My pulse quickened. A cold wind blew in from a window down the hall of my house. Last time I checked, it was locked. At times like this, I was terrified of the dark. Silently as I could, I crept out of bed, inching my way through the dark and down the hall. My eyes were wide, but I still couldn't see a damn thing.

I focused a small amount of Chakra into my fist, for protection. My eyes had adjusted as I finally managed to reach the window. Sure enough, it was open- but by force. As I inspected it, my fingertips touched the icy metal, I realized the lock was broken, and the frame had been bent.

Another cold wave of air blew in, and with it, a snowflake. It was the middle of October; I suppose it was about time for our first snow of the year. However, the chill didn't make my current situation any more pleasant. An unwanted guest was lurking somewhere in the dark, for reasons I did not know. To the right of the window were the stairs leading to the main floor. Surely this is where they, whoever they are, would have gone after coming through the window. A little more Chakra focused into my fist, now much more clenched than it had first been. I crept down the stairs, keeping to the left; it was my best chance of possibly getting a glimpse of my intruder, without them first getting a glimpse of me. I feared the worst, rumors were growing in town these past few days that the Akatsuki was in the country, and on the prowl.

Standing on the last few steps, I peered around the corner behind me; I could see the layout of my shop. The shelves all seemed in order, herbs and spices in their natural place. I traced my eyes around the space to find the counter, where the register was. I quickly drew back. A dark figure was kneeling by the lower cabinet. Probably looking for the key to the safe I kept hidden in a drawer. Having no luck, the individual returned to the safe, waggling the dial to try and open it. This was my chance. While the intruder was occupied, I rushed at them, fist-first- but they were faster.

"Zouta?" My eyes widened with shock.

"Get out of my way, Heromi."

Zouta had grabbed my arm, and braced his knee against my chest to stop my momentum. I felt a tear scrambling around in the corner of my eye, waiting to fall. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I need money. I didn't want it to have to come to this, I know you work hard for this, but I have debts to pay. And the recipients are very impatient. I'm sorry." He looked away, and his stringy dark bangs fell into his eyes.

Zouta and I were in a relationship, and I trusted him. But that trust had been broken. My heart cried in betrayal. Zouta pushed me back, and no longer having strength, I fell to the floor. He was apparently able to open the safe without the key, and I watched as he gathered bundles of cash into a bag…all that I had ever earned. He turned to look at me. Somewhat more resentful now, he moved closer to me. I attempted to move out of his way, but Zouta caught me, pulled me back toward him, and bound my hands behind me with a sealed scroll. I struggled to break it. Despite my wriggling, Zouta took another scroll, and sealed it over my mouth. He delivered a blunt punch to my head, and blackness surrounded my vision.

When I woke, I was still in the dark. I saw a street light in the distance. I was sitting on a stone street, but in an alleyway. The stone pavement was cold and wet from the new snow. Two cloaked figures dropped into the alley from a building; one taller than the other, but I couldn't see their faces. I felt an arm pull me to my feet, though my feet weren't quite sure if they remembered how to stand. It was Zouta behind me.

"Do you have our intelligence? Un?" The shorter of the cloaked men asked.

"Better- In the flesh as proof." Zouta held my body close to his, and held a kunai to my neck, as if disorienting and sealing me weren't enough.

What- what is going on?

"Tch. We don't need a hostage. Just information regarding shinobi investigation. Un."

"Oh- but she is the Tsuchikage's primary advisor, and she knows everything that you need. I'm no inside man, b-but she's what you want, believe me." Zouta pushed me forward, but I fell to my knees.

Liar! What was Zouta getting at? Who were these people?

I could feel my lungs begin to panic, my nostrils flared from hyperventilating. I felt light-headed; my consciousness was fading again. The cloaked figure who had been talking moved closer, and knelt, so that our eyes met. His teal blue eyes were calm; he glanced at Zouta, and then back at me. He smirked, "I don't believe you." The cloaked man rose to his feet, stepped around me, confronting him. "You're scum. I hate scum. I'll end you. Un."

Then, something I can't explain happened. I heard Zouta gag, cry out, and then I heard a loud bang, a crunch, and a thud. I felt myself fading out again with the cold and the pain. Blackness consumed my conscious again.

I was suddenly shaken awake, and daylight filled my eyes. My good friend, Izumi, was by my side. I realized I was in my own bed.

"Heromi! Oh, Heromi… They say they found Zouta's body in the alley behind the Capitol building. It's awful!" The dark-haired shinobi tugged at my hand.

What? Was it all a dream?

Izumi helped me out of bed.

I have to check it…

I ignored her, and left my room, walking to the window at the end of the hall- the window that was open last night. It was closed, but the lock still appeared to be broken. "Heromi, are you alright?" Izumi stopped a few steps behind me. Her face was strewn with concern.

I rubbed my forehead; my head ached. "I had a strange night last night." If Izumi were to ask me to reveal details, I wouldn't know where to start. I wasn't even sure if any of it was real.

"Don't tell the shinobi in charge of Zouta's investigation that, or they might suspect you of something." She paused, rethinking better words of comfort. "Do you want to talk about it? Let me make us some tea…"

I nodded compliantly, and followed Izumi down the stairs to my shop, only to stop again, and notice that the cabinets under the register were all closed. I went back, opened the cabinet, to find the safe was locked again. Just to be sure, I checked its contents.

All of the money was there.

What the hell happened last night?

"Heromi? Where'd you go?" Izumi's voice muffled between the shelves.

"Sorry, I uh, had to check something."

The Capitol was across the street, and through the glass front of the store, a mass of people gathered at the entrance of an alleyway. From a distance, I could see an Iwagakure shinobi stood on a crate at the edge of the alley entrance. He announced from a loudspeaker, though from behind the glass, it was only a mumble, "Folks, please stay out of our way as we continue to investigate the events that may have occurred here. If you have information pertaining to what might have happened, please speak to either myself, or the other shinobi here. Otherwise, continue about your day. There's nothing to see."

They couldn't hide it all, there was flesh scattered about the whole area, and lots of blood. I felt ill taking it all in.

"I-I don't feel so good."

A voice in the crowd rose above the other murmurs, "Was this the Akatsuki's doing?" the rest of the mob fell silent, waiting the response of the Shinobi who previously addressed the crowd.

"We…don't know for sure. But there is evidence that it could be. The best advice I have for you is to please keep your families safe at night- we don't want any more accidents."

"Heromi…" Izumi whispered to me, "what if it was that rogue ninja, Deidara. He would do something like that, you know."

Izumi sat me down with a cup of hot tea; my own blend. She studied me, we were both at a loss for words. I probably looked like shit.

My head… I reached up and felt my skull, there was a sore spot, and a small lump. He really hit me. That really happened.

A knock came on the frame of the entrance to the shop; Izumi went to answer it. An

Iwagakure shinobi came in. "Miss Heromi, is it okay if I spoke with you for a moment?" A half frown was carved into his lips.

I nodded quietly. Izumi stood by my side.

"You probably heard about the accident last night."

I nodded again, gesturing out the window. "It's hard not to." My voice quaked, I tried not to cry.

"You knew the deceased?"

"Yes…" I pulled myself together the best I could, "we were in a relationship."

"How would you describe your relationship?"

"It was fine, normal, I suppose." My voice faded to a peep and I began to sob, not because Zouta was dead, but because he betrayed me. Our relationship was fine until last night.

The investigator probably thought I was crying for my loss. Better to keep it that way. He looked at me with guilty eyes, as if asking the questions were making my 'grief' more unbearable. "Did he have any enemies that you know of?"

I shook my head. I had no idea. Except for what happened with those two men, I had no idea; I was so confused. I swiped at my tears and sniffled, Izumi had been crying a little too, from the corner of my eye, she wiped her cheek.

The Shinobi looked at me once more and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Please do contact us if you might have any information that would be helpful. I'm sorry for your loss."

He left Izumi and me there, in the shop, both of us choking on sadness- for completely different reasons. Outside it was a beautiful day. Last night's snow was only a dusting; the warmth of the earth melted it away- just another reason to believe it was all just a bad dream.

"Heromi," Izumi mumbled, handing me a tissue, "What happened last night?"

"I don't know." I started to turn back to the stairs, "I want to sleep."

"Yeah, you go do that. I'll come and check on you tomorrow. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Yeah."

Up the stairs, I inspected the window again, why? I wasn't sure. I tumbled into bed, and cried myself to sleep.

After a few hours, I woke up. Clusters of dried tears itched the corners of my eyes. I picked them away, and checked the time.

4:00 A.M. It was still dark out, and the air was chilly, as it had been the night before.

Wait- the air is chilly?

I immediately darted out of bed to run down the hall and check the window. It was open, but a shadowy shape filled its view. I stopped in my tracks- frozen with fear. The shape moved, pulling back what must have been a hood or a mask.

It said, "Glad to see you're still here, and the investigation nins didn't take you away. How are you feeling? Un."

That accent…

"I- I—who are you?" I shivered both out of fear, and the cold.

"You didn't answer my question. Un." The individual moved down the hall towards me, his hair was in a high ponytail, with long bangs in the front.

It was him. From last night.

As he came within a few feet of me, the clouds must have cleared outside, because the moon came out, and a beam of silver light fell in from the window. The light brought new perspective to his appearance. A much less serious and intimidating person now stood before me, with compassion in his eyes, the same calm compassion I saw last night. He was young, about my age. His cloak was also much clearer to me now; red clouds swirled on a black backdrop.

Akatsuki...

He interrupted my thoughts. "I'm sorry about last night. That piece of shit was lying- putting you in danger for his own benefit. He was useless anyway. Un." There was a silence between us, until he spoke again, "I just...wanted to make sure you were okay. It's best if you don't tell anyone that you saw me… Un.

A clash came from downstairs, both the cloaked boy and I turned toward the stairs in panic. "Don't let anybody in or out of this building- I want it covered!"An aggressive voice bellowed from the main floor.

"GO!" the cloaked boy yelled, "RUN, GODDAMNIT!"

Senselessly I ran back into my room, where the boy got in front of me and broke open a window. "Close the door and lock it! Un."

"What?"

"It'll only take a second!" he growled at me, so I obeyed. He was working something in his hands, only to throw it out the window. A giant white bird came to life, seemingly out of nothing, it circled around, and came back to the window. "Come on. Un."

Just as I reached the window, the door began to break, and it burst open with one more blow from the other side. A dozen armed Shinobi rushed in. I clambered onto the bird with him as quickly as I could, and away we went, into the morning moonlight.

My heart was pounding, fear still pulsed through my veins.

Oh God…What kind of trouble have I gotten myself into?

Before I could begin to imagine, my body stiffened, and shivered. The air was so cold, and grew colder still as the white bird gained altitude. Kneeling on the back of the bird, my arms hugged my torso tightly to keep warm. Izumi's voice echoed in my ears.

"Heromi…what if it was that rogue ninja, Deidara. He would do something like this, you know."

Would he? Could this be?

"Dei..dara?" I tested my hypothesis.

"Hmm?" He still didn't make eye-contact.

I swallowed hard, "What are we- what am I going to do now? Those shinobi were after you, weren't they?"

"Yes."

"They're now after me too, right?"

Silence followed, for a moment that seemed like an eternity. The moonlight had faded, but the pale orb remained in the sky, faintly glowing, as the sun's pinkish warmth took over the horizon.

"C-Can I ask where we are going?"

"Nowhere- We're already there. Un." He turned to look at me for the first time since the flight began, smirked, and said, "Hold on tight, I'm hasty with the descents."

I couldn't respond quickly enough, and screamed when the great bird took a nose-dive toward the earth, passing through the clouds at high speed. I instinctively snatched at the bird's back with the other- to realize the bird was soft, putty-like, and lacked feathers. The consistency of the bird was the least of my worries for the moment. I clenched my eyes shut, we had to be going at least 70km/hour, and practically vertical. Until the bird swooped up- well- to become level again. It flapped its blocky wings, easing the touchdown. With my eyes still pinched shut- I awkwardly slid off the bird, knees quaking once I touched the earth.

"Uh..You can open your eyes now. Un." There was a smile in Deidara's tone. I'm sure I looked like a fool.

My eyes opened, to meet his, only for a moment. The wind picked up, and the gust blew Deidara's long blonde hair away from his handsome face, revealing a mechanical device over his left eye.

Criminal? Rescuer? Cyborg? What are you?

Another person wearing an Akatsuki coat ran up to the bird. "Ohhh Senpai-senpai! Who might this be?" The man, despite his height, had a very childish voice. A swirly orange mask covered his face, with only one eye hole.

"Shut it- Tobi. This wasn't part of the plan. Ran into some complicated business. Un." Deidara grimaced.

I remained silent, not wanting to justify my burdensome state. I felt it was clear that I was unwanted baggage.

"Okay- I won't tell Leader. Do we have to change course then?" The Tobi person

skipped behind Deidara, as he led me from the clearing where we landed, into the thick of the forest.

"Probably. Only a small detour, though. I don't want to be late for our next …confrontation. Un." Deidara avoided eye contact with me, but gave in, "You'll stay here until we get back."

"When will you be back?" I felt my jaw tremble, it was so cold, and it felt even colder, knowing I'll be left alone.

"Can't say for sure. But it won't be more than a few days. Un." He tugged at the open ends of the high collars of his coat, and looked back at Tobi, who was aimlessly standing around, apparently not paying attention to our conversation.

I stared into the darkness of the forest. The morning light couldn't penetrate the overlap of the tall pines. It was frighteningly quiet beyond the clearing.

There's nothing here for me. I guess now, I can try...

He turned away, and I knelt to the ground, placing my hands on a bare space on the forest floor. I focused... Trees grew from the earth, and combined with a few that were already present; and transformed. Planks of the cedar wood merged to form a circular hut with a wood-shingled roof, and a sturdy door.

I noticed Deidara's footsteps halted, and I turned back- only to see both he and Tobi staring at the wooden construct.

"Senpai. Definitely do not tell Leader."

"Right. Un."

I knew my Kekkei Genkai was rare, and unfortunately somewhat unappreciated in the Hidden Rock, because this Jutsu was a 'Hidden Leaf thing'. But I was proud of my gift, and practiced it in private, using it on occasion to help my herbs grow.

"I'll be fine." I squeaked.

I hope...

Deidara, avoiding an awkward goodbye, turned back to the clearing where the white bird had been waiting. "Tobi, the faster we leave, the less time we have to spend working! Un!"

"Oh. Of course, Deidara-Senpai. On my way!"

As the big white bird ascended into the dawn, out of the small clearing, I turned back. I held the poorly-crafted door handle on the shelter, and stood; until my thoughts electrified me.

Now's my chance. They left me here. I can get away. I should go back. I need to tell Izumi what happened. There has to be a way out.

I ran deep into the forest. Shoeless, I tripped, and scraped my hand on the hard soil. I stumbled, but got up and kept running. There was seemingly no end. No path.

I can't get away. I have to wait. No.. No this isn't right, I- I should go back. I have to go back and tell the truth! He killed a man! He kidnapped me! No- he saved me...

I paced, and paced.. until my feet , a cold touch startled me. I looked up, and another kiss of cold planted itself on my cheek.

Snowfall…

I ran back to the hut, and confined myself in it. The dead, dried grassy floor made my feet itch. I pressed my hands against the wall, and clumsily pulled out a low shelf, big enough to sleep on.

As I laid there, I was drowning in the silence. It chewed up my brain, leaving so many spaces to think, and argue with myself. Until I drifted to sleep.

I awoke in the dark, feeling dirty, and wearing yesterday's clothes. My hoodless yellow sweater and thin black capris, If I remember right.

I need a bath…

I got up, and rubbed my aching lower back.

Did I sleep wrong?

I opened the door to my room, and reached for the lightswitch in the hall. But there wasn't one. When I reached out for anything- there was nothing. I furiously began blinking my eyes, trying to adjust them to the dark.

What?

I ran through the forest, feeling as though I was living some event over again. Like deja vu. I ran and ran. There was nothing- but trees, everywhere. There was a faint noise in the distance. I stopped, and shut my mouth to quiet my heavy panting.

Water!

I followed the trickling sound, to a stream. I fell on my knees, and crashed my hands into the silty, shallow water.

"Wake up. Wake up! Heromi!"

I threw the water into my eyes, cold as it was; but I was already awake.

This.. this is real. Okay. Okay. Not okay.

I knelt there in the dirt, hugging my shoulders, and shoved my face into the baggy sleeves. And I cried.

After a while, my sobs mellowed to whimpers, and then to nothing.

I've got to try. I've got to survive.

I went back to the humble shelter, and in the center, I dug at the ground with my bare hands, carving a bowl for a fire pit. I pulled up the prickly grass, and pried at the roots. My nails were broken and caked with dirt, but I kept digging.

The deeper the pit, the better contained the fire would be. I scooped out the brittle cold soil until my hands were numb. I left the hut, and spent the next few hours searching for stray branches and twigs for the fire. I refused to use live wood.

Warm memories crept into my mind, from a distant childhood; the nomads I once called my family. We sat around the fire, and told stories of ancient beasts and witches. I remember the flickering of the fire, how it danced to the stories, bringing them to life.

I took two of the driest twigs, and rubbed them together pathetically, until the palms of my hands were raw. I was cold, sore, and dirty. And by then I was getting hungry. I couldn't remember how they did it - the gypsies. They could start a fire with their fingertips.

Maybe I just can't do that. Maybe they could never do that.

I shivered, the cold penetrating my skin in the shade of the hut. I slept without a fire that night.

For those who don't recognize it- This story is a remake of a story that was posted here since October of last year. "The True Story of a Girl they Used to Know". Recently, I had a rush of inspiration and felt an unyielding need to change the plot.

Chapters will be longer, more detailed, and hopefully better overall. Please enjoy! Feedback is welcomed!

-NaomiSpice