Now he clung onto the hilt of his blade, embedded deep into the stone alter through the aid of the rune engraved onto the steel of the wakazashi. Hanging vertical, Kage cursed himself more for being too arrogant in his dealing with a Sindarian guardian - there is always a reason for anything the long forgotten race did and entrusting their stone tablet to the tiny groundhog wasn't folly on their part as he first percieved.

No, thought the ninja, The foolishness was completely mine.

One gloved hand gave way to the cyclonic winds that shred at his clothes and pulled him horizontally towards the beast. His life now depended on the other hand, or his ability to grasp the hilt again with the arm that now flayed at his side.

Next time, came the mental note, Never take a job concerning coming anywhere near one of these accursed monuments to the entombed Sindar race.

He grabbed the cloth covered handle successfully and took a look at the tablet, Even if it pays well.

The hand gave way again and Kage wasn't sure how long he was going to last this mission, and if he even was.

Needless to say, the ninja youth wasn't enjoying himself.

"THREE SLAPS?!" he yelped, his hands flying to his cheeks, burning red now, even his left cheek which, just a few seconds ago was feeling the most blissful experiance he could imagine, "AND I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"Liar." Millie stated, arms crossed across her chest and eyes narrowly glaring, "We both know perfectly well what you were thinking, and it wasn't anything decent."

"I-I... ugh," Sasuke was exasperated, exhausted and in extreme pain, "And to think I actually thought you were a nice person for a second!"

"Naturally, I kissed you - and you're male," Millie gave emphasis to the latter part of her sentence, as if it explained how the universe worked and was the ultimate answer to every question the world had ever sought an answer to. Sasuke just frowned, hung his eyes downcast and gave up, not willing to take the point any further - he'd just lose anyway so, there was no use.

As he looked downwards, a large gust of wind came, a rush of air blew in his face and blew at Millie's skirt, causing it to fly up momentarily before she quickly clamped down on it with her hand. The boy ninja could do nothing more than allow his eyes to grow wide, a mistake he soon regretted as he was repaid in the normal fashion.

*Slap!*

"OUCH!" he cried, an instinctive response he knew would get him no-where.

"Quit looking up my skirt you pervert!" Millie screamed, hysterically fuming at Sasuke, this was the worst of all his acts and no form of penance could save his soul now, at least not from her. There was nothing he could do but sigh and ask, quickly, a question to change the subject, "Where's this wind coming from?"

"How would I know?! Do I look like a weather forecaster to you?!" Millie yelled, still not happy with his latest deed, "And if I knew, I wouldn't tell a pervert like you, you'd probably just find the source and use it to feed your perverse mind as you look up skirts and... QUIT STARING AT MY LEGS!@#"

"I WASN'T!!!"

"Liar!"

"Witch!"

Millie gasped, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME... you-you-you... YOU MALE!" With a huff she turned around, her skirt behind flying up before a hand went to cover that exposure too.

*Slap!*

"I WASN'T LOOKING!@#" Kage heard the scream-fest as two juvenile's yelled their lungs out at each other about something the mercenary didn't even want to begin to understand. He knew the voices well and also knew that if he played his cards right, he could use them to get what he wanted - help.

This creature's got to exhale sometime, he thought, although the vision of the outburst of all that air caused Kage to shudder. Regardless, it would buy him a few seconds, which was all he needed in securing the aid of his two new aide de camps.

Just a bit longer...

Both hands, knuckle-white, gripped tightly on the sword hilt, still refusing to let go entirely.

C'mon...

More air went inside of the seemingly bottomless creature.

Out now...

Still more air.

"ARE YOU INCAPABLE OF EXHALING YOU... BAKA HEDGEHOG?!"

Kage soon found himself flat on the ground, the air current which kept him lifted above the ground ceasing to perform that function - this was the chance he needed! Leaping in a flip across the table, he strapped himself to the stone tablet and used his weight to place him upon the ground, two feet flat and his pay-check on his back.

"HELP!" he gave his false call as the winds began anew, this time moving in the other direction. He wasn't going to move this time, the tablet heavy enough to keep him on the ground as he slowly inched out, the wind blowing behind him aiding him in his escape. However, the creature wasn't going to sit still and merely breathe as he made off with the treasure is was sworn to protect.

He just prayed that the training they gave young ninja's in Rokkaku were as good as they were in the past, or else he might just end up jobless - permanently.

"There!" the Highlander girl pointed towards the temple in the centre of the abandoned city, "That's where I heard it!"

Sasuke was already ahead of her, moving quickly on his light feet, purposely leaving without taking any of her luggage, his initiative rewarded only by a blue shoe which flew by his head, narrowly missing him, "SOME GENTLEMAN YOU ARE!!"

I have to get away from that mad cow, I have to run faster, faster, faster.

"COME BACK HERE!"

The boy ninja strayed a glance backwards and saw, chasing behind him in full velocity with two enormously large duffel bags, the very person he was running so fast from. That's impossible! His mind was screaming "sacriledge" as the fourteen year old girl moved quicker than he could at full speed.

*Thwap!*

"So close..." he groaned as a hard blue ballet slipper lined in black with a white top hit him square in the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground, his nose feeling the full assault of the ground upon him. The pain he felt on impact was nothing compared to the new pain that arised as two knees dug themselves into his back and two hands, each with ten slender fingers, grasped his hair and began to tug on them with an uncaged fury.

"I_told_you_to_wait_!" she hissed between clenched teeth, ignoring Sasuke's cries of "Mercy" and "Mother" as she slammed his head back and forth into the marble floor, "And_when_I_tell_you_something," she went on, relentless, "I_mean_it_understand?!"

Kage couldn't believe what he was seeing. Outside of the doors to the temple was the girl with the mouse hair, and she was beating the poor Rokkaku ninja boy into the ground repeatedly.

"Hey, little girl!" he cried, "I think you've knocked him out by now... so help me!"

"PUT A SOCK IN IT, GRAMPA!" she yelled back, giving Sasuke's poor hair a rest and reaching for a duffle bag, which she flung straight at the mercenary ninja.

The bag never reached its target, once it entered the building, a large yellow creature ran towards Kage and, when it was about to complete the job it was given by the Sindar - got hit by a tonne of duffle bag insides, causing it to swoon and fall to the ground, shrinking back to the size of a mid-sized pumpkin.

"Bonaparte!" Millie dropped Sasuke's head and rushed towards the small yellow freckled beady eyed hedgehog, "I'm so sorry!"

She craddled it in her arms, patting it on the head where a blue bruise had just formed and sang soft lullabyes to it as she did. Sasuke merely looked up, saw what was happening and decided that he was better off where he was and would try get away from the complete lunatic he was forced to travel with.