Yep, I changed the genre. And now on to more important things...

–

Fallen
Chapter Four: In Formation.

–

"Falling in love was the easy part; fanning the flames was going to be the problem."

–

This was getting ridiculous; even an idiot keeping on the move stopped once in a while, settled down, and dug their heels in, deep. Sakura was sick of the silence, as she and Neji were travelling alone, and they hadn't said a word to each other since leaving the Kumogakure encampment. They hadn't even stopped to rest. He was angry with her, she could tell, though he hadn't done or said anything to show it. She had her reasons, but he didn't know that; keeping Neji at arm's length sounded like a chore she didn't want, since he was her guard and they'd be forced to converse eventually.

Sakura didn't want him to hate her.

And to make matters worse, their destination was going to test her finite temperament. Mei Terumi, the Mizukage of Kirigakure, had eyed off Neji throughout that meeting where Tsunade had handed Sakura on a silver platter to the other Kages. She wasn't some slut, this Sakura knew from the times she'd spoken with her (not to mention her shishou liked her, very much), but she had had her eyes on the Hyuuga prodigy from the moment he'd removed his ANBU mask.

Sakura had brought it on herself, pulling away from him like that, but she honestly had no idea what to do about it. But she had her mission to fall back on, and resigned herself to the fact that she would be spending a lot of time in the medic tent-or whatever they had set up, since the Kiri camp apparently, was better organised than the others, medically speaking. The only good thing was that it would only be seven days.

'Only.'

That was a dangerous word.

Sakura glanced momentarily at the back of her guard-leading the charge, so to speak, Neji had stayed in front of her at all times. Anyone who didn't know any better would have expected them to have come under attack more often than not, considering things. They were careful however; that Byakugan came in handy. Sakura was grateful for that. She did not want a repeat of what happened in that village with Sasuke. She needed to stay on task and leave him to Naruto.

'That's a switch.'

It had knocked some sense into her-what would she have done if Naruto hadn't turned up? No, her place right now, was with Neji.

Sakura tilted her head away from him however, realising her eyes had drifted to him again. She couldn't stare continuously-that all seeing Hyuuga, Byakugan or not, would know. But the opportunity to say something, anything, had passed her by, and Sakura resigned herself to the silence. Neji started slowing down, and she matched his pace; they dropped from their treetop sprint and without looking at his pink haired charge, he led the rest of the way on foot. It was only a few minutes before the thicket broke away and Sakura almost stopped dead at the sight of the Kirigakure camp. It had been set up around a water source-the waterfall in the background towered over the area, dwarfing the smaller one that had been in the temple doubling as the Kumogakure settlement. But instead of doubling as a landmark for the enemy to easily zero in on them, it was fringed with vegetation (from shrubbery to tall standing trees). The camouflage was further assisted by the genjutsu surrounding it.

Sakura only knew it was there because they'd been told about it, and she wondered for a fleeting moment, if it would even fool Sasuke's Sharingan.

Silently, she followed Neji and passed him when he stopped at the gates-she was the dignitary, and he was the bodyguard, so officially, he couldn't announce their arrival. Sakura did as her shishou had taught her, introduced herself, her companion, and refrained from punching the guard who had greeted them, when he gave her the once over. The Mizukage appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and welcomed the medic formally. Then her line of sight shifted.

Sakura clenched her fists, repeating the mantra "stay calm" over and over again, in her head to keep her from saying or doing something as Mei batted her eyelashes at Neji, greeting him warmly. The Mizukage wasn't a horrible person-she got along with her as much as Tsunade died-but she was teetering on ridiculous. Sure, a lesser guy would be falling at her feet right about now (and Sakura had a thing for men who didn't give into the charms of flamboyant women), but Neji was still male. She could see that he knew what the Mizukage was doing-what bugged her was that he said and did nothing about it. She wasn't expecting him to tell her off, just politely decline, in that deeply diplomatic voice of his.

Sakura sighed. "Lady Mizukage, would you be so kind as to have someone direct me to my temporary quarters?"

"Oh of course Sakura-san," Mei said, turning back to her. She waved to a nearby guard and the man fetched an attendant. "Chika-san is a very good attendant; she'll take care of you, while I debrief your bodyguard."

Sakura stiffened slightly, but let that go as the blonde girl in question curtsied to her. She had to be a civilian, which didn't explain the attendant title. Left with no alternative, the pinkette followed her escort, glancing toward her Hyuuga bodyguard despite her better judgement.

Neji watched her go, keeping the Mizukage in his peripherals, wary of the promiscuous woman. He wasn't angry at Sakura, not really, but his confusion overrode his pride and he didn't want to face her right now. Why had she pulled away from him? Nothing she'd said, or done since, made any sense. When she'd kissed him back, in front of the firefly pond, he'd assumed she was responding to him, not just the heat of the moment. He'd like to think so.

"So, Neji-kun," Mei's voice interrupted. "How about we head to my tent and I fill you in on the security arrangements for our little getaway?"

He really didn't want to, given what the woman was clearly thinking of doing instead of business, but she was already locking arms with him and teleporting him away. Neji was a respectful, patient, and tactful person... but this was going to get old fast.

–XXX–

A few hours had passed before Sakura had gotten time to herself; immediately upon getting her belongings settled into the room she'd been assigned to, that... girl ...Chika, had pestered and insisted until Sakura relented, and went straight to work. The medical tent was as well provisioned as the Mizukage had promised her. There were holes of course, as she'd expected, but this was the best place by far, and Sakura became restless, mentally going over all the possible excuses she could come up with to earn an early escape from this place. When she finally got back to her room, Neji still hadn't turned up. She was beginning to worry; that lascivious look on Mei's face before Sakura was escorted away had the pinkette's stomach churning.

What was the chance that a Kage would just come on to a visiting, foreign Shinobi? She tried to remember any time something like that had happened in her previous dealings with the other Kages, and her mind went straight to Gaara. He hadn't realised he was doing it at first, considering he wasn't some amorous player, like some people, and neither had she. Sakura had started spending time with him during the war with the Akatsuki, when he was in Konoha, or they were both in the same area-regardless of which battlement. Naruto was the one who'd pointed it out, funnily enough, and once the surprise wore off, and instead of being disappointed or annoyed with herself, she'd embraced it.

Gaara was not the inexperienced and emotionless icicle people made him out to be.

Sakura sighed, looking down at her hands as she realised, that in her musings, she'd stopped pacing. And right now, she was terrified. She trusted Neji wasn't easy, but the whole situation scared her nonetheless. She thought she'd put her feelings for him in their proper context-what they were, how they were or weren't appropriate, and what to do about it.

She needed to ignore them.

She needed to get her head examined.

Sakura let out a loud groan and threw herself onto the bed, closing her eyes. She was so pathetic.

The next thought drifted away as quickly as she did, and before she knew it, she was being woken by the approach of familiar chakra. Sakura rolled onto her back (she'd been on her stomach, her arm hanging over the side of the bed) and turned her head toward the door without sitting up. He was there now, outside, and she couldn't bring herself to go out there, or let him know she was awake. Neji didn't open the door or knock anyway, and she was reminded of that night before they'd first set out on this r merry-go-round ride she was having with the Kage supervised settlements, when she'd ordered him to bunk with her.

Sakura looked around but couldn't see anything remotely reminiscent of a divan in her new quarters. It begged a lot of questions, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to ask them. Her eyes went back to the door and she rolled onto her side to stare at it. What was he doing standing out there? She felt like the wall separating them was like a reredos, and she was the one with the confession to make. She found it difficult to believe Neji had done anything he needed forgiveness for.

Eventually, Sakura's eyelids became too heavy again, and she closed them; there was no time to fall asleep as she became aware of a wet, slimy feeling on her open palm. She recoiled, startled, before realising something was slithering over her.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Sakura."

Sakura let out a startled groan, and gawked at the miniature version of Katsuyu, Tsunade's slug summons. "Holy shit," she whispered. "How did you get in here without me sensing you?"

The slug shuddered. "With great skill."

Sakura sighed, now forcing a smile onto her face. "I suppose it's okay. What's up?"

"Lady Tsunade needs to speak with you, urgently."

Sakura glanced back at the door to her room, mentally picturing Neji-he hadn't announced himself, perhaps in a show of stubbornness, but she knew him well enough to know he was definitely eavesdropping. He wasn't going to acknowledge her directly right now, and she needed to see what her shishou wanted. She nodded to the slug. "I didn't know shishou was in this encampment."

"She was, but no Sakura, she is not now."

Sakura frowned at her. "Then how did you get into this encampment?"

"My lady left me behind for your arrival."

"Huh?"

"I'm afraid you don't understand," Katsuyu said. "You must leave this camp with your guard, now."

Through the door, Neji stiffened; Sakura frowned at the miniature version of her shishou's summons. "Why?"

"Because you're needed at the Suna settlement," the slug said. "They are about to come under attack."

–XXX–

The stench they'd expected was one of dust, dirt, and grime. Small villages and towns that had been evacuated tended to have a specific smell to them-Kakashi would categorise it vaguely as the smell of abandonment. Half eaten dinners, strewn furniture and front doors left open indicated that this place had been cleared out in a hurry. This was the third village they'd found, in the last twenty-four hours, that hadn't been evacuated in an orderly fashion. He had no idea how to categorise that however-lack of evidence and information did that, even to a tactician. He may not be Shikamaru, but he knew what he was doing better than most Shinobi.

"This place stinks," his fellow, masked ANBU said, annoyed.

Yamato was getting more and more restless as every day passed. Normally, Kakashi would only see this side of the wood master once his old friend had downed a few beers. Following lead after lead on Sasuke and coming up short for weeks on end did that to a person; the copy ninja was feeling it too, but had always been better at hiding it than Yamato. They weren't in the Foundation after all. Still, they did need to keep it up, at least for now.

"That's what happens when all the maids in town go on vacation at the same time," Kakashi remarked, his eyes (yes, he'd uncovered his Sharingan upon entry, considering they could use the visual advantage right now) roving over the desolate place.

"You're a funny man there, Mister Hatake."

Kakashi ignored him, now moving between the next two buildings-whether the enemy was still here or not (which he doubted), they still needed to remain out of open areas. He knew he was being followed, but pretended not to notice how Yamato was literally matching him step for step. He was bored, that had to be it. Years of working together in their prior ANBU days were making this mission easier to cope with, he supposed.

The wood master stopped suddenly, and his friend mirrored the move.

"Kakashi, over here."

"I see it." Kakashi swivelled, his Sharingan raking over the sight before them. For the first time since this mission had begun, they'd found a dead body. That wasn't normally something to be excited about of course, and they weren't, really, but change was good. It felt like they'd overcome some unseen hurdle-after all, the chances of the other missing villagers (from every town that had actually been attacked) being alive was slim, so what the hell had happened to the bodies?

"Oh Kami, Kakashi!" Yamato's voice was low and harsh, but clearly excited. In his haste to rid himself of his boredom, he jumped up, racing along the nearby rooftop, toward his goal. It was unprofessional really, and having no choice but to follow, Kakashi inwardly lamented that Yamato was making all the discoveries today. His Sharingan showed him however, what had caught the wood master's eye-movement. Whoever it was, they'd shifted out of sight in the instant following Yamato's declaration. He wasn't so sure this was a good idea anymore.

"Oh fuck!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes discreetly at the crass comment, and jumped down, landing lithely next to his friend, but almost falling over at the same time. "Fuck indeed."

It was Sasuke... right, a clone. Dishevelled, dirty, muddy... you name it. As Kakashi leant forward gingerly to get closer, Yamato immediately stood straight, looking around warily. This was weird. What was it doing all the way out here, and better yet, why hadn't it already self-destructed? He'd been excited a moment ago, but this was downright ominous. He'd always thought, once they got their hands on a clone, it would be after a long battle, and he'd be in desperate need for a medic. Of course, those particular fantasies involved a buxom (or not buxom, whatever) woman who would give him a back massage and then join him in the bathtub. He would also be a hero to her, and she'd convince the Hokage that he could take the rest of the war off.

This mission was messing with his head, and this place was nothing compared to some of the literally bloodied labs they'd found. Yamato looked back at their quarry, his eyes narrowing. What the hell was going on?

Finally, the clone (which was acting more like a frightened child) locked eyes with Kakashi, promptly falling into some weird Sharingan fuelled genjutsu. The wood master didn't want to know which one.

"We should take it to Inoichi," Kakashi said, looking less than happy however.

Yamato glanced around again. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea."

"Agreed, but we have to take the chance."

"It's not worth the risk, Senpai."

Kakashi sighed, staring down at the unconscious clone of Sasuke. This was what they'd been hoping for-a closer look at one of these things without it blowing up in their faces. But in a different way, this one might just do it anyway. What were the chances they would stumble upon a scene where capturing a clone was as simple as making it go to sleep? He knew his friend was envisioning the weirdest possibilities when it came to his Sharingan, but a simple command to sleep was enough. It was a nifty little thing...

"I'll contact Inoichi," Kakashi suggested. "We can leave it up to him, since it's his base we'll be risking."

Yamato sighed. "Agreed, but let me use a wood clone instead of Pakkun, that way we can know his decision right away."

The copy ninja nodded his assent and as his friend created the necessary clone, he knelt down in front of the faux copy of his former student, deciding to physically restrain him as well; he always travelled with wire or chakra enhanced rope anyway. Time flowed normally, no matter how they perceived it, but to make it seem shorter, they decided to wait for Yamato's clone in one of the abandoned buildings. Their captive slept away the hours it took for the wood master to get a response from his clone.

Standing up as he was contacted, Yamato stared out a window, concentrating as he held a hand to his ear. The silence eventually started freaking Kakashi out: what could they possibly be talking about for this long?

When he finally turned away from the window, Yamato didn't look happy. "He says 'yes'. And for the record Kakashi, he's just as crazy as you."

"I'll be sure to let him know how you really feel. Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be, I guess."

"I know you don't like this," Kakashi said. "Neither do I-but no matter what, this is an opportunity we can't let slip by. We just need to be vigilant."

He got no response, but the man knew he was right. They left immediately, Kakashi carrying the clone, and travelled in silence. Yamato sighed-that massage from a gorgeous, buxom medic was looking more and more unattainable now.

–XXX–

Entry into a well hidden allied encampment-settlement or top-secret Intelligence Site-wasn't easy. But Kakashi and Yamato had been given that clearance, and the means with which to find and enter, when this war had first broken out. The number of people on that list wasn't short, but it was selective nonetheless. They waited, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, for Inoichi to deactivate the sealing jutsu that surrounded this particular location, momentarily. Trees parted and a low laying fog cleared, their vision now unimpeded.

Almost immediately, several ANBU were upon them, one of them relieving Kakashi of his burden-the unconscious Sasuke clone stirred in its sleep, and a moment later, was awake. It looked so calm now, like it wasn't in the arms of the enemy, and Kakashi suppressed a shiver. He removed his mask-their mission wasn't technically an ANBU one, just another faux under the Hokage's instruction, so he was allowed to here-and Yamato did the same.

"I share your concerns," Inoichi said, once they were in the building, and Yamato reiterated his concerns about bringing the clone to this base. "But the security here is better than even at the allied encampments-even if someone like Sasuke found us, the emergency exit is a teleporting scroll, and there's no way he'd be able to stop everyone from getting out."

"So we're risking everything on that assumption?" Yamato asked, annoyed. "I know," he added, when the interrogation specialist moved to speak. "I get it-I just don't like it."

"Noted."

Kakashi let out a deep sigh as Inoichi turned his back on them and re-entered the building, finally following his subordinates. "You can be a real pain, you know?"

"I thought you said I had to be drunk for that?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Let's find something to eat."

They'd run out of supplies on the way here. He left the entry with Yamato, heading toward the break room, and Inoichi turned in the opposite direction.

"Dad?" Ino was standing just inside the door to the Interrogation Room when she sensed the approach of the familiar chakra. Several ANBU came into view, the passageway had been darkened to the point where she hadn't realised it was them, and she inhaled sharply. They had Sasuke! No, it couldn't be him. She peered closer at him, noting the differences in his demeanour that Sakura had told her about... it was a clone.

Ino shivered, avoiding eye contact, even though the clones didn't seem to have the Sharingan. He was staring at her and she was suddenly and seriously freaked out. His hands were tied behind his back, and the ANBU didn't hesitate over the threshold, moving him into the room and handing this faux copy over to the members of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force that were waiting. The scene was familiar to Ino-Shimon Hijiri, Mozuku, and Tonbo Tobitake having taken their places around the Mind Reading Amplification Machine (M.R.A.M for short). It wasn't the one from Konoha, but this makeshift version did the job well enough. Her father's skill was unparalleled after all.

"Ino?"

She jumped at the sound of her father's voice; distracted by the entrance of the clone of their enemy, she had almost forgotten she'd sensed his presence.

"You shouldn't be in here," he said, and she groaned.

"Give it a rest dad, how else am I going to get better at this than you?"

Inoichi waved to the ANBU and they promptly disappeared. "You should be going over the data we've collected so far on the other prisoner; I'll be interrogating the Uchiha's clone."

"Is this such a good idea?" She asked.

"You sound like Yamato."

Ino flicked her hair out of her face, frustrated. "Yamato-Sensei is right then..."

"It's what he and Kakashi have been looking for since this whole thing started," Inoichi said. "Please leave the room, Ino."

She groaned, glancing back at the clone, who was now craning his neck to keep staring at her and decided her father was right about that-she needed to get some fresh air. If she smoked, this would be the perfect time to use it to relax. But no, she wouldn't be taking it up.

Ino found her usual spot quickly, above ground: ever since she'd first arrived at this place, her father would send her out of the Interrogation Room for the more difficult cases, and she'd angrily gone outside to sulk quietly. She was supposed to be helping for Kami sake! Her medical ninjutsu wasn't going to get any better, so she didn't bother trying to do so-it was fine, as she was still better than a lot of other medics, and she still practised it occasionally. She wanted to learn more from her father. The war was just a backdrop, and an excuse.

She let out a groan and lay back, now focusing on the clouds above her head. Only a few minutes of solitude were afforded her and Ino sat up stiffly at the sound of something moving in the surrounding shrubbery. She peered into the trees. Only certain people were able to enter here without setting off the alarms. And there was definitely someone in there, watching her...

–XXX–

He had never liked the Uchiha, and really, who could blame him? Gaara was always on the opposite sides as Sasuke, even before he turned on Konoha: it was just the way it was. But looking at the clones that had surrounded his encampment, he lamented on it regardless-that had to be Naruto's influence. He didn't want to hate him. Something had clearly snapped in that man's head, and when an Uchiha went mad, everyone else was made to suffer. Look at Obito.

Gaara moved slightly, shifting into his usual, but casual, battle stance. If he had his way, no clone would get close enough to require him to resort to taijutsu. And it was time to put his plan into action.

"Gaara!" The fifth Hokage's voice called out, and the next instant, she was standing next to him. "You little punk," she said good-naturedly, glancing at his gourd. "You better leave some of them for me."

The idea of his sand tsunami taking out the entire army and leaving her hanging annoyed her. She'd called for Sakura in anticipation of the lack of medical stability of this place-she couldn't do it all herself, given everything-and the fact that this was the only Shinobi base that had civilians right now.

Gaara reminded himself quietly that, despite his complaining, Naruto did care a lot about the Hokage. There was no reason to respond to her. He just grunted and folded his arms over his chest, ignoring Tsunade's comment of "show off".

"They're more organised than the last time I saw them," Temari said-she and Kankuro were both on site, but the latter was currently leading the contingent on the southern wall.

Gaara nodded. "Sai's report on their change of behaviour has been invaluable." This meant, in his mind, that this wasn't going to be as easy as the last time.

"Stop your yammering," Tsunade said. "They're coming."

Gaara pushed sand to his feet, lifting himself over the fence in front of them-his target was the middle swarm of faux Uchihas, considering it was the most densely packed. Despite his confidence, he was worried. Even when they won this battle, these things would just keep coming. They were going to have to evacuate, either way.

"He's not getting them all," Temari growled, brandishing her fan. "I won't even break a sweat."

Tsunade scoffed. "First one to a hundred wins?"

–XXX–

"Boo!"

Ino squealed and two sets of beady eyes bugged out at her. "You guys are evil!"

Her team mates were getting on her nerves. They'd come to see her a day ago, because their newest assignment wasn't due to start for another few days, and Choji had roped Shikamaru into several practical jokes on her since then.

"Don't you guys have anything better to be doing?" She snapped, jumping to her feet. "Like, I don't know, helping out the allied forces!"

"Calm down Ino," Choji moaned, stepping into view and dragging his lazy friend behind him. "There's enough chefs in that kitchen-we don't want to clog up the works until we're needed."

She groaned. "Trust you to use a cooking metaphor. What exactly is your next assignment, anyway?"

"Sorry Ino," Shikamaru drawled, his eyes drifting skyward. "We can't tell you that."

She let out an exasperated grunt. "Nobody tells me anything!"

"But Ino, it's for your own safety," her chubby friend insisted, already pigging out.

"Me not being bored and therefore not homicidal is for your own safety," she snapped. "Now spill!" They fell silent and she screamed. Why was everyone deliberately pissing her off today? "Aah!"

Slowly, a mischievous smile crept over Choji's face. "Gotcha! Just kidding! Shikamaru's dad has organised for us to meet up with his girlfriend when she leaves the Suna base-they'll be dragging me back to Konoha with them. Hopefully, there'll be no enemies there. We have to find some old documents that apparently might shed some light on a lab Kakashi-Sensei and Yamato found a week ago."

Ino felt like she was close to sobbing. "You guys are evil," she murmured.

"Yeah, but you love us anyway."

"There you are."

Ino spun around at the sound of Kakashi's voice. She had to admit, despite her romantic interest being directed elsewhere, she found her little forehead's former Sensei very enticing. From what she had seen so far-part of the lower face and a good look at the rest of him, for medical reasons of course-he was extremely... magnificent. She loved that word. It was so fitting.

"Your father wanted me to relay a message to you," the copy ninja said. "Something about being too busy for some training you guys had organised this afternoon. The Sasuke clone's a handful, apparently."

Ino felt the last part of her sanity slipping away as Kakashi lifted his head slightly to look at what Shikamaru was now staring at. His visible eyes widened imperceptivity. It was an ink bird.

–XXX–

The place had gone quiet. He didn't like it. Inoichi pulled out of the clone's mind. This wasn't Sasuke, in any way, not even to the point where a clone was supposed to mimic the original. There were no common personality traits, and even though this thing had knowledge on the Uchiha's battle techniques and his intentions-to a limited degree-it was nothing like him. It was as if all Sasuke had done was copy the outside, while leaving the inside the way it was.

He frowned at that. The way it was... The clone was flesh and blood, with a number of Sasuke's negligible qualities just tacked on, to fool the eye and all types of trackers, rather than mirror him appropriately. But these qualities on their own weren't enough to have created it in the first place, not by a long shot. The answer was staring him in the face; coupled with the reports from both Kakashi and Yamato, gathered during their searches for the wayward Sasuke, Inoichi could see it plain as day. And it disgusted him.

"Yamanaka-san!"

The familiar voice broke his thoughts apart and, a moment later, a shrill whistle reminded him this place had a very sensitive alarm system. It had been almost a week since it had gone off by accident-the local fauna was rather inquisitive-but the strain in that voice told him this was no false alarm, literally.

"Come here," Inoichi said, waving to Shimon. He had information that needed to be passed on, no matter what happened here. He held his hand over the crown of the man's head, and closed his eyes. A minute later, an explosion from ground level disrupted his thoughts. He pulled away, worried. "Get out of here!" He barked at the chunin still with him. "Take the teleport out."

"And you, sir?" Shimon asked.

"There are still others top-side," Inoichi said. "I'm going to go to them-keep the door open for us."

The three chunin nodded solemnly and disappeared in a flurry, as they were told. The emergency destination for their teleportation jutsu was the Suna encampment, since it was the closest allied site. The further the distance, the more unstable, and therefore dangerous the jutsu became. Shimon, Mozuku, and Tonbo had one task now, which was to inform the Hokage that this base was now off limits.

'Just in case no-one else comes through,' he thought, and shook his head, glancing at the Sasuke clone, which was unconscious again. Yamato had been right it seemed.

Wasting no more time, Inoichi left the room, running through the darkened hallway; he hadn't exactly lied to his subordinates, as his destination ground level, but if he was right, he couldn't do anything to help them now. That explosion hadn't taken out the power grid (this place was actually a long abandoned facility from the first great war), but the chakra behind it was familiar and he knew that if anyone had survived that attack from him, that would have been quickly rectified.

No, Inoichi had a larger picture to consider. This place held many secrets, considering extracting said secrets was its purpose, and he needed to destroy the evidence. The holding cells were still locked, but he didn't care about them, only a specific data terminal, which Shikamaru had dutifully looked over for him-the information that is. It contained, amongst other things, the locations of other bases. So he did as the Nara genius suggested for this situation, and instead of uploading the computer virus, he burned the workstations away with a fire based jutsu-the effect was instantaneous, and irreversible.

Heading toward the basement on the faint hope that their attacker wasn't already in the facility and blocking their way, Inoichi stopped suddenly. A shadow passed over him, and the familiar chakra of a comrade caught his attention. A second later, the man appeared before him.

"Yamanaka-san." The ANBU grunted out, before falling forward. His body went still and Inoichi forced himself to ignore how the man had hit the ground. Standing behind the corpse, his killer was now staring angrily at the interrogator, his red eyes examining him closely.

"Your arrival is unexpected," Inoichi lied calmly, avoiding the Sharingan's hypnotic gaze.

"As is yours," Sasuke growled out his hand on the sword attached to his obi. "So tell me, where is that daughter of yours?"

–XXX–

I know, I know, this wasn't the chapter I'd promised you guys-that's what happens when I have to rewrite things to accommodate for the fickleness that is my brain. But next time is definitely the NejiSaku VS GaaSaku fluffiness I've been harping on about, promise, which is basically, a bunch of what was originally going to be here. :) That and more NejiSaku, as they are the reason we're all here after all. ;)

And, no, there's no SasuIno in here. Just in case anyone took that "staring" the wrong way. Cheers! XD