtful, and he spoke; .

"You know, Juugo isn't too bad, if his mood changes… Then Sasuke can deal with that. He's just quiet,"

"All right," Youki looked at him, smiling inside her head; he really liked to fill the silence; but she had been thinking about Juugo, how quiet he was and yet you got the impression that he should be rather… Aggressive.

"Karin – Don't trust her,"

She nodded; "Don't worry,"

"Don't worry?" Juugo came towards them and began to fill up his own flask with water.

Suigetsu moved from where he was sitting to fill up his flasks as well, since he had finished them both as they had been sitting there.

"Where's Karin?" Youki asked the blonde.

"Probably out stalking Sasu…" Before Suigetsu could finish a fist went through his head, causing water to fall all over as the Mist Nin managed to disengage the blow.

"You bastard!" Karin yelled pulling her fist back as Suigetsu's head pulled it self back together.

"Bitc…"

"You're upsetting Juugo," Youki warned them, but her eyes never left the blonde haired man, who was slowly having the black ink of the curse mark over part of his skin.

Karin and Suigetsu tensed up; ready for a fight, if Sasuke didn't arrive soon then they would have a lot of trouble on their hands.

"Kill…" Juugo said and half his face covered in the curse mark.

"Where's Sasuke?" Suigetsu looked at Karin, who looked flustered.

"J... Just give me a minute," Karin stuttered, focusing on the Uchiha's chakra; "He won't get here in time!"

"Great," The swordsman was ready; the only problem was he wasn't completely sure he could just hold off Juugo. Killing him yes, but holding him off?

"I want to kill…" Juugo had to look of blood lust in his eyes.

Youki stood in front of the blonde; much to Suigetsu's surprise.

"You don't know what you're dealing with," He tried to warn her.

Let her try… She can't calm Juugo down, only Sasuke can… He'll just kill her. Karin thought gleefully, but then she sensed something; "Sasuke is almost here!"

Juugo moved quickly, ready to punch the dark haired woman, who quickly ducked as Suigetsu blocked another blow with his sword.

"We'll keep him busy then," He stated as he parried Juugo's attacks, and Youki managed to distract him with some fire attacks.

Juugo focused more on Suigetsu, seeing him as the biggest threat; and was ready to strike again when a male voice called out;

"Juugo,"

Suigetsu, Karin and Youki turned to the voice, to see Sasuke standing there and the blonde haired young man returned to normal, his curse mark receding back.

"We have everything?" Sasuke asked them, as if nothing had happened.

"Yea," Karin answered, her affection toward the young Uchiha getting bigger after what he just did.

"Let's go," He told them, and began to walk away.

They continued to move on for a few more hours and finally reaching the village that they were after. It wasn't pretty to look at; in fact everywhere looked the same.

"We'll need to get supplies," Sasuke told them; "Youki, you and Karin go and get some medical supplies; Juugo and Suigetsu can get some more food,"

They all nodded and moved away; Suigetsu and Juugo entered a market place, Juugo carefully examined the food on offer; they had to make sure the food would last for a fairly long time and wouldn't go off quickly.

"You seem tense," He stated as he picked up some food.

The Water Nin looked surprised, but grinned; "Heh, I don't trust Karin,"

"Why would she have tried to fight me?" Juugo changed the subject, Suigetsu talking… or bitching rather about Karin wasn't his idea of fun, in fact it would probably just make him go back to his rage mode.

"Distract you, until Sasuke arrived," The Mist Nin corrected.

"She couldn't have known that…"

"There's a reason she's with us," The water Nin reminded him; "Not just because her family and Sasuke's families were friends. She can see… Into the future,"

"See into the future?" The blonde repeated sounding sceptical.

"Yea, nothing that directly affects her," He shrugged; "from what she said, but she probably saw Sasuke arriving in time,"

"You're worried about her," Juugo commented, noting how Suigetsu was a bit tenser when they talked about Youki.

"Tch, she's better company than that red haired bitch…"

Juugo rolled his eyes; he knew better; or rather; he should have known better. However he wondered if Youki could predict that Suigetsu appeared to be a bit… Attached to her. Not that he was an expert, but if he was given a clue, surely being tense just because she was in the company of Karin was a big enough clue?

As the two males were talking, Karin was with Youki; glaring at the other girl.

She's just an experiment, like Suigetsu. She thought to herself; Sasuke has better taste.

Youki could feel the other girl's eyes on her, but she ignored them.

"How could you possibly know Sasuke?"

Now the dark haired seer looked over at Karin, and saw jealousy clearly in those red eyes.

"Our families used to work together,"

"And what's your clan's name?" Karin tried to sound casual; not realising that Youki had seen through her act already, that she wanted to know what her clan's special jutsu was.

"Doesn't matter," Youki said to her, picking up the bandages they would probably need, and also looking at the medicine that could be required.

The two became quiet, Karin seething over Youki's refusal to name her clan and she knew full well that Sasuke wouldn't tell her it either; as he probably wouldn't see the point in the rest of them knowing Youki's clan's name; after all they didn't know Karin's clans name.

I'm different; my village was wiped out… Karin thought to herself.

People stayed away from the two; not because they radiated evil, but because of the tension being so thick between them that people rather avoid them than be caught in any cross fire that may happen.

"You've automatically dislike me because of Sasuke," Youki said suddenly.

It had been on her mind for a while, ever since Suigetsu told her in fact, and as they were out together she decided now was the best time to ask. This opportunity might not present itself again, and she knew that it would just annoy her later if she didn't take this chance.

Karin looked at her in surprise; "So?"

"You also dislike Suigetsu and Juugo," Youki pointed out; "Juugo scares you,"

"Huh, I'm here for my own reasons," Karin snapped at her; "I don't need experiments getting involved with my motivation of helping Sasuke out,"

The two had paid for their purchases and moved to where they would meet the rest of the team, at a local park. Juugo and Suigetsu were already there, with the Mist Nin drinking slowly from his flask.

Karin said nothing as she sat down on a bench; trying to act like she and Youki hadn't argued before they met up with the two males.

"Saskue won't be back yet," Youki stated; "I'm going to find some other stuff," She looked around and began to move away from the group, not seeing Karin glare at her back or Suigetsu smirking.

"Is she right?" Suigetsu asked Juugo, looking at the birds on the blonde man's shoulder.

"He's talking to someone, they won't go close, because of the cats," Juugo replied.

It wasn't a straight answer; but it would do.

The seer wasn't gone for long, she was back in five minutes; evidently she had noticed a clothes shop somewhere when she was with Karin. It was still black, cropped trousers with her ninja shoes; and t-shirt.

"He'll be back soon," She sat down next to the two males.

"Suigetsu told me you can see the future," Juugo said.

Youki smiled and nodded; "Yea, and it can change rather quickly as well, it's not exactly fool proof,"

She turned her head and saw Sasuke walking over to them, they all stood up; ready to leave. Putting her cloak back on, she placed the spare medicines into her pouch and they all followed the Uchiha out of the village.