The Ring

Chapter One

The Ring

The sound of labored breathing, the beating of the heart, and the muted sound of people screaming for blood. She heard them all, the towel over her head limited her sight to a narrow view of her lower body and the sight of blood that had splattered against the pale skin caused her heart to beat even more fiercely.

"Yo, it's time to go." She lifted her head up and teal green eyes studied her. Gaara lifted a barely there eyebrow and slowly walked over to her. He set his forehead against hers and sighed. "You don't have to fight tonight." He said, setting his hands on her shoulders. Her hands rose and clasped together behind his neck.

"I know, but if I don't feed this bloodlust I'll go crazy and attack who ever pisses me off first." Gaara nodded and touched his lips to hers in a brief kiss.

"Let's go then." He pulled her to her feet and she smiled a little, her blue eyes shifting to a red color.

"Let's fight, Shukaku." Gaara Sabaku smiled without humor and turned to his closest friend before completing their little rite.

"Let's kill, Kyuubi." Shiki Uzumaki laughed and walked out the door.

The Ring

"Okay all of you here have been called here to work as a special task force unit." ANBU member Itachi Uchiha looked around at the group of people and silently sized up the rest of the unit.

Deidara Katsu's personality was just as chaotic and explosive as his bombs, Sasori Aka's face was simply bored, but he was quick with poisons and antidotes. Zetsu was a spy, other than that he seemed to be a complete mystery. Hidan Yuu was a psychotic weapons specialist with a mouth of a sailor. Kakazu was a field medic with a high temper, it didn't help that he was a martial artist and was more than happy to slam your face into a wall.

Konan was an expert with documents and forgeries while her silent boyfriend Pein was the strategist of the group. Kisame Hoshigaki seemed to be there merely for his brute force and endless stamina while Tobi Uchiha was the errand boy. Itachi, himself, was a martial arts expert. Not only were they all the best in their own fields but they were all skilled in investigation and field work.

"From today on you will be known as Akatsuki. You will be involved with the finding and shutting down of the underground fighting force known as the Ring."

"Wait, un," Deidara interrupted, sitting up from where he had been leaning back in his chair, "The Ring is almost impossible to find, only the fighters and the people who bet know where to find it, yeah."

"That's exactly why you all have been called as part of this team." Deidara rose an eyebrow and leaned back.

"Fuck, this is fucking great." Hidan said, grinning happily at the group, as he span around in his chair, "This is a fucking honor." Itachi wanted to roll his eyes at the males language but refrained and just watched as Kakazu hit him over the head.

"Idiot shut up." The two promptly started arguing while the others watched in amusement and silently picked the winner out in their own heads.

"Well, you may begin your investigation." The Commander said, edging out of the room with a pained look on his face, Hidan and Kakuzu had been known to destroy more than one office in their little fights. Itachi, Pein, and Konan silently watched him leave before moving together to form their strategies.

The Ring

Shiki yawned as she walked into the kitchen and blinked blearily at a very awake redhead.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, dropping down at the table and resting her head in her hands. Gaara chuckled as he put a cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

"Eight thirty." Shiki cradled the cup to in her hands for a moment to soak up the heat before taking a sip.

"So I better hurry to make the 9oclock class." She started muttering to herself as she got up to leave, she barely said hi to Temari and Kankuro as she left the room. They sat at the table, fully dressed and awake. Temari looked up as Kankuro poured both of them a bowl of cereal.

"You guys were at the Ring pretty late last night." She commented lightly, standing up to get the milk. Gaara nodded absently before looking up to smile smugly at his older siblings.

"You guys should have come last night there was a newbie that managed to get to get through four rounds." Temari swore loudly and colorfully before glaring at her cereal.

"Dammit, I knew I should have come instead of doing that history homework." Kankuro nodded in agreement as he continued to shovel food into his mouth.

"You should have," Shiki commented, coming into the room and pulling her red-blonde hair into a messy bun her bangs hanging down into her eyes, "Haku totally destroyed him." Temari laughed albeit a little evilly before looking at the clock.

"Shit, let's go you guys, it's almost nine." Shiki grabbed a piece of toast that Gaara had made for her and ran quickly to her room. Gaara shook his head as he watched her go before he pulled on his sweater.

"Come on." He told his siblings as he headed into the garage and slid into the drivers seat. Temari and Kankuro piled in the back and just as Gaara started the engine, Shiki ran down the stairs in a pair of jean capris and a vibrant red tank top that showed her bellybutton. As she sat down in the front seat and pulled her seatbelt on, Gaara pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the Konoha High School.

The Ring

"Thank you for finally joining us." Asuma Sarutobi said, looking at the four students sternly as they walked into the classroom. Gaara just glared at him and sat in his seat next to the very enthusiastic Rock Lee. Temari and Kankuro merely ignored him as they walked to the back of the class while Shiki smiled brightly at Asuma.

"Sorry, we had a late night last night." She said, sparing a glance at Gaara. He smirked faintly at her and Kiba Inuzuka cackled before yelling out.

"Yo, Uzumaki we don't need to know about your sex life." The class chuckled at the joke, Shiki smiled sweetly before picking up a stapler from Asuma's desk. She threw it and managed to hit Kiba square in the middle of his forehead.

"Shut it dog-boy." The class snickered at the brunette as Shiki scurried to her seat next to Sasuke Uchiha. He smirked at her and she smiled before leaning back in her seat.

"Okay class, today let's work on the Second World War."

The Ring

"Stupid Nazis." Shiki muttered to Sasuke, staring down at her textbook and scowling as she copied an answer down.

"Shut it, loser." Sasuke said under his breath, his own head leaning over the book, his eyes flicking back and forth at a rapid pace.

"You shut it bastard."

"Dead-last."

"Emo." Sasuke glared but didn't answer and Shiki smirk smugly at him. "I win." She said in a sing-song voice, Sasuke's eyebrows twitched and Shiki smiled. Score for today: Shiki 3, Sasuke 2. Asuma's eyes narrowed in on the two and they both pretended to be absorbed in their silent reading. He began to start towards them just as the bell rang. Shiki grinned and jumped up out of her seat.

"Yes. Break time." She shouted happily as she ran to the front of the class, grabbing Gaara's arm on the way and promptly dragging him to the student store. As they came up to the line Shiki nearly cried as she saw the large line. Gaara wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her from pushing her way to the front. After a while Shiki was getting impatient and it didn't help when she finally got to the counter.

"What would you like?" A sunny girl asked, grinning brightly at the two, Shiki growled and almost jumped at the girl. Almost.

"Give. Me. Chocolate." She said, staring intently at the chocolate bars. The girl gave a small sound of fright and practically threw the chocolate at her. Shiki smiled as she grabbed it and ran over to the courtyard. All of her friends were sitting there, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura, Sasuke, Sai, Temari, Neji, Kankuro, Tenten, and Lee.

"Scare another cashier?" Neji asked, looking at the chocolate. Tenten giggled from her place in Lee's lap and Shiki nodded happily.

"Chocolate is a godly food." Shiki informed everyone, resting her head in Gaara's lap and biting into it. She moaned causing almost everyone to laugh at her.

"Dude, your gonna get fat." Ino said, staring distastefully at the offending food, Sakura nodded with a serious look on her face and Shiki glared.

"I don't care," She said stubbornly, "At least I'll be happy with my affair." Gaara smirked and kissed the top of her head. To onlookers it would have looked like a young couple, but to the group of friends it was a usual occurrence between the two friends. The other couples in the group smiled and tightened their holds on each other.

Kiba and Sakura had been together only a year, Tenten and Lee since freshmen year when he'd impressed with his determination (he said it was his youthfullness) , Ino and Chouji had gotten together at homecoming this year, Temari and Shikamaru had gotten together only a month ago, and Neji and Shino even less than that.

As Shiki surveyed her friends she noticed an interesting thing occurring. Every now and then Hinata would glance at Sasuke and look away blushing, then Sasuke would look at her and smirk. Shiki caught his eye and waggled her eyebrows pointedly, the Uchiha frowned and opened his mouth when Shiki interrupted him.

"Hey Hinata, Sasuke has something he wants to ask you." Everyone quieted down to looked at Sasuke who quickly closed his mouth and glared at Shiki.

"There's nothing I want to ask her." He hissed, his eyes flickering to Hinata and back, Shiki rose an eyebrow at him and turned to Hinata.

"Since he is so emotionally stunted I will ask you for him." Shiki said seriously, ignoring the fact that Gaara was holding Sasuke back from attacking her. "The Uchiha wants to know if you'll go out with him." Sasuke froze and looked to the quiet girl for her reaction. She blushed and looked at Sasuke shyly.

"S-Sure." She said quietly, poking her fingers together. Sasuke walked over to her and put his arm over her, Hinata's face immediately burned a bright red.

"I object." Neji declared loudly, standing up, narrowing his eyes on the new couple, " I will not allow yo-" He was cut off when Shino grabbed him and kissed him full on the lips. When he let him go Neji calmly sat down and turned to Hinata.

"I approve." He said, putting an arm around Shino's shoulders. Hinata grinned and turned to Sasuke. He smirked and put his own arm around her shoulders again. Shiki smiled and leaned back now that she was sure everyone was happy.

The Ring

Akatsuki looked up as the door opened to the conference room opened and watched as their supervisor, Tsunade, walked in and stopped in front of the group.

"We've got a supposed fighter from the Ring in custody." Deidara sat up and looked at the other blonde incredulously.

"Your serious?" When she nodded, he jumped up, smiling broadly, "All right!" The rest of the group grinned and Tsunade popped out of the room.

"Okay, here he is." Tsunade said, leading a man into the room, "This is Suigetsu." The man looked up and glared at everyone in the room. Hidan smirked and leaned forward in the seat.

"Give this fucker to Ibiki."

A/N: Revised March 10 2012