Their house was a complete mess with textbooks, scrolls, art supplies, and others junk. Neither of them was ever home enough to actually care about how clean the house was. One was an ANBU black ops, the best of the best by ninja standards but she was also a brilliant artist. The other was the village's best medic and the Hokage's own adopted daughter. Together, they made the most formidable kounuchi duo in the entire Fire country. Neither of them ever expected to end up living with four S-class criminals and even falling in love until it happened. So it came as a huge surprise when they were called in to the Hokage's office. The medic had just gotten off shift and the artist had just gotten back from a mission.
"Good morning girls." The kage said in a chirpy, overly happy voice.
"I hope that you know that's its 3 o'clock in the morning and that's it too damn early for another mission." snapped the ruby haired artist.
"That's not the point Aya… you and Sakura have a new mission that will take a long time." The blonde kage replied, a large grin on her face.
"What do you want us to do?" Sakura asked, glaring at Aya.
"For the next 48 months, you will be housing the 4 Akatsuki members that chose to surrender. You, of course, will be moving into a larger house and you will be getting paid every month for this extra task." The kage said which earned her two very disturbed looks.
"Along with this, your regular schedules should not be interrupted, though you are required to try and integrate them into Konoha life." She added, turning her chair around so that she didn't have to look at their faces.
After a moment, Sakura was forced to drag an extremely angry Aya out of the building and almost al the way home. Two blocks away from their house, Aya calmed down and proceeded to stomp the rest of the way. When they were only a block away, Aya spotted a large crowd of ANBU gathered around her house.
"Hey were here!" she shouted as Sakura just shook her head.
"Ohoyoh Puppet-san… we're here to deliver your new house mates!" exclaimed a tall blonde haired ANBU in a fox mask.
"I figured as much. We'll take care of it from here so you guys should go home and get some sleep." Aya replied, as she reached the house.
Nodding, the group dispersed, revealing a group of 4 very tired looking former Akatsuki members. Sakura felt just a pang of pity for all of them and immediately hurried to open the door. Aya, on the other hand, hung back as she glared at all of them. All of them turned to stare at her until she turned and walked off in the other direction.
"Aya? Where are you going?" Sakura called in an almost worried voice.
"I'll either be at the studio, the training grounds or at the bar. I'm not sure yet." She replied as she walked away.
"Don't stay out too late, ok." Sakura called before she turned and entered the house.
Aya didn't answer but continued to wander away. She knew where she was headed but why on earth would she tell Sakura. Even though they were best friends, the rosette medic often worried a little too much about her. Turning the corner, she headed off to the studio. It would be day light in a few hours and eventually, she would have to return home. Pausing on the dusty street, she decided that running from her problems wasn't the right thing to do so she turned and poofed into her bedroom. She was silent enough that she went undetected by everybody except for Sakura. Quickly, she changed into a pair of really baggy pants and a tight black t-shirt. Adding her scarf, she turned and looked into the mirror. The scarf was the only accessory that she had held onto from her time in Suna, her only connection to the childhood.
"Are you coming down?" Sakura called up the stairs just before Aya appeared at her desk.
"I decided that being home was better than that damn cold studio." Aya replied as she sat down at her desk.
"So let me get this straight. You're the village's top medic, better than Tsunade." asked a tall blonde guy that uncannily looked like Ino.
"And she's the strongest, most powerful ninja in the entire Fire Country?" he added as Aya laughed.
"Guess you guys know a lot about us or did Sakura tell you everything?" Aya replied as Sakura smiled.
"So let me guess what we have here." Aya said as she stood up.
"So we've got Kisame of Kirikagaru, Uchiha Itachi from Konohahagaru, Deidara of Iwakagaru, and Akatsuna no Sasori from Suna. What a bunch?" she said, pointing each person when she said their name.
"Now that we've covered that… Are you even going to help out?" Sakura snapped as Aya continued the drawing she had just started.
"I think you've got it covered. I'm just here to beat them up if they don't listen." Aya replied as her pencil scratched across the paper.
"Well I'd like your help. This is as much your job as it is mine." Sakura added as Aya stood up.
"Whatdya think of this little piece?" Aya asked, totally ignoring Sakura's comment.
Holding up the piece of paper, she showed the others what she had been working on. The picture on the paper was almost perfect in detail wise. In the picture there was a little girl and a little boy. The girl was blowing bubbles using sand and the boy had a puppet in his hand.
"Is that you and Kankuro?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms.
"Nope, that's me and my brother. " Aya replied as she shot Sasori a glance.
"That's amazing!" exclaimed Deidara.
"No its not, this is just a rough sketch. I've got better ones down at the studio." Aya said as Sakura frowned.
"Alright… I guess that we'll discuss this in the morning. Aya will show you to your rooms and then I suggest that you all get some sleep." Sakura said as she headed up the stairs.
After she hear door slam shut, Aya turned to the group and sighed.
"Sakura's a little hard at times but t hats what happens when you get screwed over." Aya said as she crossed her arms.
"What was it that she wanted you to tell us?" Kisame asked as Deidara nodded.
"I was supposed to tell you guys that now that you live here, you have to try and fit in with civilian life. It's going to be our job to place you back into civilian life." She replied as a frown appeared on her face.
Gold eyes gazed into space as she thought about suitable places for the guys. Sure Deidara and Sasori were artists but she really didn't trust them in her studio. Kisame was also going to be hard because he was no more a big blue shark and that was hard to fix. Then there was Itachi, which would possibly be the easiest but then again, maybe not. As she continued to think, a loud voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Stop day dreaming Ayumi." Snapped the voice, rather loudly.
"I wasn't day dreaming, I was lost in thought." Aya defended as she replied via the telepathic link.
"Konan needs your help. Madarah came and attacked the remaining Akatsuki and I'm only barely alive. He's after all of you, especially Sakura. Konan's on her way but if you don't hurry, Madarah will kill her too." The voice said, sounding almost sad.
"Why are you asking me and what about the others?" Aya asked as she frowned even more.
"Zetsu and Kakuzu are dead, Hidan gave everything but he's dead too. Right now it's down to me and him; I know that I'm going to lose. You have to reach Konan soon, she's badly injured…" the voice replied but was suddenly cut short.
Gasping, Aya quickly instructed that she had to go and meet with the Kage. She added that their rooms were marked and that she would see them in the morning. Leading them upstairs, she pointed to the rooms and then disappeared into her room. Once she was sure that they wouldn't suspect anything, she silently poofed to the village gates. Luckily, Izumo and Kotetsu were the ones on guard duty, so she had no problem trying to get past them.
Once she was out of the village, she swiftly began the process of locating her injured friend. Again she was lucky because Konan was only two miles away from the village. Once she had the girl in her protection, they immediately began heading back to the village. Though it required a lot of strength, Aya managed to carry Konan to the village gates. As the got closer and closer to the gates, Konan began to speak a little bit.
"It's Madarah. He's after you guys and he's on his way." Konan mumbled as she rested her chin on Aya's shoulder.
"I know… Pein told me. When he talked to me, he was still fighting but he's probably dead by now."Aya replied as she raced towards the gate.
"Oh he's dead all right and your next." Hissed a chilling voice from somewhere around them.
Speeding off even faster, Aya reached the gates in a record time but she knew that Madarah was still after them. Stopping at the gate, she handed Konan off to Izumo and she instructed that Kona be taken to the hospital immediately. Once they were gone, she instructed the village gates be closed. Kotetsu tried to argue but when he sensed Madarah's evil chakara, he quickly agreed and closed the gates. Once that was done, he raced off to get the Hokage.
With the gates closed, Aya knew that she was basically trapped. Deep down she knew that she was really no match for the older Uchiha but to defend her village, she would die trying. As she waited for the attacks to come, she prayed for the best.
"Look at what we've got here." Sneered the same chilling and sinister voice that had killed Pein.
"I'm not going to let you kill them." Aya snapped as Madarah appeared in front of her.
"Oh I'm not worried about that, they'll all die soon enough." Madarah sneered making Aya gulp.
"I don't plan on dying that easily. In fact, I think that its time for me to go." Aya spat with a smirk on her face.
Instantly, the red head was gone and was behind Madarah. Shock only just briefly registered on his face before it was gone again. Aya had managed to put a kunai to his neck but she knew that she was going to have to be stronger and faster, if she even planned to beat him. Madarah smirked and disappeared. Aya spun around and deflected the kunai that he had thrown at her. She knew the sharingan was his biggest weapon but that really wouldn't stop her. She had trained with Kakashi and his sharingan but that was really only on a minor scale. Here she was faced with the most dangerous enemy of all and she had no major talent to save her.
Madarah noticed her pause and he took the moment to stab her in the stomach, which totally caught her off guard. Jumping back, Aya put up her chakara shield and proceeded to pull the damn kunai from her stomach. Damn, she mumbled, he's too good for me. Strengthening her shield, she quickly thought about what she could do to immobilize the man. Ignoring the pain from the hole in her stomach, she assessed that his eyes would be the best bet at a victory but that was the hardest thing to do.
"I don't know if anybody ever told you, but I think you look a lot less gay without that stupid mask on." Aya chided to make him mad, which amazingly, worked really well.
"But I must say, you fought better with it on." She added as she watched his face turn red.
"I suggest, little girl, that you keep your mouth shut and fight like the great ninja that you are, instead of hiding." Madarah replied in anger.
"Oh I'm not hiding, I'm fighting." Replied Aya as she dashed in front oh him, shoving a kunai into his eye.
The man shouted in pain but wound up and punched Aya extremely hard in the chest, breaking a few ribs and cracking some others. He continued his barrage of hits until he heard her snap. The sound was sickening but it gave him such pleasure. Content with the damage he had caused; Madarah retreated for some medical attention, unaware that Aya was still living and awake.
After Aya was sure that he was gone, she pushed herself up off the ground and leaned against the gates. Pain coursed through her body but she ignored it as she pulled the gate open on one side. She knew that without medical help soon, she would probably die. Again, for the third time, luck was on her side. Just on the other side of the gate was Kakashi and Tsunade, a comforting sight. A smile spread across her face as she made her way to the duo.
"What the hell were you thinking?" shouted the blonde Hokage in anger.
"I was doing what I do best." Aya snapped as blood began pooling on the ground.
"Well let's go to the hospital, looks like your going to need some stitches." Tsunade said as Aya paled even more that she already was.
"I refuse to go to the hospital. I'll heal on my own." Aya stammered as she backed up.
By this time, her house mates and several other jounin had appeared and were watching as she backed away from her former sensei and the kage. Though she was severely injured, she refused to be taken to the hospital. So when Kakashi stepped forward to grab her, she backed up and fell over. Pain seared through her and she let out an ear splitting scream. Then, all of a sudden, her head was invaded by a voice, the same one from earlier.
"He's not dead yet, is he?" Pein asked via the telepathic link.
"No he's not and if you're talking to me, you must not be either." Aya whispered, her voice cracking due to a lack of chakara.
"No Aya, I'm dead. I had enough chakara to contact you once more. You need to know that he's after the Fire Wing and the Wind Wing, two very powerful weapons that you mustn't let him get a hold of. It's time fore me to go." Pein said as his voice and chakara faded from the link completely.
A tear slipped down her cheek as she forced herself to stand up once more. Her gold eyes shifted to look back at the gate. Pein was finally dead and so was everybody else who had remained in the Akatsuki. They were all gone and there was nothing left of them except for the four in Konoha. A sad smile spread across her face as she stumbled forward and collapsed into Kakashi's arms. This was the end of a long battle but just the beginning of another battle, one that would require the use of two unknown weapons.