Syna allowed herself a small sigh as she walked from the main building of the Leaf village. Sometimes she wished she was one of the shinobi like her friend, but right now was not one of them. Battles raged everywhere, and it was all the brown haired woman could do not to scream at the senselessness of it all.

Bright green eyes lifted to the sky in contemplation of the clouds as her thoughts drifted away. It was nice, wonderful, to be able to walk so freely in the forest. Syna was certain no one would bother her at her usual spot by the pond she'd found wandering from the ramen shop. So near to the village, with all it's securities, certainly no one would dare to harm anyone.

Krystal moved about to the highest point of the her apartment building, she wanted to get a higher view, even though she feared heights more than anything. "Smells like a great day" Krystal spoke to herself allowing the wind to blow gently through her dirty blonde, soft hair. It was almost autumn and getting a bit cooler outside. Krystal loved autumn, but, she hated when it got colder, it was soo cold to her.

Kakashi appeared next to her crouching down on the rooftop "Good Morning, what are you doing up here so early?" "Kakashi-Sensei, it's nearly afternoon" "It is? Oh, I guess I have to go teach Naruto & the others, are you coming?" Kakashi asked, she was on Asuma-sensei's team, but, often trained with Kakashi while being able to see her best friend Syna. "Is Syna going to be there?" Krystal asked as she tilted her head looking over & down at him

"I'm not sure, let's go see" Kakashi smiled standing up, Kakashi was like the father Krystal wished she had, she always lived with her step father & her real mother, but, moved out once she had the chance to get her own place. Which she convinced the hokage when she was 14 that it was for the best.

- - - - -

Syna might have thought she was alone, but, what she might not have noticed was that someone was watching her. Though they stepped out of the trees, it was Sasuke Uchiha, his brother killed their family to teach him to hate and kill him later on in life. However, things never worked out as planned and Sasuke grew up to hate pretty much anyone. He was friends with Syna, better than hanging with Naruto or Sakura, Naruto was loud, and Sakura was almost just as annoying. "Syna, what are you doing out here?" he asked in his usual tone.

A startled squeak left the girl's lips before she could stop herself. Seeing Sasuke made a shy smile appear on her face, though she didn't blush like many other of the young women in the village would have done. He was a little young for her taste, but a wonderful friend once you got to know him. Syna waved towards the pond she liked so much and shrugged. "I wanted to go and sit by my pond. Would you like to join me?

Though he might very well have needed to go train. Even so, the dark haired boy needed someone to talk to who didn't have a crush on him, or a need to be better a ninja then him. Syna had appointed that task to herself, and saw it as an extension of her healing.

Shikamaru stared up at the clouds with a sigh. Why did he have to go and train? It wasn't like there were other things that needed to be doing. Like perhaps playing a good game of Go. But then again, Choji and Ino did need his support. They had tactics and strategy to plan, or at least he did. It was after all what he was best at.

With a groan the dark haired boy shifted to his feet and ambled towards the training grounds absentmindedly.

Sasuke walked over standing next to her "Trying to find some quiet away from Naruto?" he asked, though he normally would have chuckled around her, he didn't this time. Sasuke was waiting for the right moment to say something, the right moment to make his move, and he knew how she would probably react. Just like anyone else would react, she wouldn't be any or if any, very different from all others.

- - - - -

"Um, you know what Sensei, I should get back to my group, I really do need to spend more time training with them, I'll take you up on that offer later though" She smiled, Krystal knew she had been neglecting her team to spend more time with Syna, though she felt like they were sisters, and it made her happy since she was an only child. "Alright, well I better get back soon" Kakashi said as he disappeared hopping away.

Krystal hopped off to find her team, she had to spend more time training or she would get scolded. She hated getting scolded, but, thankfully Kurenai wasn't her sensei otherwise that would be a ... well it would give Kurenai alot to say and Krystal an earful. Krystal took off faster not paying attention except to avoid a few things likes trees or such, she accidentally ran into someone from her team, Shikamaru and knocked them both over. It took Krystal a moment before she realized who she had knocked over, but, she realized it when she looked up.

With a laugh, Syna shook her head. Green eyes sparkling with mischief, she rummaged in her pack to bring out a book. Flipping it open, she pointed at the scribbled notes and drawings of plants within. "More like trying to study up on herbs. I've been finding quite a few around the pond and doing some research on them. I may not be a ninja, but it's still a lot of hard work training in the medical field." Not to mention the fact that now it was essential for her to learn enough martial arts skills to defend herself.

It was a new rule, one that made sense. Even so, Syna didn't like it at all. Going into battle was frightening enough, but having to harm others in order to survive frightened her even more.

Shikamaru let out a grunt as he was barreled into. The boy shook his head and glared at Krystal with annoyance. "Clumsy, this is why you should show up for training more often." Their lives depended on it when they went out on missions. Shikamaru still didn't understand why Krystal had been added to Asuma's team.

The Hokage probably had his reasons, ones a chuunin didn't have anyway of understanding. Even so .... It was really annoying having to try and adapt everything for the newcomer. Standing up with a sigh, Shikamaru turned his back to the young woman. "Well I suppose I should make sure you get to training today ..." Just something else to do he supposed.

Sasuke sighed, it was time "Syna, let me ask you something" he spoke adding "What would you do if you were betrayed by someone you considered your friend?" Sasuke waited for the answer, he didn't care about the answer, just the soon to be outcome.

- - - - -

Krystal was better at missions, they challenged her, and she didn't believe that raining did give her enough of a challenge when she had nothing or no one to protect. "But, it's not that great of a challenge" Krystal pouted, but, got off of him "Sorry, I didn't mean to run into you, I actually did decide to go to training today. Maybe I should..." she stood up continuing what she was saying "just head back and relax today. I'm sure Syna would love to hang out some more"

"I'd ask them why," came the simple matter-of-fact reply. Syna shrugged and put away her little notebook with a great amount of care. It was after all a collection of her own studies. "Why do you ask?" Surely there had to be a reason for such an out of the way question. There wasn't anything she could think of to explain it, save perhaps what Sasuke's brother had done to him. She'd always believed there was more to it all then most people accepted.

After all, you didn't just commit patricide without a very good reason. In fact, it might not even have been that. With a shake of her head, Syna tried to push the thoughts aside. She was older then Sasuke by a few years, but younger then his brother. Because of that, it had been easy to lurk around after the horrific thins had happened to the Uchiha clan to simply listen, and she'd heard a lot.

The boy made a face and reached out to grab hold of her arm. "No way are you skipping out this time. Asuma will give me a good talking to if you try. The Chuunin exams are coming up, haven't you heard?" They had more then enough reason to train up with that coming. Even Shikamaru, usually the laziest of the team, agreed that practice and training was their best option. Still, he suspected that no matter how much practice they put in they'd end up last. It was worth a try though.

Without another word, Sasuke's eyes changed "Syna" he waited for to look at him and then he would make her sleep. At least long enough to get away without any struggle. Sasuke seemed very different now, you'd almost think he was his brother or something, maybe his brother was getting to him more now. It was a possibility he would turn out like his brother after everything had happened.

Krystal smiled, she knew what she said had gotten his attention, and she was proud of herself for being able to pull it off. "Wait, what's the chunin exams?" Krystal asked, she had been there only a couple months, about 6 or so at least, and she didn't know anything about the chunin exams.

She lifted her eyes to look questioningly at her friend, only to be caught in their red depths. Softly she fell to the ground with a sigh. Unconsciousness slipped trough her thoughts, making her seem more like a doll then a person in her slumber. Softly her chest rose and fell as she curled up.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he moved to tug her along behind him. "It's the next shinobi level." This was why he was the brains of the team. Imagine, now knowing what the chuunin exams were! Then again he wouldn't put it past that dunce Naruto not to know.

Picking her up, Sasuke was no longer Sasuke, but, was now Itachi Uchiha, his older brother. "That was easier than expected" Itachi spoke as Zetsu showed up on cue out of the ground, he made them all fade into the ground leaving Konoha. Sasuke felt something off, he had a feeling his brother had showed up in Konoha, but, no one was making a big deal about it. So he shrugged it off thinking he was paranoid like he had been for the part of the morning before training and waiting for Kakashi to show up late.

"Oh, sounds boring, wait do you get to fight against others?" Krystal asked hopefully as if she was six again. Of course she was alot more of handful when she was younger or around that age that is. Krystal followed "Hey I'll race you to the others?" she asked playfully, when something was a challenged, she loved it, and by no means would she back down.

The young woman shivered and shifted in her sleep, as if sensing her imminent danger. It did no good, it was too late. Softly the justu began to fade away leaving Syna feeling jaded and unwell. Maybe that was because the world around her seemed to be moving in a dizzying way. Jolting out of her thoughts, the girl's eyes flew open wide. She remained silent, trying to seem unaware of the situation, or rather attempting to ignore it all. There was nothing she could do to escape.

"Yeah we fight, now get moving already!" With that Shikamaru was racing away, jumping trough the streets and up onto the rooftops. Usually the boy wouldn't have seemed so zealous about training, but under these circumstances he couldn't help but be.

Itachi had taken her to his room, it was the only room he could keep her locked away in, without alerting the boss, well tehre was other rooms, but, no one else kidnapped her. Zetsu was talking to Itachi "You're going to get us both in trouble, she'll probably get killed, you know how leader is about things like this" Zetsu hissed, he was not pleased about this, and couldn't remember why he got talked into this in the first place. "I already have a jutsu prepared, just in case, she can't leave" Itachi stated back. They stood in the room next to the bedroom, there was no door on it, only the one to enter the large room Akatsuki each had. They even had their own bathrooms, but, they weren't grand or anything. "Even if the Jutsu holds her, what happens if she runs?" Zetsu asked back "She won't, not if she wants to keep her life. Don't worry about it, if anything happens, you're not involved, understand?" Itachi spoke, not really asking a question. Zetsu turned & left after glaring at Itachi and then nodded. Once the door was shut, Itachi sighed, "This is really a pain, I'll have to remember to kill my brother for sure later" he spoke whispering mostly to himself, but, anyone in the room could've heard if they were listening.

Krystal dashed off keeping her pace with him, she had speed on her side, strength wasn't her highest point in skills, but, her main jutsu she knew, was. Once they arrived there, the others were waiting for them; Ino was reading a magazine she bought from a shop near, Choji was munching on chips, and Asuma was smoking a cigarette like always. "You're both late, good to see you again Krystal" Asuma spoke more like scolding them, but, he didn't sound angry. "Yea, yea, spare me the lecture. I'm back alright, no excuses today, can we just get started?" of course she knew he would want to speak to her eventually "At the end, we'll talk" Asuma added.

The healer huddled on the bed, pulling her knees close to her chest. Well this was certainly a situation she'd never expected. Once Syna was sure there was only one person to deal with, she snuck out of the room. She'd known who to expect, but even so seeing the dark haired man frightened her. Maybe all the stories were true ...

"Why did you do this?" It probably had something to do with his brother. That was what everyone kept talking about in any case. Syne still didn't believe that was true.

Shikamaru shook his head and rolled his eyes before plopping down on the ground. He used the least amount of effort during training, yet somehow he managed to get the most effective results. His shadow jutsu just kept getting better and better with time and Choji improved tremendously. For her part Ino was frowning in concentration while practicing with Asuma.

Itachi glanced over to the bed, so the girl was awake, that was a bit sooner than he had expected, though, he figured she was more skilled than he would think. Last time they underestimated someone and it cost them their...bounty, you could say. "That doesn't concern you" even though it did really "You have one rule, never leave this room, if you do, you will be killed on contact, and I will not intervene" Itachi spoke in his usual cold voice, it was threatening for a reason, if he lost her, then he wouldn't have a reason to get Sasuke to come to find her. He would know if his brother did come looking or not, they were brothers after all.

Krystal was training by herself, she always did things as an individual, it was who she was, and grew up to be. Well, almost grew up to be; she had fought against Ino in a battle, but, no matter who she fought, she didn't like fighting girls. There wasn't much of a challenge, she even stopped in the middle of their match. Krystal wandered off not being seen by Choji or Ino, Asuma just pretended not to see.

If she wasn't going to train, what would be the point of forcing her to do something she wasn't going to in the end. Krystal snuck off and found a quiet place, she started to train on her own, she kept doing exercises, but, her concentration broke...something wasn't right, she hadn't been able to focus at all today, not since she spoke to Kakashi-Sensei. Krystal went back to the team, it was time to leave, and she looked around. If everyone was here, if she was here, then what was so different about today compared to the other days? She was confusing herself, gave herself a headache, and had to stop to put her hand to her head to calm her blood pressure or it would get worse and that wouldn't be good for her.

A frown crossed the healer's features as she crossed her arms. Stubbornly, she glared at the tall man as she shot out with an irritated answer. "Seeing as you kidnapped me ... I'm pretty sure there's a lot to do with me." She couldn't force him to answer her, but Syna could certainly make his life as miserable as she could. Perhaps not the best of ideas, but it was the only things she could think of.

Shikamaru scuttled away and hid behind a pile of logs. He was thinking, certainly he was. It was the excuse he always gave Asuma. Though of course, it wasn't always an excuse.

"All you need to know is that you are not to leave this room, the entire akatsuki would have you killed, if the leader doesn't get to you first" actually they would probably toy with her and such as in torture, but, he didn't feel like explaining all of that. "Stay here" and he left the room locking the door, he didn't need a key to get into the room. He had left to get her food, he didn't need her to get sick, while he sent out the message. He also had to make sure the village he grew up in knew about the kidnapping.

Now that it was time to head out, Asuma walked over to her "Krystal, we need to talk" Krystal wasn't hearing him, well she was, but, barely. "Krystal?" he spoke again as if it was a whisper "Look, can we have this scolding talk later, I need to lie down" she spoke thinking how much she needed to find Syna and make sure she was alright. There was three students out of the entire village she would ever go to such lengths to help. Shikamaru was one of them, they didn't always get to talk, but, they both liked to think about things and not do alot of things.

She was active, but, that didn't mean she was like Rock Lee, that was another person she would help without a doubt. Syna was her best friend, almost sister, and she would do anything for the girl. "I think someone should take you home, come on" Krystal shook her head "This isn't a request" Asuma tried to help her, but, her jutus abilities kicked in as a defense and sent Asuma flying creating a loud noise as he caught himself, but, barely. "Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, emergency" he stated knowing they heard him because Ino showed up, later Choji.

beep beep :P