He must have known they were there, yet he didn't move. At the most, he tensed, his thumbs stilling on his forehead protector.

"Jun..." Tenten breathed.

The boy's lips twisted up in the slightest degree.

"Of course it would be you three..." he murmured. "Listen, go back, will you? I'm not interested in playing right now."

Kazue was the first to drop down from the tree. She flexed her shoulders as she lightly landed next to him, her eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"We will," she answered simply. "As long as you're planning on coming with us."

Jun sighed, the sound far from the usual playful noise he would make when someone didn't react how he wished them to. Rather, it was more similar to one of frustration, as if they were troubling him.

"What is it with your type?" he wondered aloud, tilting his head back as if the sky would provide him with answers.

"What do you mean?" Tenten ventured, dropping down next to Kazue.

Saichi had crouched down on the branch, his chest heaving as he drew in shallow breaths. The effort of breaking as many genjutsu as he had on their way was taking its toll on him. Not to mention the fact that he'd worked through every genjutsu with those burned hands of his. It was easy for the two girls to imagine that he planned on staying out of everything until there was a clear shot for him to take.

Tenten hoped it didn't come to that.

"I mean, why do you think dragging someone back to that place will make them stay?" he asked. "You reacted the same two years ago with Sasuke. Even he agrees that it seems ridiculous. If someone betrays you, you're not supposed to act as if once you drag them back everything will be okay. I have no plans of returning with you, to you, whatever it is you're wanting. He panicked, so it's my turn. I chose to do as I want, and that's not it."

"Jun..."

"Well, that's too bad," Kazue said as Tenten stared at the boy with a strangely pained expression. "It wasn't like I was giving you a choice."

He laughed, dropping his eyes from the sky to focus on her. Amusement was clear as day in his unusually cold eyes.

"Please. Don't act like you don't already know what's going on, Kazue-chan. I've heard where you were. You met her, right? I was happy when she appeared- I thought he'd give up. That he'd understand that there was no use fighting it. You know there isn't, right? I'm here, now, and we're going to have lots of fun. So, don't get in my way."

"Don't talk to me like a child--"

"Kazue," Tenten cut in. "Kazue... he's telling us not to fight."

Kazue blinked, that idea slowly sinking in. Her lips twisted up slightly, brow cocking.

"I see. So, you're not without feeling, are you, other Jun?"

The boy shrugged.

"He calls me Kurai Jiko. Kurai for short."

"Kurai, huh?" Kazue questioned. "Well, Kurai, we're not leaving, so don't be so condescending jackass."

"Honestly..." Kurai muttered, then shook his head. A small smile appeared on his lips as he pushed away from the tree, the expression sending a shiver down Tenten's spine. "Then I guess it can't be helped. I tried, you know. You're only driving him further into a hole- one that he might not be able to crawl back out of. Don't blame me if he never comes back out."

With those wonderfully chilling words, the boy slipped a hand down to his weapons' pouch.

"I've been practicing, you know," he continued, a cheerful tone invading his voice. "With these hands, I've been learning what it feels like to throw those weapons. I knew the basics, of course, I simply didn't know what it would feel like to touch one myself. So, I trained with you," he paused, gesturing vaguely in Tenten's direction with his kunai. "If you weren't so annoying, I might have liked you. As it was, I lost my temper a little. Hope I didn't scar that neck of yours."

Even Kazue looked confused by this declaration.

"Tenten?" she asked. "Annoying?"

'Is that really the most important thing out of everything he just said?' Saichi wondered.

Kurai flipped the kunai in his hand, amusement flickering over his lips.

"Well, of course. I mean, she was always there. She didn't get the fact that he can't care for others, you know? That's annoying."

Tenten flinched; Kurai jumping back as at the same second a kunai landed where he'd been standing. Shock filled his expression, his eyes snapping to Kazue.

"You... actually attacked me..." he said, childish wonder coloring his voice.

"Bastard, you don't speak for him," Kazue announced, ignoring Kurai's words. "I get pissed off just listening to you."

Kurai's shock turned to amusement, the boy doubling over as he dissolved into manic laughter. His arms clasped his chest, his other hand having gained a kunai at some point in the conversation. The girls could only stare at him; Kazue was beginning to wonder just if Kurai had more than one screw loose.

"You're interesting..." he declared after a moment. "Just great. I think I'm going to like this... let's make a bet, shall we?"

"I'm not bargin--"

"If you, just you, can beat me, I'll go back. Sound fair? Just a one-on-one. He'd be even more pissed if I touched her," here he paused and gestured vaguely towards Tenten, "So, it'll just be us. What d'ya think, Kazue-chan? Hm?"

"If she loses?"

"Oh, Saichi-kun!" Kurai called cheerfully, cocking his head back to look to where the boy still crouched in the tree. "I almost forgot you existed! My bad!"

"If she loses?" Saichi repeated.

A pout touched Kurai's lips, but then he shrugged off the matter and offered a grin. His hands slipped on his kunai to hook through the holes at the end.

"Well, that's obvious, isn't it? I get to do whatever I want. Oh, just as a warning, I'm not guaranteeing that losing means you get to go home, either," Kurai added, a chilling edge to his grin. "I won't go easy on you."

"Kazue--" Tenten began.

"I'll do it."

Kurai grinned, twirling the kunai around his fingers.

"Perfect."

He caught the ends, sending them flying towards Kazue's direction. As she dodged out of the way, his hands flashed through a series of signs, the world around them suddenly coated in the same, strange void as before. A shudder racked Tenten's spine as she backed up, the unfamiliar feeling of Jun's chakra honestly unsettling. It wasn't... it felt wrong.

This time, the void didn't eat up the ground around them, nor the trees, it simply cut off everything else.

"So you don't change your mind," Kurai explained, the grin on his face just as chilling as the feeling of his chakra.

'Wait... if we're in the middle of that genjutsu again...'

"Kazue-chan, be careful!"

If she understood Tenten's meaning, the girl didn't show it. Rather, she slipped her fingers beneath the top of her weapons pouch. Without a word, she felt for her specially marked, chakra-conducting kunai.

'If I immobilize him, I can keep from more severe injuries,' Kazue decided. 'With my skills... permanent injury is doubtful.'

The dull glow of medical chakra was soon creeping over her hands, then the kunai, her eyes never flickering away from Jun. No, Kurai. The boy's lips twisted into a grin that she'd never seen on his face; his hands clasped together. Kurai's pointer fingers tapped each other, neither of them showing any sign of the first move. Internally, Kazue was playing the next few actions out in her mind. If she could get close enough, there were a number of muscles in his legs that she could cut. He would no doubt react, but Jun had never been great at taijutsu (sure, he'd surprised them on occasion, but he was still Jun).

It was insane- the fact she was about to fight her teammate.

Kazue sucked in a deep breath and finally sprung forward, lightly flicking her hands through the open space as she slashed at Kurai. The boy grinned, sending chakra into his feet and throwing himself into the air; the action sent him flipping forward, hands touching Kazue's shoulders and pushing off as he easily landed on her other side. Instantly, his foot swung towards her back and Kazue spun to the side. Her instant retaliation with her kunai happened to be met with the loud clang of metal as he drew one of his own.

Their weapons locked against each other, neither of their small frames able to overpower the other when it came to strength alone. Kazue's lips twisted into a scowl, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Tch."

She twisted her kunai, sliding the metal along his so she could safely disengage and spring backwards.

"Is that all you've got?" Kurai questioned, a pout playing on his lips. "That's no fun. You've got to try and kill me, Kazue-chan!"

He flung himself towards where she stood, not about to give the girl a second to catch her breath. His kunai flashed out with a precision she hadn't known Jun had, each blow aimed for a vital organ. She deflected them- although easily would have been the wrong description for her hasty movements.

Kazue needed to reach his limbs.

If she couldn't cut a muscle, she'd have to hurt him more than she wanted to. The idea caused her gut to churn, repulsed. Just the thought of actually hurting him was hard. She didn't want to deal potentially mortal blows to her teammate. After all, Kurai may have been in control, but it was Jun's body. It was Jun's voice. It was Jun's skin that she'd be slicing into, his flesh she'd be tearing apart with her blade.

Kazue caught her feet against the earth, suddenly swinging her arm in an arch towards his head. The boy reacted instinctively, grabbing her wrist to block the blow. She instantly brought her knee into his gut, sending him staggering backwards. He'd been too focused on keeping her chakra infused hands from his body to think about the rest of her. She didn't pause, flashing out with her foot again, fully intending on sending him to the ground. Before the blow landed, however, he brought a kunai up without warning; Kazue had to jerk backwards to keep her leg from impaling itself on the sharp metal.

Kurai instantly sent both of his kunai flying at her- they were easily deflected by her own- as he flashed his hands through a series of signs. Kazue cursed, throwing herself forward to interrupt them, as a flash of light flooded the clearing. Startled, she slammed her eyes shut a second too late, the white color stealing her vision for a number of seconds. When she opened them again- however- she was met with the startling sight of yet another, obvious layer of genjutsu.

This time, it pulled them from the forest. She no longer saw Saichi or Tenten; only a circular, stone platform, surrounded by magma on all sides. Her eyes darted to Kurai and she was only partially shocked to see that the boy standing before her seemed to have changed as well. He was smaller; the child she faintly remembered Jun having been when they met. His eyes were crimson, however, and when he bared his teeth she could see his canines being sharper than she recalled them having ever been.

"I thought since we're playing my game, it'd be fun if I took things up a notch," Kurai announced.

It would seem both sides of Jun held a love for theatrics.

His hands flashed through another sign, the previously calm air whipping into a storm. Leaves formed from nothing, coating the air.

"Silent Illusion: Leaf Storm!"

Kazue gritted her teeth, that unfamiliar feeling sweeping through her body once more as a leaf cut through her cheek as easily as a blade. She instinctively dropped a blade, her hand clasping her cheek. For a moment, that feeling was all she could focus on. Tears swam to her eyes without permission, the sting of the cut capturing her mind.

The attack suddenly stopped, the boy cocking his head to the side as a curious expression appeared on his face.

"Eh? Did you actually feel that, Kazue-chan?" he questioned.

When her only response was to drop her knee and recover the kunai she'd dropped, his expression grew into a wide smile. A giggle burst from his lips, his fingers dropping to his pouch.

"Really now..." he commented, a giggling tone infecting his words. "This is getting fun..."

Three shuriken shot towards where she stood trembling. She instantly deflected them with her kunai and forced herself into action. The pain- even from such a simple cut- made it difficult for her mind to focus on the fight. At the same time, Kazue's intense sense of self-preservation could win over something that simple. Her body could still move, after all the cut was barely deep enough to draw blood, and to her that was all that mattered. She swung out with one, chakra encased kunai and just barely missed his chest as he shifted away from the blow.

One of her kunai was instantly flung towards his feet as she brought her free fingers to her other hand, flashing through simple signs. He moved to strike at her, but she finished the jutsu before he could hit skin.

"Water Release: Trumpet!"

A flood of chakra created water left her lips, crashing into Kurai and sending him flying backwards across their stone platform. The boy skidded to a stop only inches from the edge, his feet catching the stone just in time to keep him from sailing over. He ticked a finger back and forth, a playful edge to his expression despite the way his entire frame heaved with each breath. It was only then that Kazue remembered how exhausted he'd seemed before the fight, it was honestly a shock that he'd managed to keep up with her as he had.

Jun always seemed able to amaze her, even when it wasn't Jun.

"Be careful! You wouldn't want to really kill me, would you?"

"You never know," Kazue replied simply, her frame going tense. He was far too relaxed for someone in his shape. "To be honest, you've always pissed me off. There have been so many times when I wanted to knock the shit out of you for something that came out of that damn mouth."

"I know," Kurai replied chipperly.

"Even now... even now you piss me off. Dammit, not even that asshole manages to do this."

She should have taken advantage of his stance, the way he was trying to catch his breath. She couldn't, though, the words continuing without her volition.

"You knew, Jun. You knew this was coming. You may as well have said it aloud when we talked at the hot springs. It was so obvious that even I could tell. Why couldn't you have asked for help, dammit? Why couldn't you have said something?"

She was practically shouting. Kurai looked as if he might start laughing; her words seeming as troublesome as a fly.

"They may have sealed you away, but... being a shinobi isn't everything, you kn--"

Without a thought to the action, Kazue threw herself backwards. She almost lost her footing with the action, just barely keeping herself from tumbling backwards. Her eyes stuck on where she'd been standing only seconds ago, the genjutsu having twisted so that a sharp, earthen spike had sprung from the ground. Her gaze shot to Kurai. His playful expression had dropped, a scowl on his lips.

"Don't ever say that," Kurai practically growled. "You don't know how much it matters to him."

Kazue froze, surprise fluttering through her. She'd touched a sore spot, as strange as the idea was.

It was almost as if... he cared. The way he'd worded that... when one combined it with his initial dislike of the idea of harming them... it was almost as if he'd taken Jun's wishes into at least the slightest consideration. Did the personality usually care for the host once they'd been pushed out of the way?

She'd never seen a sign of that from Jin.

Kazue dismissed the thoughts as she pressed chakra into her feet and sprung across the platform, each spot she landed seeming to sprout another spike. Even as she dodged to the side for the sixth time, a spike sprung in her path and sliced through her foot. She fell to the ground, curling around the limb as shockwaves of pain flooded her system. To her, it felt as if the limb had been hacked off. At the same time, even Kazue knew she'd been lucky.

Had she moved a second later the spike would have impaled her.

It would seem that pissing off the manifestation of Jun's definition of the word "monster" wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done.

"He was fighting to change things. He wanted to find her! You don't have a right to say anything!"

The world twisted around her, the wind picking up to such a speed that just the touch of it her skin burned.

"You're no better than anyone else! You just want to see us locked up. You want to see us weak. We won't be weak again! We aren't going to lose anyone, anymore. I promised him!"

She was suddenly pulled from the matter of her foot as Kurai seemed to appear out of nowhere, his foot nailing her in the chest and sending Kazue sprawling out on her back. Within seconds he'd settled his foot in the middle of her stomach, all of his weight pressing against the sensitive skin. She cursed, her newfound sense of pain flooding her body with more stimulation than she could handle.

"I wasn't born from nothing, you know. Dark sides... they all have an origin," he said, his voice dropping into a chilling calm that was more unsettling than the pissed, yelling voice he'd been using only seconds before. "His was the death of his mother. Watching her bleed out in his arms. Watching his father turn away without a word, leaving them there. Having to learn that his sister was nowhere to be found. Feeling so helpless to fix it all.

"He wanted to kill him. He wanted everything to just stop."

Kurai laughed, a bitter, humorless sound.

"So, you get me."

He pressed his foot firmly against her stomach as he leaned in, a kunai pressed to her neck in seconds.

"No one knows what's happening, you know. I blocked it all out. I can do more than you could imagine, Kazue-chan. I've practiced. I've learned. I've worked to keep him from pain.

"I won't be locked away. Not anymore."

Crimson blood slipped down from where his blade slowly cut into the sensitive flesh.

"I'm done with weakness."