"YOU DELIBERATELY DISOBEYED ME!"
That was the first, scolding yell that echoed throughout the Akatsuki hideout in the village Hidden in the Rain.
"You think she'll be okay, un?" Deidara asked. "YEOW! Kakuzu! That hurt! Hm!"
"It's your fault for getting your arm blown up in the first place," Kakuzu stated, unamused by the stupid bomber. He was currently stitching Deidara's hand back onto his arm, while looking after Sasori at the same time even though the puppet didn't need to be looked after. "And don't worry about Aiko, she's stubborn and she can care for herself. The kid will be just fine."
"I hope you're right, un," Deidara mumbled as more of Pein's scolding yells echoed throughout the hideout. "OUCH!"
"Stay still, I'm almost done," Kakuzu ordered as he finished the last stitches. Even he couldn't help worrying about Aiko. Sure she was strong-willed, but even she was in for a long time of being grounded if Pein was this mad.
~Aiko~
"Leader I-"
"SILENCE!" Pein sat down and buried his face in his hands. You heard him take a deep breath, he knew that harsh words and violent actions wouldn't work to get you to talk. He started talking, calmer this time. "I specifically told you not to interfere with anything, you did. We told you to stay out of sight, you didn't. Now then, care to tell me where you've been and why you didn't return with Deidara?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," you mumbled under your breath.
"What?" Pein demanded. "Speak up."
"I was... uh..." you stalled. Shoot! Why didn't I come up with an excuse on the way here?! "Um.. well since Sasori's puppet body was ruined, I thought maybe I could get some more wood for him?" Well, that's a big lie.
"Is that so?" Pein looked up from his hands and his eyes bore holes into your own, as if defying you to tell him you were lying. Which you were. You nodded anyway.
"Yes Leader," you told him. He sighed.
"What if you'd gotten hurt? Or worse?" He asked. You were immediately glad that Sakura had treated to your wounds when the Kazekage had gotten better.
"Well, I didn't and I'm fine."
"But what if you had? What then? There's no telling what the Akatsuki might have done," his voice dropped to a mumble, "Not to mention, Konan would have my head if I let anything happen to you."
"What?" you asked, holding back your giggles.
"Nothing," he sighed and stood, walking over to a shelf on the wall to the left. Pein reached up and grabbed a small, black wooden box. He walked over to his desk and stood behind it. He opened the box and searched through it. "Guess there's nothing more I can do. I have to do this, now."
"What...?" you whispered. He took something out and held it in the palm of his hand as he looked at it. He then looked up at you, the smallest of smiles crossing his face.
"Think fast," he tossed it at you. The small, white object flew through the air, shimmering in the sunlight that filtered through the small window. You caught it with one hand and looked at it. Your eyes widened and you looked at Pein in disbelief. He smiled, for real this time. "Hope you like it."
~Small time skip~
You walked to the living room, head down, and opened the door. Most of the members were there. You looked around and saw Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Kakuzu, Tobi, Konan and Sasori.
Sasori was staring off into space. He was in the temporary puppet body, not suited for battling but it was good for walking around. The puppet looked much like Sasori's original puppet body, though it was not as advanced as his with hidden mechanisms and all. You had made this puppet some time ago, you didn't think it would come in handy but now you were proven wrong, so you carved a spot for Sasori's core. It wasn't as good as Sasori's puppets, but it was good enough.
"Well un?" Deidara inquired, looking at you with eager but worried eyes. "What happened?"
"Leader sounded very mad," Itachi stated and looked up from the book he was reading.
"You made it out alive, so it can't have been that bad," Kakuzu observed and looked up from his money.
"What did he say?" Konan asked and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Ooh! Is Aiko in trouble? Does Aiko have to stay at home for being a bad girl?" Tobi asked as he swung around in his chair, falling over in the process.
You didn't say anything.
"Well?" Sasori asked. "You know I hate to wait."
You looked down and pulled the small white thing and held it in the palm of your hand. You looked up at Itachi.
"Catch," you tossed it over at him. He caught in one hand and looked at it. His eyes widened slightly and he looked up at you. Deidara snatched it from his hand and looked at it.
"Serious?" Deidara's eyes were wide as he stared at you.
Kakuzu grabbed it and looked at it. He looked at you and passed it to Sasori. Sasori raised an eyebrow and looked at you. He passed it on to Konan. She looked at it and smiled as she looked at you.
"For real?" she asked. Tobi kneeled down beside her and looked at the item on the palm of her hand.
"Wow! This is shiny!" Tobi squealed as he poked the ring.
"I guess then," Sasori interrupted Tobi's ranting. His eyes were closed, he smirked.
"Welcome to the Akatsuki kid," Kakuzu finished Sasori's thought. Itachi, Deidara and Konan nodded.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" came a loud voice from the doorway. You jumped and smacked the person across the face. "OUCH! That hurt!"
"Serves you right for scaring me like that!" you yelled back and crossed your arms over your chest. "Where were you anyway?"
"I was just praying to jashin for your well-being," Hidan answered as he rubbed his cheek. "Guess he listened, since you're alive. Leader sure sounded mad. Anyway... WHAT'S THIS I HEARD YOU GOT IN THE AKATSUKI?!" Hidan grabbed your shoulders and shook you.
"Hidan! Knock it off," Kakuzu ordered. Hidan let go of you and pouted. "How did this happen kid?"
"Well," you told them about your little 'discussion/argument' with Pein. "Then he gave me the ring." You finished as Konan handed you the ring. You carefully slid it onto your finger.
"Is that all it took?" Hidan asked. "Damn... why did you get in trouble?"
"Uh..." you looked around.
"She came back to the base late," Sasori answered. You looked at him, a shocked expression on your face. He wasn't gonna rat you out? He smirked.
"How do you know?" Hidan questioned while pointing a finger at Sasori.
"I was with her the entire time," Sasori answered in a bored tone. His face had returned to its usual, unimpressed, bored look.
"In any case," Itachi spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him. "You should be careful, Aiko."
You nodded. "I know, Leader told me. But he also told me that I wouldn't go on any dangerous missions."
"What does he mean by that? Hm?" Deidara asked.
"I will only get infiltration, assassination or bounty hunting," you replied. Kakuzu's head perked up at the mention of bounty hunting. You smiled at him. "Don't worry grandpa, if I have a bounty hunting mission, I'll make sure to give you the money."
"Actually," interrupted a deep voice from the door. You turned around and grinned at Pein. He nodded at you. "I have decided that, since we operate in two man teams, Aiko will take some time with each team to see who she works in better synchronization with."
"Um, Leader," Hidan sighed. "Too many big words, could you rephrase that?"
"In other words," Itachi spoke up. Hidan looked at him. "Aiko will jump from team to team to see which one of us she works better with."
"Oh! That makes it so much more simple!" Hidan laughed and turned his head towards Pein. "You couldn't have explained it like that from the beginning?"
"No, I thought you would understand," Pein answered.
"But it seems you should have come up with an explanation for idiot minded people," you teased.
"Aiko's ri- HEY! Who's the idiot?" Hidan yelled. You laughed as he crossed his arms and turned his back on you, sulking. Kisame and Kakuzu chuckled while Deidara and Konan were laughing. Itachi, Sasori and Pein looked on, unamused as usual but a smirk threatened to appear on all their faces.
"Sorry Hidan," you smiled apologetically at him. "I couldn't help it."
"Yeah yeah whatever," Hidan grumbled. Pein cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him.
"For a while, you will work with Hidan and Kakuzu," Pein informed you. You gulped.
"I'm gonna get paranoid," you whined.
Hidan looked at you. "Why is that?" he asked.
"Because of your 'sacrifices' to this jashin," you answered. A shiver crawled down your spine and you jumped on the sofa behind Itachi. He at you as you snuggled between him and the sofa. "It's scary when you do that Hidan."
"Sorry Aiko," Hidan said. "It pleases lord jashin, and it's part of my religion."
"I know that," you mumbled as you twirled Itachi's hair around your fingers. You grew bored as the adults around you started talking so you braided Itachi's hair. A sigh escaped your lips and you laid your head on Itachi's back. His heartbeat filled your ears, blocking out the other people's voices. Suddenly, you felt something strange. It was sad, and... hurt. What is this feeling? You asked yourself. Without thinking, you placed a hand behind Itachi's shoulder and closed your eyes.
Darkness. That's all you saw once you closed your eyes. You looked around but you couldn't see anything. Then you saw it, a red moon. There was a silhouette in front of it. A little boy ran right through you. You held your stomach but you were solid. You realized, this must be a dream or vision of some sort. You followed the little boy. As you walked around, you soon reached a house. The little boy walked inside and you followed close behind. He moved his mouth, saying something but you couldn't hear. He walked towards a room and opened the door. You peaked in behind him and saw a man standing in the middle of the room with two corpses at his feet. A woman and a man. The little boy beside you said something and shook his head, his little hands in tight fists. A kunai flew by, barely scratching his shoulder. You looked at the man standing in the middle of the room with wide eyes. He turned to look at the little boy, a frown on his face. Your eyes widened even more. It was Itachi. Are these... Itachi's memories? You asked yourself. He spoke to the little boy as you tried to read his lips. Why bother? I've never been good at lip reading. You reasoned. You appeared in the middle of a street and saw Itachi standing there with the little boy. The little boy was panting and looked tired. Itachi bent down and picked up his headband. He put it on and looked at the little boy, a single tear fell from eyes. The little boy collapsed and Itachi jumped away. You looked at the little boy and kneeled down beside him. When you tried to brush his hair out of his face, your hand went right through him. You leaned back on your heels and furrowed your eyebrows sadly.
The image of the little boy slowly faded away as you stared at something blue. They waved a blue hand in front of your face. You blinked and sat up, rubbing your eyes.
"You okay kiddo?" Kisame asked. "You fell asleep."
You nodded. "I'm fine," a yawn escaped your lips. You giggled. "But I think I'm gonna go to bed already."
Kisame laughed. "Most of the members already have. Only ones left here are Sasori, Konan, Itachi whom you fell asleep against and me."
"Oh," you looked around the room. Sasori was flipping through a book that had a puppet on the front cover, Konan was working on some origami and Itachi was looking over his shoulder at you. You smiled sheepishly. "Hehe. Sorry I fell asleep on you Itachi."
He smiled slightly and stood up. He turned to face you as you also stood up and stretched. Without you suspecting anything, he poked your forehead. You stumbled back and fell on the sofa while rubbing your forehead.
Itachi still had a small smile on his face. "Don't worry about it, little sister."
You pouted and looked away from him. "I'm going to bed." You got up, hugged everyone in the room and then trailed off into your room. You slipped off your current clothing and put on some pj's. As soon as you climbed into bed and closed your eyes, you drifted off to dreamland.
~Dream~
A woman slowly appeared into your line of vision. She had long, black hair and beautiful, brown eyes.
"Please don't. You can't, she's just a child," the woman pleaded to a man's silhouette in front of her. The figure raised his hand, with a kunai, and stabbed the woman in the stomach. She gasped. "Even if I die, I will protect her."
She made some hand signs. A dragon appeared and tor the man away from her. She walked over to a small girl huddled in a corner. Her face came into view with the dim light of a candle. There was a weak, sad smile on her face.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she brought the child into an embrace. Your eyes widened. Suddenly, you were in the child's place. "I wish I could come with you, but I will buy you some time while you escape." She let you go and gave you a gentle kiss on your forehead. You reached up and touched the spot she had kissed. "Go. Go now, Yn. Before they kill you. Run!"
The woman faded away and you found yourself on a small hill overlooking the village where there was house, away from all the others, burning down.
"She was... my..." you trailed off, not daring to finish the thought.
The world around you swirled and an image of an entire village being burned to the ground faded into view. Your eyes widened as you watched villagers being mercilessly killed. Some tried to fight off the attackers but would end up dead. You looked down at your feet and your facial expression turned into one of complete terror. It was the same woman that had protected you but, what was she doing here? You heard footsteps quickly approaching you. You looked up and saw a bandit on a horse riding full speed towards you. You tried to run away but you couldn't move, your body was frozen and wouldn't obey you. The bandit came to a halt in front of you and smacked you with his club, knocking you out in the process.
~End Dream~
You jumped and sat up in bed, panting and looked around. You could feel your heart racing wildly in your chest. You reached up and ran a hand through your hair while taking deep breaths.
"That same dream again," you mumbled. "But it was different. Why did I see those images in the end?" Is this a message? Is someone trying to tell me something? An image of your mother crossed your mind. You grabbed your head, your fingers tangling in your hair as you tried to force the memories of the dream away. Why? Why am I seeing these things now?
Once you calmed down, you laid back down and tried to go to sleep. You tossed and turned in bed, not being able to find a comfortable position so you stood up and walked over to your window. You opened it to allow the fresh midnight air in. The cool air crashed against your skin, making you feel slightly more comfortable. You sat down on the windowsill and leaned against the wall. You looked up at the full moon. It reminded you of what you felt when you were hiding behind Itachi. Were those his memories? You couldn't help but wonder. However, you wouldn't ask. The feeling was very sad, and you were afraid that if you asked Itachi about it he might get angry or depressed. Still, you wondered what those memories were. Was Itachi blamed for the two corpses at his feet? It never once crossed your mind, that he could be the one who was guilty for all that. Sometime during your thoughts, you fell asleep.
~Third person~
A shadow climbed in through the open window to Aiko's room. He looked at her sleeping form, his short hair swaying lightly with the wind. He walked over to the bed and pulled off the blankets. Gently, he placed them over Aiko's sleeping body and laid her down in a more comfortable position. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He pulled away and got closer to her ear.
"Thank you, Aiko," he whispered. "For saving me and for giving me a chance to speak with my grandmother." He stood up straight and smiled down at the girl as she smiled in her dream. He climbed back out the window and closed it behind him. He headed to his room and started working away on his puppets that had been ruined in the battle.