NOTE: All Konoha ninjas have their Shippuden appearance except Sakura and Sasuke.

(BEGIN)

"Wait what?" One Kiba Inuzuka asked with a dumbfounded expression. Shino palmed his face at his teammate. It had been two hours since Ino and Sakura had gathered the rest of the Konoha Eleven (and Sai) together and while Ino had already explained what she and Sakura saw eight times, Kiba was having a bit of difficulty with what she was saying. So here they were, in a large booth at one of the Akimichi barbeque restaurants, trying to enjoy themselves before going to watch the fight.

"I said Sasuke and Hinata are going to fight Natsume." Ino said with an annoyance written on her face.

"There's no way Hinata would do that!" Kiba shouted at the blond.

"If she were the same Hinata from three years ago then I would be inclined to agree with you." Shino spoke evenly. "However, you must take into account that she has not acted like the Hinata we knew during the academy since 'that day'. Logically, the trauma she experienced then has affected her and has changed her into the Hinata of today. As her friends, we should support her decision to better herself."

"She was fine the way she was before! She didn't need to change." Kiba tried to explain.

"Troublesome. Do you actually hear yourself right now? You sound like a little kid who lost his favorite toy. Face it Kiba, Hinata's old personality would have eventually gotten herself or your team killed." Shikamaru's opinion grated on Kiba's nerves.

"She would've improved!"

"You can't know that." Neji butted in.

"Neither can you!"

"Settle down boys." Tenten attempts to diffuse the situation. Choji was distracting himself with his barbeque and Lee was being unusually quiet. Taking notice of this, Tenten looks over to the spandex wearing chunin. She's surprised to see a collection of empty sake bottles before him and even more surprised that he hadn't destroyed anything yet. She just had to ask. "Lee, are you….drinking?" The entire restaurant stops, waiting for his answer.

"Yes I am."

"And you're still you right?" Sakura gently asked, reminding some of the gathered that she was there.

"I am worried for Sasuke and Hinata."

"What do you mean Lee?"

"Tenten, Neji, do you remember the incident that occurred one year, four months and nine days ago?" Neji's breath hitched in his throat and Tenten quickly became paler than Sai.

"As troublesome as it is to ask, what exactly happened back then?" Seeing that Tenten was still incredibly pale and Lee was simply nursing his bottle, Neji decided to explain.

"We were approached by ANBU around half an hour before our usual training time. All they told us at the time was that something occurred with Lee. We didn't know what to think when we were escorted to the hospital. When we got there Guy-sensei was pacing like a man possessed. He actually jumped every time one of the doctors passed. We waited for six hours before we were approached by Tsunade-sama herself." He pauses and looks to his fellow members of Team Guy. Lee nods at him while Tenten looks as though she was fighting tears. "She told us Lee had been injured in a spar."

"So what's the big deal?" Kiba asked impatiently. Shino palmed his face once more.

"The fact that the six hours we waited were used to make sure he didn't die from trauma or blood loss. When we were finally let in to see him, he was wrapped up like a mummy. Broken bones, lacerations, internal bleeding, I actually lost my lunch the first time I saw it. It was like raiding Orochimaru's base all over again." Everyone within hearing distance shivered at that (even Sai). Shikamaru was the first to speak.

"Are you saying Natsume did that to Lee?"

"I do not need them to speak for me. My condition that day was indeed caused by Natsume. Though, I do not remember all the details. The last thing I recall was being locked in a clash against her sword with my nun chucks when she placed her palm on the back of her sword and then it was all just….pain." The gears were turning in the gathered ninja's heads. A kunoichi, who could take out someone like Lee from a dead clash, simply by placing her hand on her sword, It was Sakura who finally voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Just how strong is she?"

(RED LIGHT APARTMENTS)

Sasuke and Hinata ascended the stairs of their apartment building. Sasuke summoned a couple clones to carry the shopping bags to Hinata's apartment as they split up at the third floor (Hinata and the clones heading left while Sasuke headed right.

The former avenger channeled chakra to his fingers as he opened the door to his and Anko's shared apartment. She was made his official guardian after the retrieval mission (in fact Sasuke asked for her personally) despite the protests of the village elders and the civilian council. Of course he didn't realize that she'd make it her personal mission to make him see just how stupid he was for trying to defect in the first place. She was also paranoid to the point that she had seals on her front door that only certain people could open and destroyed any other doors that happened to separate the rooms.

Sasuke spotted Anko in the kitchen wearing nothing but an apron whilst she whipped up a snack for her 'babies' sitting on the counter. The scaled former residents of The Forest of Death were quite thankful for what she'd been doing for them over the years, so much so that some of them decided to stay and were currently being furniture, hence the reason Sasuke wasn't startled when the 'couch' decided to move its head in his path and look him in the eye.

"Hello to you too Couch Steve." Did I forget to mention the slight unhinging Sasuke experienced whilst living with and being trained by Anko? I did? Well long story short, Sasuke now calls every snake he meets Steve. The weirdest part of it all is the fact that despite him calling them all Steve (Couch Steve is the only one with an added title) they somehow know which one he's referring too.

"You're back early. Thought our little princess would drag you around for a couple more hours. Looks like I owe Nai-chan 300 ryo." Anko ended with a pout.

"We ran into a bitchy blond and her redheaded mouthpiece." Anko immediately summoned another snake to take over cooking and tackled Sasuke just as he was entering his room, an action which ended with the purple haired woman straddling him. "What are you doing?"

"Getting the scoop."

"What?"

"You're back way too early AND you ran into The Queen of Bitch. Something happened and I want to know." Sasuke sighed.

"Fine, she said a few things she's going to regret." Anko started to gain her special smile. That special smile she only gets when other people suffer.

"Ooh, what did you do?" She was squirming on his lap.

"We're fighting her at five."

"And who is 'we'?"

"Myself and Hinata."

"Oh? Team Dragon Lily is taking the Bitch Queen down a few pegs?"

"Why did you ever start that stupid name anyway?"

Anko shrugged. "I dunno. Just kinda fit."

"Not really. Hinata's not really dragon like after all."

"…"

"What?"

"You're the dragon."

"Still not seeing it." Anko palmed her face.

"It's a play on your title in the Bingo Book."

"Then why is Hinata a lily?"

"I have no idea. Kurenai came up with that part."

"Okay then. Are you planning of getting off of me anytime soon?"

"I wouldn't mind getting off but I prefer the kind where I don't need to stand." She started grinding against him.

"Yeah, no." He substituted with his pillow. "I'm not being your fuck toy."

"Aw, why not?" She gives him a seductive grin. "You were so good last time."

"I was drugged, gagged, and tied to the bed." He replied with a flat stare.

"Oh yeah." She raps her knuckles on her forehead. "I forgot."

"Riiiiiiight. I'm going change for the fight now. My underwear is staying on."

"You're no fun today." She pouts as she stands. Sasuke just cocks an eyebrow. "Alright, alright, I'm going."

He waits until he's sure she's in the kitchen before stripping to his black tomato decorated boxers. He quickly pulls on a pair of grey shinobi pants and a fishnet shirt with elbow length sleeves. He threw a black T-shirt on top of it and began going through his weapon stash. He would over an hour debating what to use. He settled for a kunai holster on each leg and an extended shuriken pouch taking up the back of his belt. The pouch was filled with shuriken (obviously), ninja wire, senbon, and some medical supplies and chakra pills. The segmented pouch allowed him to keep the items safely separated. The only thing he didn't have on him were his custom fuinjutsu, genjutsu, and weapon scrolls. His final decision was which vest he should wear, the standard Konoha vest he received with his chuunin promotion or the thin Uchiha military siege vest that would harden when chakra was channeled through it. He grabbed the dark blue Uchiha vest and set his headband next to his chunnin vest. He loaded his scrolls into the Uchiha vests pockets and made his way back to the main room of the apartment, surprised to find Anko had left.

"Where did she go Couch Steve?" The large predator gave an amused hiss. "I guess I should've expected her to do that. All girls love to gossip apparently."

He waves to the assembled reptiles as he exits the apartment, spotting Hinata as she does the same.

(HINATA'S APARTMENT: SAME TIME)

Hinata swiftly enters her apartment, gesturing Sasuke's clones to deposit their burden in the corner. Assuring the lead clone that she'd get to them later, they dispel and Hinata enters her bathroom to grab a towel, closing the door behind her. She draws herself a bath, slowly stripping as the room begins to fog up.

"I don't want to give any peepers a free show after all."

She watches herself in her still clear mirror, the seals inside it being the only thing keeping it from fogging up.

"I wonder if I would have gotten this big if I still lived at the Hyuuga compound." She quietly wonders, crossing her arms under her assets and pushing them up. She drops her arms, getting a bounce as her breasts move to their *ahem* natural position as a slight frown finds its way onto her face. "Would Naruto like my breasts if he was here?" A crimson blush covers her face as she realizes what she just said. She grabs a hair tie from the sink and pulls her hair into a side ponytail as she shuts off the tub and hurriedly climbs into the water.

"I can't believe I just said that. I haven't done anything like that in years." Hinata sinks into the water as she speaks. Once everything from the nose down was submerged she began to think about another blond.

"I can't believe she's his sister. Then again she looks just like her mother if she had blond hair. They still act nothing alike. Naruto always put others before himself and went out of his way to help anyone he could and he always smiled even when he didn't have any reason to. I wish I hadn't been such a coward so he'd know someone cared for him besides Iruka-Sensei and the Ichirakus." Hinata pulls herself into a sitting position, allowing her head to rest on the back of the tub. "Kasumi is a straight up bitch. I'm not surprised that the Hyuuga elders took to her so quickly. Both think that everyone else is lower than trash compared to them." A look of contemplation adorns her face. "I think I might understand why she pushes everyone away like that though. She spent the first 13 years of her life listening to her mother talk about finding a legend to 'save' the twin brother she never even met. From the way Kushina acts, I'm surprised Kasumi was able to get any training at all. Wait." A thoughtful frown appears. "Didn't Kurenai-Sensei say something about that?" She closes her eyes and purses her lips. "Hmm, I can't seem to remember."

A chakra burst breaks her out of her thoughts. She activates her Byakugan and sees Sasuke checking on his scrolls. "Damn, has it really been an hour already?" She quickly escapes the bath, pulling the plug on her way out. She just as quickly dries her body off and wraps the towel around her as she heads to her bedroom. Sliding on Lavender panties and a fishnet Kunoichi top, her still active Bloodline spots Sasuke finish his scroll check. She pulls on her 'mission' pants, taping one leg and adding a kunai holster. She deactivates her bloodline and slides on her jacket, zipping it up as she spots the final piece of her outfit, the Leaf headband that glistened in the sunlight. She pockets the item in her Shuriken holster and uses her Byakugan once more just in time to see Sasuke set his headband down only to have one of the larger snakes grab it and sneak it into his pouch. Deactivating the Byakugan one final time she chuckles to her self and slips on her sandals. She makes it out her door at the same time as Sasuke and cheerfully waves to him before locking her apartment up. They still had nearly two hours until their fight so they could afford to take it slow and build a game plan.

(TRAINING GROUND SEVEN)

If anyone were to see her now, they'd think they were hallucinating. Kasumi Uzumaki was crying as she ran her fingers over the memorial stone. Well, not the entire stone, just one name in particular.

Minato Namikaze

"Father, would you be ashamed of me for hating this village? Hating that they spit on your sacrifice? Hating that they took my brother away before I could know him? I hate him too. He died before we even got to meet. I never got too embarrass him in front of his friends or eat ice cream with him on a hot summer day or go to school with him with or hug him like only a sister could. They took you away too. You never got to see us grow up or tell us happy birthday."

Rain began to fall as her voice grew louder.

"You never got to tuck us in at night or tell us you were proud of us when we did something good. You never got to scold us when we fucked up. You gave your life for these people and it wasn't even worth it." She screams in frustration. "It's not fair! I hate this place! This village just takes and takes and takes until you can't give anymore and then they just toss you aside for the next poor sap. You're lucky if get away without a target on your back." She lets the rain wash over her for a few seconds. "This place broke mom too. She's always trying to fix things and doesn't let anyone help her. She still has her moments though, when she's actually a mother. There haven't been a lot but they were still good, you know? She told this one time, on my 9th birthday, about a motto you had. How 'Those who break the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash". Where does that leave this shithole?" She swings her arms out wide, walking in a large circle. "Because as far as I'm concerned this hellhole is the lowest fucking place in the entire god damned universe." She falls forward onto her forearms and knees, breaking out into sobs.

(CHAPTER 8: [Human] END)

AN: Yes, I humanized the super bitch.

Yes, someone is going to complain.

Yes, this is a short chapter.

Yes, I know the title doesn't really fit.

Yes, there's an omake after this note.

And finally NO, there won't be anymore updates this month.

Holidays suck.

(OMAKE: The breaking of Sasuke Uchiha)

"What the fuck is that thing on the TV?"

"It's a raven."

"Why the fuck is it in my apartment?"

"I bought it."

"Why?"

"Because living with you and 100+ snakes is apparently damaging for the psyche so my therapist suggested I get my own pet."

"I'm insulted. Wait, you have a therapist?"

"Sigh. Can we please not go there?"

"Okay. By the way, the couch just ate your bird."

"WHAT!"

Burp.

"MR. TWEETUMS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"You named it Mr. Tweetums?"

"DAMN YOU COUCH STEVE! Damn you to hell."

"Oh god, are you crying?"

Sniff. "No."