Naoko sighed as she stretched her arms and legs, sitting up slowly as she breathed deeply and remembered she was still in Amegakure, the Hidden Rain village. They had been there for almost a month and so far only herself and Aki were allowed to roam around, only because they had proven themselves, well Aki did, Naoko had a deeper connection with Pein that no one, not even her team mates, had known about. She did very well about hiding it from Shi's ability to get into her head. Shi was locked up in a room and the only person allowed to handle her was Itachi, why only him, she had no idea.

She relaxed a bit when she stepped outside and seen Aki roaming around with a member of the Akatsuki but she couldn't tell who since they were facing the other way.

"Such a dork."

She said to herself as she looked around more and then smiled at the fact that someone was behind her. She could sense his chakra and without having to look, she knew it was Pein.

"Hello, Pein."

Naoko said as he turned her around and held her close to him. She sighed in relief as she felt his arms on her, although she knew it wasn't his real body, she could sense his real heart. From the moment they arrived here, she and Pein were always together when they weren't busy with their duties. No one knew that they were constantly with each other in their spare time but they were suspicions, luckily no one had any proof of this, and even if they did, it probably wouldn't make a difference. When they first got there, Naoko knew there was a connection between them but she wasn't sure of what it was. At first she thought it was just curiosity and the desire to want to know him better, but as time went on, she found that it was really because she knew him. As he held her she began to think about the first time she had ever met him.

Naoko had taken a trip with her family to Amegakure a few years back, when she was still in the academy in Konoha. She had wandered off and gotten lost, she ran into Orochimaru when she was trying to find her way back, he had gotten aggravated by the fact that she was a child and from Konoha and was about to attack her when Pein showed up. He'd saved her because he had been watching her since they'd arrived. Pein was drawn to her and knew she was special, he knew he had to keep her safe. Pein had helped her find her family and was gone. She'd never seen or heard of him since. She hadn't even known his name. The only thing that made her recognize it was him was when he told her about the little girl he'd saved, she realized it was her and ever since he told her, they had been inseparable, at least when they were alone.

"How did you sleep Nao?"

His voice broke her train of thought and she smiled up at him.

"I slept great thanks to you."

Every night he would hold her until she fell asleep, and every night she would sleep easier than she had in a very long time. With him she felt safe, even though she knew he was extremely dangerous and unpredictable. She began thinking about what she had learned of him when she was doing some research, she found out that he used The Six Paths instead of his body because he was crippled in a war. Naoko wanted to see him. The real him, but she knew he would never allow it, even for her.
"I want to see you, Nagato."

She said softly without even thinking about what she had said, she felt his arms drop and his body tense up. Naoko stepped back and looked at him. She knew she messed up.

"Pein, I'm so-"

He interrupted her by simply raising his hand. "We have work to do."

Pein said simply as he turned and walked away. Naoko sighed and walked in the opposite direction, as she reached the building where they held meetings as well as kept Shi, she began to think about what she could do to make things right between them. Aki ran into the room and jumped on her back, Naoko didn't react the way she normally did, which was the sign for her sister to be serious. Aki hopped off and began walking next to her sister.

"What's wrong?"

She asked after a few moments of silence between them.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Naoko said as she walked into the meeting room, they had told them the night before that the members would be having a meeting to decide what to do about the three of them. More specifically what to do about Shi, they knew she was dangerous, they also knew she could either be a great ally as well as a great enemy. Naoko sat down quietly as she continued to think about Pein and Shi and what was going to happen. Aki sat next to her dutifully and on the other side was Hidan, anytime they had to do something, Aki never left Naoko's side to make sure nothing happened to either of them, she didn't want to lose her sister.

As everyone filed into the room and took their seats at the table, the room grew with the tension. Naoko could sense that something wasn't going to go smoothly but she didn't know what it was. Moments after everyone was seated, Itachi walked in with Shi, Naoko sighed in relief at the sight of her partner, Shi was family to her so she was more than a partner, she was glad to see that she was still in one piece, although she looked physically okay, Naoko knew her mental state probably wasn't in the best shape. She didn't like being in front of people because of all the scars she had on her body, so she knew she'd be on edge.

"Matte-Chan! Hello, Welcome!"

My eyes darted from Shi to Tobi, the most hyper person in the room aside from Aki, he had become instantly excited at the sight of Shi, which cause his next move not to be the smartest. He had attempted to hug Shi and the next thing he knew, his arm was hurting and he was on his ass.

"I learned at a young age that if you let your guard down, you die. Sound familiar, Kakuzu?" She was saying as she glared at Kakuzu, Shi had been reading peoples' minds to try and figure out what was going on, Naoko made sure to keep her mind clear so it wouldn't over whelm her at this point. Shi walked over to Naoko and grabbed the chair that Hidan was sitting in and pulled it out from under him.

"Remind me again why we can't just fucking kill her now," Hidan growled as he stared up at Shi, seriously contemplating killing her. I had to hold back a chuckle at the sight of him on his ass, which wasn't hard to do.

"You want me dead? That's perfectly healthy for this hate-hate relationship we have going on right now. Don't worry your pretty little head, I want to fucking slaughter you as well."

Naoko was about to cover Shi's mouth when the sight of a tentacle wrapped itself around Shi, Naoko raised an eyebrow at the sight of it and quickly realized that it was Kakuzu who had done it.

"Kakuzu, is this truly necessary?" Pein said as he looked to him, Naoko sighed as she realized this was what wasn't going to go smoothly.
"She was brought down here for a reason and she will sit and listen if she wants to or not."
Kakuzu said as he looked around the room.

"I'll be good; let's get started," she murmured.

Naoko felt the tension rise as the tentacles tightened around Shi. Hidan growled again as he finally stood while shaking his head. As he grabbed another chair and began to sit next to Shi, Itachi became uneasy as well and glared at him, everyone in the room ignored them as if it were normal for them to show so much aggravation towards each other. While they were busy Naoko decided it would be a good time to communicate with Shi like they normally would while on missions.

"Shi, do you have a plan?"

Naoko thought loudly as she continued to act like she was paying attention to what everyone else was saying. Shi knew Aki would fill her in later on what happened. Shi attempted to shrug, which let me know that the tentacles were too tight and that she was still thinking of something.

"Hidan, go sit next to Tobi...I don't want your stupid ass sitting next to me anyway."

Naoko looked over to Itachi and Hidan, who were still arguing about the seating arrangements. She shook her head as Hidan finally got up and moved to Tobi's side. Itachi sat in the now empty seat while staring at Hidan the entire time, they seriously were on edge around each other, and Naoko hadn't seen them act that way before. Everyone hushed their talking and that made Naoko look to the head of the table, there was Pein, she unknowingly squealed at the sight of him but then quickly covered it up with a cough that sounded like she was clearing her throat. Aki held back a slight laugh.

"My name is..."

"Look, I don't give a damn who you are. In fact, I already know! So you just tell my why my team and I were taken, Nagato...or do you go by Pein now? Or is it Deva...Asura, Human-"

"Is she getting to a point?"

"-Animal, Preta, Naraka..."

Shi went on and on about his Six Paths as Naoko shook her head, knowing this wasn't going to end well, especially when Konan began to talk. "Okay, so you know about the Six Paths of Pain."

"Ah, sweet Konan. It's not only that, I know of how they came to be, who they are...I know about Yahiko...Obito...Madara..." Shi only stopped at that because the tentacles had begun to tighten even more, making it harder for her to breathe.

"She knows too much!" Kakuzu shouted as he stood to his feet and flung his hands against the table.

"Sit down, Kakuzu!" Pein shouted back but was still sitting, calm and collected as he always was, he folded his hands and stared at Shi, very interested in how she could know about so much. "How do you think she learned this? We need her alive, and to be alive, she needs to breathe."

Naoko looked around at everyone, studying them to make sure they weren't going to do anything sudden.

"Matte-chan is turning blue."

Naoko turned quickly to Shi as she heard Tobi giggling about her color. She was going to tell them to release her but Itachi beat her too it.

"Kakuzu, release her," Itachi growled to him but Kakuzu didn't release her, he just responded with a question.

"Why do you care so much?"

Naoko was getting aggravated that they were clearly about to kill her and didn't give a damn, she cracked her neck slightly before speaking up. "Okay, this is just getting ridiculous."

"We need her alive!" Itachi shouted as he slammed a fist on the table then began to mock Kakuzu, which she knew wouldn't help the situation. "What about that do you not understand?"

Aki began to realize that the situation wasn't good and began biting her lip at Naoko and Shi, then decided to lean back and cross her legs on the table. Naoko was slowly getting even angrier by the second at being ignored by everyone.

"She's a fucking rodent and a fucking threat against us all." Hidan butt in as the argument continued, Shi opened her mouth to say something but everyone kept interrupting her as well.

"So she knows about us, that doesn't mean that she is a threat."

Shi rolled her eyes and tried again, this time she got something out but was still interrupted. "If I could-"

"You're just a fucking pussy, wimping out on killing someone because you came from the same fucking village."

"That-"

"Or is there more to it? Do you have some fucking feelings for this bitch? Is that it? Does she mean something to you?" He kept on as the grip on Shi grew tighter.

Naoko was thinking of things she could do to get them to release her, then she thought of something that might work, if not, then they were all dead. She had finally had enough and stood up. Everyone ignored her so she went on with the plan in her mind. "This is not the-"

Deidara decided to join in on the argument. "Even if she means anything to Itachi, why would it matter to you?"

Zetsu nodded in agreement with Deidara and decided to speak as well. "You would have fun killing her nonetheless, as would I."

Naoko huffed and stepped away from the table, as if she were walking away. She stood behind her seat for a moment and placed her hands on the. She looked at Aki then glanced at Shi. She then lifted the chair and hurled it towards Kakuzu. With this moment of shock and the break in concentration on Shi, Naoko and Aki planted their feet on the edge of the table and launched it forward towards him. Just as they had hoped, the tentacles were released and Shi was able to breathe again. Shi bent down and grabbed a piece of the shattered wood as everyone watched us after collecting themselves.

"So you need me alive, huh? But you enjoy playing too much..." Shi raised the wood to her neck and chuckled, Naoko shook her head because she knew Shi was crazy enough to actually kill herself. "I can think of a way to get things moving smoothly."

"You'd kill yourself? You're on crazy bitch," Hidan burst into laughter after saying that and Naoko knew Shi would answer in a way no one expected.

"It's one of my 'self rules', to be ready to die at any moment...to not be afraid of death. It's always been something I've waited for, in fact, every time I go into battle, I hope that it is my last. But...if you need me alive, I would want nothing more than to die."

Konan sighed and Naoko looked to her. "It's always the crazy ones. Why can't we find someone that's sane?"

Pein finally spoke up again as the room grew quiet. "What do you want?" He asked Shi as he watched her carefully.

"I should ask you the same thing, Pein, but if you're asking...I want your word that no harm will come to the three of us, for if something does happen, I will not hesitate in killing every one of your men and save you for last."

Pein shook his head, chuckling to himself, Naoko looked at him confused on what he found so funny.
"Fine, fine. No harm will come to either of you."

Shi walked past Naoko and handed her the makeshift knife and stood directly in front of Pein. "In order for us to work together, we must trust each other."

She grabbed his wrist and gripped tightly.

"What are you –"

"Shut up."

Shi stood there for a few moments, Naoko knew she was searching through his mind for information on what he needed from them, and she hoped she wouldn't find anything about their personal relationship but knowing her, she would, but also knowing her, she knew she wouldn't say anything about it in front of everyone.

"It's much like what you can do in your Human Path, mind reading of sorts, only enhanced. It only requires skin to skin contact to share thoughts and memories. It's actually very difficult, as you would know, but I was taught by the greatest. Within seconds, you have seen the majority of my life. You have felt the emotions that I have lived through, and seen what I have seen. I hope from that you can trust me as your equal."

Pein just sat there, blinking, everyone could tell he was in shock, Aki and I knew why, we knew Shi didn't have a good past, he life was filled with pain, but we were always there for her. Shi knew that we would be with her until the end.

"One question though...will we receive matching cloaks?"

Naoko laughed at her question, leave it to Shi to ask about clothes.