~*****~

"Ino..... Why?" Sakura asked, gripping onto the tattered scraps of my kimono as I stare dumbfounded at Squad 10.

"I'm tired of you showing off in front of Sasuke and trying to get all the credit!" She smiled back at us.

Dosu looked up, annoyed by the sudden appearance of Squad 10, but that just kept hidden by the bandages wrapped around his face. Dosu straightened up a it, and Choji immediately burst into shivers. "These Leaf Village worms will be sorry they wormed their way into something that doesn't concern them." Choji's shivers turned into tremors.

"You guys, what're we even doing here?!" Choji yelped. "These guys are bad news!"

"Don't look at me, It was Ino's idea!" Shikamaru complained. "Besides, I'll be damned if were sitting back while the girls are fighting with all they've got."

"Sorry I dragged you guys into this." Ino laughed a little. "But we are a three man squad, right? All for one and one for all!"

"This ain't teamwork! I call this suicide!" Choji tried to escape, but unfortunately Shikamaru had a tight hold on his scarf. "Let me out of here! Please let me go! I don't wanna be here!"

"Stop it! You're getting on my nerves!" Shikamaru complained once again.

Zaku smirked at Choji's current behavior and began chuckling, saying it was better to live sheep than a dead lion. He then said the taboo word. The one most of us flinched over. Choji's ear twitched as I grew pale at the face. "Did I just hear that right?" Choji said in a low angry voice. "What did that guy just say?"

Zaku raised his eyebrow in confusion. Shikamaru began to sweat, knowing full well Choji was about to break out and destroy someone.

"Do you mind saying that again?"

Zaku repeated it. Choji remained silent for a moment, but that soon ended as Choji's anger broke out. "I'M NOT FAT!! I'M JUST A LITTLE CHUBBY, OKAY!?" With that battle cry, he turned to his teammates. "That does it! Now this is personal! It's a fight to the death between Leaf and Sound!"

While Ino was more than happy that he'd changed his mind, Shikamaru just groaned in annoyance to the other ninja. "Thanks a lot. Now we've gotta live with him."

I let out a soft sigh as I slumped forward, still feeling drained. Sakura grasped my shoulder and pulled me towards her chest, letting me lean against her. "Sakura, your teammates are down. Look after them." Ino told her. Sakura nodded briefly and tried to help me stand, but it was futile, I couldn't move an inch without gasping in pain. I grasped at my stomach as the burning sensation became almost unbearable. She sat back down and kept me comfortable. "Alright! Team Ino, lets show 'em who's boss!"

"Got it!" Choji and Shikamaru said in unison.

"Formation: Ino-"

"Shika-"

"Cho!"

"Okay Choji! Take it away!" Ino yelled as he performed the expansion jutsu.

"My pleasure!" He expanded at the waist, resembling a large balloon as his arms, legs, and head slipped into the balloon. "Human Boulder!" He shouted, spinning rapidly and charging towards Zaku. Zaku held up his arms, using the air streams to keep Choji at bay. It became a stalemate. Choji jumped upwards, and sailed right at Zaku. Dosu was about to leap in and help, but Shikamaru had him trapped in his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"Why are you just standing there!" Kin screeched.

Zaku managed to jump out of Choji's line of destruction. Shikamaru made Dosu start doing some ridiculous poses, causing a fight of pained chuckles to erupt from my throat. "It's some sort of paralysis jutsu."

"Ino, I'll leave the girl to you."

"You got it!" Ino answered. "Just take care of my body while I'm gone!"

"Sure."

Ino turned towards Kin, sizing her up. She pulled her hands up in front of her body. "Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Ino yelled. Ino fell over limp just as Shikamaru caught her.

Zaku jumped out of Choji's way once more. "Argh! Enough of this!" Zaku screamed in annoyance. "Kin!"

"What's wrong with you?!" Dosu yelled at her.

Kin looked down with dark eyes, not going near her teammates. She held up a kunai to her neck and looked up with a wide smile. "Party's over fellas!" Kin said. "Take it east. One false move from either of you and your teammate here gets it in the neck. And you don't want that to happened. So here's what you're gonna do: Just drop the scroll and walk away. Far enough so that I can't sense your chakra, then I'll let her go."

At that moment, her teammates smirked, confusion poor Ino. "Choji!" Ino suddenly yelled.

"What is it?! What're they up to!?" Sakura gasped.

Zaku lifted up his arm, the air tunnels blasting air towards Kin's body. Choji spun towards them, trying to get there in time, however, it hit Ino and threw her into the tree behind her and blasting Choji off into another direction. Ino's real body began to bleed. "This is bad." Shikamaru commented, a sweat forming on his brow.

Choji sat up, the expansion jutsu releasing. He held his mouth for a moment before vomiting.

"Who attacks their own teammate...." I ask aloud, gripping at my stomach as the pain started to ebb away.

"You see, we don't play this game by your rules." Dosu explained. "It's not the scrolls we're after, or even passing this test."

"W-What then?" Ino asked.

"Sasuke...." I mumbled aloud, looking towards the alcove we had set up.

"Oh, so your paralysis jutsu has a pretty limited duration, I see." Dosu commented, making me look back towards the fight.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu." Shikamaru corrected. "Get your jutsu's right."

"Is this the time to be sassy?" I comment dryly.

"Whatever..." Dosu replied. "I can see your teammate can slip her soul into her very opponent. Very clever, but dangerous. Anything that happens to Kin, happens to her too. So, say if Kin were to die-"

"What're you gonna do?!" Shikamaru retorted. "Kill your teammate?"

Zaku raised his hand to Kin, who lay on the floor, weakened. "Well, if push comes to shove...." Zaku said with a smirk. "Then yes."

Shikamaru groaned in annoyance. "Oh man, what a drag!" He complained as Choji agreed with his friend.

"Did you really think you could beat us?" Zaku aimed at Kin. "Face it, you ninja are a bunch of hacks! From a second rate village."

"Huh? That's pretty tough talk!"

We all turned to the voice. "Neji! TenTen!" I yelped happily. They stood atop the tree branches, looking down at us.

"I guess that makes your village third rate! I wonder if any of you amateurs are ready to take on the real thing!" Neji snapped.

Dosu, angered by his comment, growled at them. TenTen called down to Lee. "You blew it!" She was hoping for a response, but he didn't answer.

"You genin keep popping out of the woods like cockroaches." Dosu remarked angrily.

"It looks to me like somebody used our teammate like a punching bag." Neji commented. Veins popped up around Neji's eyes and they instantly became more prominent. "Nobody does that and gets away with it! No more playing around! TenTen, full power!"

"Ready when you are!" TenTen replied. But before Neji could attack, he stopped, his eyes gazing at our alcove. "What's wrong?" TenTen asked.

"Well, are you going to stay up there all day? Or are you going to do something about it?" Dosu called.

"Actually," Neji replied casually. "It looks like it's been taken out of my hands."

"S...Sasuke...." I murmured again, looking up at the sudden appearance of the Uchiha. He stood tall, with black markings covering half his body. The chakra that eminated from it seemed so... evil.

"Ren..." He hummed coolly, staring at the sound ninja. I remained silent as I gazed at him. "Ren..." He said once more. "Who did this to you?!" His voice was calm, but that power seeped over him like thick, black, tar. Like poison. I started to shiver as Sakura tightened her grip on me. "Who was it?!" His Sharingan was activated, and it felt like he could kill us all at the moment if he so pleased.

"S-Sasuke... what's happened to you?" I mumble, sitting upwards a little, hissing in pain.

Sasuke raised his hand to look at it, gazing at the black marks and visible chakra flying around him. "Don't worry. It's alright. It's just the power flowing through me." He answered. "In fact, I've never felt better. He gave me this gift. He made me understand who I am. I'm an Avenger! To follow my path, I must have power, at any price. Even if it means consumed by evil!" I kept shaking as I sat forward on my knees. "Ren, tell me! Which one of these people did this to you?!"

Zaku smirked, not fully understanding what he was getting himself into. "I may have had a hand in it."

Sasuke peered over at him.

"Ino! Get back in your body! You don't wanna get involved in this!" Shikamaru yelled, having drug her body to a safe place. Ino released the jutsu, and she came to by Shikamaru. "Atta girl, good to have you back."

"Shikamaru! What's this all about?" Choji whispered harshly.

"How should I know?!"

The marks on Sasuke's body began spreading, setting in place as the chakra disappeared. Dosu gazed at the Uchiha in fear, realizing just what Orochimaru had done. "Zaku. You don't wanna take this fight."

"What's wrong, Dosu? You aren't getting cold feet, are ya?!"

"Zaku, don't do it!"

"Just you watch! I'll blast them all in one fell swoop!" Zaku yelled. "Super Sonic Slicing Wave!"

I clenched my eyes shut as we all took the full brunt of the attack, and for one moment, I awaited death with open arms, so I didn't have to feel that poisonous power Sasuke emitted anymore.

~*****~

"Well, what do you know? Blew 'em all away." I hear Zaku comment as I open my eyes once again, sitting a couple of feet away from the blast.

"Not quite."

Sasuke appeared behind him, with the Naruto, Sakura, and I huddled together behind him. Sasuke struck Zaku, sending him flying towards Dosu. Dosu called out to him to check if he was alright while he coughed. Surprised at the drastic increase of speed, they merely jumped out of the way just as Sasuke sent an oncoming barrage of Phoenix Flower fireballs their way. Zaku used his air tunnels again to blow out the fire, but underneath the flames, shuriken flew in. "Zaku, Get down!!!" Dosu screamed.

It was too late. Sasuke had sped over, grabbing Zaku's arm and tugging them backwards and pressing his foot into the middle of his back. I quickly covered my mouth as my stomach dropped. I began to panic. "You seem to be very fond of these arms of yours," Sasuke chimed in a mocking tone. "You must be very attached to them."

"No- what are you doing?!" There was a nauseating crunch as Zaku's arms were ripped from their sockets. Bile forced its way up my throat and stung at my tongue as I tried to hold it down. Sasuke threw the injured ninja to the ground, turning to Dosu.

"Looks like you're the only two left," Sasuke smiled. "I hope you make things more interesting than your friend did." He began walking towards him, and I leapt up from my spot, collapsing into his back and wrapping my arms around him. He hummed lightly as I slumped, using my arms to keep myself upright as I shook.

"Stop... Please..." I whimpered, gazing up at him as he turned his head to look at me, those Sharingan eyes looking much more murderous than they did before. The black marks began to recede back into the original mark. He fell back into me, breathing heavily from the strain. I kept my arms around him as the tears soaked into his shoulder.

"You're strong, Sasuke," Dosu commented, still recovering himself. He pulled out his scroll and held it in front of him. "Too strong. We can't hope to defeat you the way you are now." He placed he scroll on the dirt. "We'll strike a deal. I'll give you this scroll and you let us go." He gathered his fallen teammates and turned to leave, but Sakura stopped them.

"Wait!" She shouted. "Who is this Orochimaru!? What has be done to Sasuke?!" She asked angrily. "And why Sasuke?!"

Dosu turned. "I don't know. All we know is that we were told to target Sasuke. And we did." Dosu answered. "I don't know why he asked us to assassinate someone he'd already bestowed such powers. I don't even know why Sasuke even survived the curse mark. There are many things I don't know."

They left after that, vanishing back into the forest. Team 10 ran out of hiding to check on us. Shikamaru and Choji came over to us, making sure we were alright while Ino went over to Lee. Shikamaru and Choji set to the task of waking up Naruto while I held onto Sasuke's sleeve, still gazing downwards. "Your hair..." Sasuke murmured, making me look up. I raised my hand and palmed it, sighing out in annoyance.

"Didn't... have much of a choice... Besides... It got in the way." I commented, smiling bashfully as I tugged at the uneven chops.

"It... looks nice..." I smiled gratefully as I kept tugging. I struggled to stand to go over to Lee just as Naruto said it was stupid for him to rush in like that. I knelt down to my friend and ran my hand over his hair.

"Thank you, Lee... for coming to my rescue..." I comment, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Because of you, Sakura and I worked well together as a team. We've become stronger because of you..."

"Ren..." He started on the verge of tears. "Alone, my efforts were not good enough." He shook, wiping away his tears, then turned his attention to Sasuke. "So, Sasuke, you are good as your reputation. Just what you'd expect from the Uchiha Clan. To chase off those ninja, you must be very strong. Not like me, I just got beaten to a pulp."

"Ren, the lotus of the Leaf Village Blooms twice." I cocked my head, hoping this wasn't another lame pick up line. "When we meet again, I will have become a stronger ninja. I promise."

I smiled gratefully and kissed his forehead once more before trying to stand up, only to hiss and fall backwards. Shikamaru grunted in surprise when I tumbled into him, panting heavily. "Jeez, you're such a drag." He commented, helping me upwards.

"Shut up..." I giggled, rubbing my head lightly. He took hold of the long lock of hair trailing down my cheek from my temple, twirling it in his fingers with a thoughtful expression. "Does it look bad?" I question with a frown.

He remained silent before pulling me forward, burying my head into his shoulder. "Nah, I just thought that I must seem like a wuss for not helping out sooner." I smiled to myself and pulled away. "Besides, I think the short hair suits you better."

"I think I prefer long hair on Ren." Ino comments, holding up a kunai. "Let me make it look presentable at least." She smiles as I flush. "I already finish Sakura's hair, hurry up, yeah?" She tugs me away from the annoyed Shikamaru and sets down down, cutting at my hair silently. "You sure took a beating..." She hummed, hacking off the longer locks with ease. "You're usually stronger than that, what happened?"

I remained silent, gazing down at my hands. Blood seeped through the wound I had made earlier to stop the fear. I huffed lightly and turned my head to gaze at her. "I took a bad beating earlier. I dont think my body's had enough time to heal." I just grinned at my blonde friend, who snorted.

"I swear, you're going to give me gray hairs before I'm actually old." She put her kunai away before she started fluffing my hair a little. "There. Now you look like a girl who got a hair cut, instead of someone who got out of the mental institute." Without warning, she hugged me from behind, burying her head into my neck. "Jeez, you think I'd be more prepared to deal with you being so lame at a time like this, huh?"

"Oh hush. Help me up." She giggled and held out a hand, helping me stand on my own two feet. At that moment, a loud ripping noise made everyone look at me. I stood there, shaking as my kimono fell to the ground in a pathetic heap of worn away fabric and threads. Ino started laughing as I wrapped my arms around my waist in an attempt to cover my bound chest. "D-Don't just stand there, Ino-Pig!" I snapped, my eyebrow twitching in embarrassment.

"Hey! Watch it, Aardvark Face!" We began bickering as Shikamaru strolled over, holding out his shirt with an embarrassed cough. "Wow, Shikamaru, giving the girl the shirt off your back. How chivalrous." He began to bicker with her just as I tugged on the open front shirt, sighing in embarrassment. "Why are you binding your chest anyway?" Ino commented. It felt as if the top of my head burst off with all the blood rushing upwards and into my face. "Oh, wow! Your neck and face are as red as a tomato!" I fell backwards, my world darkening as I fainted.