The group pushed on. The darkened hallways they walked in now were covered in splotches of blood and crawled with the onset of tiny bugs. Shino almost smiled himself as he began naming off the bug's in his head. Tenten's head hung low as she walked, covered in tar and dripping with the black, inky liquid. A sudden creaky groan of a heavy door further up the hall made her head jerk up.
An young man, looking to by no younger than 15 and no older than 18, with dark, shoulder-length hair stood in the middle of the hall. His tattered clothes and "disease"-covered face was suddenly illuminated in the darkness by the light of Kiba's torch (in which he had found on the way out of the old game room). A sparking thought crossed Tenten's mind.
   "SASUKE!" She yelled, running towards the man. The others looked intently at the man as he reached a mangled hand forward, as if reaching for the calling of Tenten's voice. As she ran out of the group, Lee caught her arm.
   "Tenten! That is not Sasuke! This man is much older! You can not believe what your eyes say-" Lee whispered harshly, gripping her arm.
   "NO! THAT IS SASUKE! PLEASE! GUYS! HE'S HURT!-" she yelled. She motioned to his mangled hand and disease-covered body. "WE HAVE TO HELP HIM!" She continued, mentioning his mangled body. "HE'S HURT! PLEASE! LOOK AT HIM!" She finished. Shikamaru shook his head, his face filled with compassion as the girl's eyes began to well with tears. Choji, rubbing the wound on his arm, let his head hand and his eye-brows frown with pity.
Hinata put her hand on her friend's shoulder.
   "Tenten.... that's not Sasuke..." she explained. Tenten turned to her with tears racing down her cheeks. "It's not Sasuke..." she continued in a hushed tone. Tenten turned back to the man.
   "Then.. who is it?" she asked. The man turned and stumbled down a new hallway. Kiba ran forward, desperate to chase the boy. He sniffed inwardly, gathering as much scent as possible as Akamaru whined from inside his jacket.
As Kiba turned the corner, his torched lantern in his clenched fist, he searched. No man. No one. He clenched his teeth in anger.
   "COME OUT!" Kiba yelled. "I HAVE YOUR SCNET! YOU CAN'T HIDE FOR LONG!" Kiba continued. He took a step forward. He sniffed iwardly again. Nothing. No scent of the blood he had smelled before or the scent of the boy. Not even the scent of Akamaru was present.
   "What?" Kiba asked himself, sniffing again. Nothing. "WHAT IS THIS?! SOME TYPE OF STUPID TRICK!?" He yelled, sniffing again. No smell of the people who followed him as he walked slowly down the hall, no scent of the house itsself. Not even the scent of him. He had lost his sense of smell.
   "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" He screamed.
   "What is it, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked, coming forward and lifting up the grieving boy from his knees. Not even the scent of his teammate remained.
   "My sense of smell.... its gone.... help!" Kiba whispered, looking up at his old teammate. She peered into his eyes, worry creeping across her face.
   "Oh my God..." she whispered.
   "What is it?" Lee asked as he and the rest of them turned the corner.
   "Kiba's lost his sense of smell..." she explained to her soul-mate.
   "Oh." Choji murmured, rubbing his arm. Another strange noise. The crowd looked up. The strange man was there again, staring them down with no eyes of compassion.
The man took a step forward. He did look alot like the revenge-seaking boy from the village. But he looked older and his voice, as he spoke, was much more mature.
   "Ren..." he moaned, reaching for Tenten and stumbling forward on what seemed like broken legs.
   "No... no... RUN!" Tenten yelled, turning and running with the rest of the group. Hinata and Shikamaru lifted Kiba from the floor and ran with the grieving boy.
   "You can't hide from me my love!" The man said in a strong, crisp British accent as he turned the corner behind them. They continued running as he reached for Tenten. They reached an open door and ran inside, turning and slamming the door behind them.
The room was pitch-black. Tenten fumbled and found a light-switch. Flipping it on, she groaned in disqust. It was a clean, white bathroom. Over the toilet, in the uppermost corner of the room, was a great black spot of dripping blackness. It was the disease, slipping through to the young group.
   "It's a bathroom." Shino explained, looking around.
   "Yeah..." Lee murmured in a whisper, his eyes squinting to the sudden light.
   "How strange." Hinata said.
   "What?" Shino asked.
   "It's so clean... except for that." she explained, pointing to the black spot in the corner. Shino stared at it intently, listening to the dripping against the floor. He, having the best hearing of the bunch, was completely entranced in the soothing, dripping noise. Then, another noise reached his ears:
   "Survey... Survey and escape... The shadows lurk in the bodies... in the girls.. the moon and the sun... their spirits remain.. history will completely repeat itsself.. if you don't help yourself.. you can see it repeating already... the couples.. the princess of the moon and the pesant of the clouds.. and the prince of the stars and the pesant of the sun.. they crossed and disobeyed.. as you saw the friendship between the moon and the sun in the tapestry... but you do not let know the story... continue on.. and let the couples continue... let them continue... but do not let them over-use their powers... let them love.. and free the spirits... Mystery calls..." a deep voice whispered. As Shino looked around, it became clear that the voice was so low that only he could hear it.
   "What?" Shino asked.
   "Turn around!" The voice yelled, erupting in a violent ringing in Shino's ears.
   "AHH!" He yelled, clasping his precious devices and shutting them, trying to escape the ringing. He bumped against the door.
   "Get him out of here!" Shikamaru yelled, turning to the door-knob. He twisted it. It was locked.
                                                                     ...to be continued