Disclaimer: If I am Kishimoto, then I own Naruto. Am I Kishimoto? No, I think not.

Aridoku twirled around and flung her sword at whatever she saw moving, not well prepared for another encounter. But she was successful and had hit him square in the chest. She yanked her sword back by the chains and mentally prepared herself.

Her appearance did not look so appealing. Cuts and bruises littered her cheeks and forearms, a torn side from her cloak, disheveled hair, drenched in sweat and exhaustion.

Her panting reduced to a small gasping and for a second stopped.

Woosh…

Dammit, she shouldn't have let her guard down! Now she had a shuriken protruding her shoulder that hurt like hell. She braced herself as she harshly yanked it out with a grunt.

In that moment she saw the flash of white rounding her and had grabbed her two swords by the chain and hit. The grunt of pain had answered her suspicion.

Guess I do have good accuracy after all.

But when the mist slightly faded, she saw her target on the floor, crouching in a fetal position. She smirked, but if faltered when she felt a little stab of pain in her shin. She looked down only to find out that he had yet again protruded another shuriken into her.

She looked down at him with a smile.

"You just don't know how to give up do you Kabuto?"

"If…I h-had, y-you would h-hhave thought yourself s-ssuperior. A-and we all know –tthat i-isnt t-ttrue."

She only answered him with a glare and then spat on him.

"Fuck you, at least I'm not the one in the fetal position, on the ground. Hope you enjoy disappointment bastard"

And with that she swung her blade one last time against his neck.

Finally…its over. I can leave now. I can finally g-

But she couldn't finish the thought because exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks.

No…I cant, don't do this to me damn-

Too late. She had already collapsed into the ground, rain drops falling on her face.

Pain? Is that you? Help me…please...

With one last drop of determination and energy, she summoned Yamatou.

The giant salamander of 35ft appeared in all of his fat yet incredibly intelligent glory.

"Aridoku…are…you…okay?"

"Y-yamato…take m-me back-k to b-bbase please. I… I'm so tired."

He gave a slow nod, and used his tail to wrap around her frail body, lifted her up and put her down on his back. She felt his thundering foot steps and it calmed her down a bit.

He looked back at his master for a second, and then dove deep into the water, and started to swim back.

With that she slowly closed her eyes for what seemed her last time…

xxxx

Pain sat in his desk solemnly bored outta his mind.

If Aridoku was here maybe I wouldn't be so damn bored.

This was all that ran through his head this past 2 weeks. It was undeniably frustrating and had no idea what was going on with him. He was interrupted by his thoughts when there was a loud, ear deafening pounds shaking the ground. If it wasn't so constant he would have been sure it was an earth-quake. He heard it stop right in front of the entrance to base.

"Konan, go check outside and see who it is. Be sure to take measures in case of anything."

She nodded and headed out of his office. It seemed like minutes till she returned with a worried face on.

"What is it Konan?"

"It's Aridoku, Pain…she's badly injured."

"Hn." He made no sign of recognition but inside he was as worried as hell

Dammit all! What the hell happened to her?

"I will go check for myself Konan, but be sure to be in watch out just in case."

She then again nodded and they both went outside of the base. In the entrance there stood an atleast 4 ton orange salamander, and on his back was the one person he could absolutely no get out of his head.

"Who or what are you and why do you have one of our members on your back?"

"I'm Aridoku's…summon…Yamatou. She…is greatly…injured..and…seems to…be…unconscious."

What type of bloody summon is this one?

Forget it I have to get her out and treat her injuries before anything worse can happen to her!

"Bring her down here"

"Okay…"

His tail wrapped securely around her and rested her gently above the ground. Konan made a move to pick her up, but he stopped her and would do it himself, telling her to continue and stay guard.

As he carried her to the bedroom, there were many looks. Some of sympathy and some of horror. But there was the one distinctive one of her cousin, carrying a terrified look, and one tear slid down her eye.

"Is..is she okay?"

"I don't know Amaya. I really don't"

She gave a curt and sad nod, letting another tear fall.

"Don't let anything happen to her."

"I can't guarantee anything yet."

She gave another nod, and he continued to the bedroom. When he put her down he stared at her serene face and tucked a loose strand of her hair. As soon as he finished the action Madara had entered the room.

"What happened to her?"

"She's just badly injured. Passed out. Nothing too bad, so you don't have to worry about Kakuzu getting angry over expenses in order to take care of her."

"Hm. That's good to know. So what will you do when she wakes up? I expect full recovery in a week. We need her for another side mission."

"Madara, she just finished coming out of battle seriously injured. She was successful too. Give her a break okay?" He gave her a soft look.

"Hm. Amaya will be certainly mad at you if you only gave her a week to heal. There is benefit from this to me if I only give her a week. So why should I do that exactly?"

"Does it matter? She's just a child Madara. She needs to rest, and her body isn't used to being in such a high fever with so much damage."

"Pain, I'm not stupid. I see how your expression softens whenever you see her, or how you really take the things she says to heart."

"…Does it matter?"

"Yes it does. Don't let such petty feelings for her ruin all that we have worked for"

And with that said he left the room leaving Pain in self conflict. He continued to stroke her hair till one eye fluttered open and then the next.

"Hey. Are you alright? Do you have any serious injuries? Does it hurt?"

She had to chuckle at his worried expression but her chest clenched in pain. She was so tired and worn out.

"I'm fine. Who took me back?"

"Yamatou had brought you back safely."

She smiled at the thought of her loyal companion, but that action too brought a lot of pain.

"Pain, where you with me during my fight with Kabuto?" He shook his head and she gave a bitter laugh.

"That's stupid of me. It was raining and I thought that you might have been with me…silly thought, don't think too much about it."

I would have gone to the end of the world for you…

"Hn." Don't show indifference, act as if you don't care.

…but you do, and there is no denying it

"Pain?"

"Hm?"

"When the world comes crashing down, will you be there to save me?"

He paused and was about to answer her when he heard a light snoring. He looked back only to find out that she had fallen asleep. He smiled and guessed the exhaustion got the best of her.

"I will always be there to save you no matter what."

He recalled when he said to know true peace you must know true pain. He knew for a fact that she had endured so much pain, and he didn't want that for her. He decided from now on there would only be peace for her, and he would spend his whole life making sure of it.