I frowned.

"Chakra?"

Sasori sighed.

"I take it nothing, then."

I shook my head no, agreeing with him. Was it somehow related to these 'jutsu' he had been telling me about?

"Tell me, Tally, what does your universe use for weapons?"

I looked at him, confused, then answered, "We use guns, missiles, biological weapons, things like that. To tell the truth, Master Sasori, I haven't really kept up with the modern weaponry. They keep developing weapons faster than I can figure out what they're for."

"So yours is a society based on warfare?"

I frowned, but had to agree. It seemed everything in my universe now centered on wars. But when he put it like that….. wow, we were pathetic.

"That's a world like ours, Tally, only we don't have these 'guns' and 'missiles' you were talking about. We use ourselves as weapons, and we use chakra to do that."

"What's chakra?" I asked before I could stop myself, and gave myself a mental face-palm. Brilliant, interrupt the talking killer.

"Chakra is a life-force that fills our body. We can manipulate it and bend it to our will. We can tell you have chakra, Tally, but it appears you have no clue how to use it. While you are here, I am going to teach you this, and then you will become a member of Akatsuki."

"I've heard you say that before. What is Akatsuki?"

He glared at me, and I hurriedly shut my mouth. Apparently, I had missed something major.

"We are all members of Akatsuki. Interrupt me one more time, and I will give you the most painful poison I have."

I gulped and nodded. Oops, I had interrupted once too many times. And now I was on more than one person's shit-list. Fantastic.

"We believe we have found a technique that you can use, based on your drawings. Before you are through here, you will either die, or learn to bring your drawings to life."

I froze, both mind and body, only his last few words echoing around in my head. Bring your drawings to life……bring your drawings to life……bring your drawings to life…..

I shook my head, clearing the echo.

"That's impossible."

"I can prove it is not. Draw something."

He handed me a piece of paper and a pencil, looking at me impatiently. I laid it down on the table, then thought for a brief moment before quickly drawing a simple wolf, handing it to him when I was done.

He practically yanked the paper out of my hands, then set it on the floor in front of him. He did something with his hands, too fast for me to follow, and touched the drawing once. A poof of smoke emerged in the room, and I coughed and waved my hands in front of my face to clear it, wondering if he had managed to set the drawing on fire.

However, when I was finally able to see again, my jaw dropped. Standing on a blank piece of paper was a wolf, the size of a small horse.

It looked at me, then sat, watching Sasori carefully.

"Because I was the one who summoned it, it will obey my commands. You will learn to summon them on your own, and you will use them to fight."

I was too busy gaping at the wolf to pay much attention to his words. I reached a hand out, and it sniffed it once before allowing me to touch it. I pet its 'fur', and only noticed the papery skin, crinkling when I put pressure on it.

I stared in wonder at the wolf, hearing Sasori in the background but not listening, like when my chemistry teacher droned on and on. The words entered my head, but only took a temporary residence, as absorbed as I was. It was probably dangerous, to do so, but I was absorbed in the wolf I had drawn that had somehow, by some twist of fate, come to life.

The next thing I knew, there was a flash of white spreading across my vision, pain echoing through my head. I was knocked to the floor, crying out, and when my vision came back, I looked up to Sasori, cringing away from his glare and scuttling across the floor away from him.

"If you ignore me again, brat, I will kill you."

I only gulped fearfully, crouched on all fours. His eyes flashed a fire, and then he moved his hands again, some strange force locking my body and moving me against my will.

I of course panicked, trying to resist the force that moved my body. However, the motions of Sasori's hands kept me moving like a marionette, and I was unable to resist as he moved my body back to the bed.

Fear bubbled up in my throat, and I clamped my jaws to keep from voicing a cry. I was thought low enough as it was.

When I was back on the bed, I felt the force release me, and I sagged, choking back sobs. I hated it. I hated the feeling of having no control, unable to resist as he forced me to move. And I was determined to learn how to break his control.

Sasori's glare quelled my swift anger, it flowing away like a flood that had found release. I knew that now I could pay attention, if only to beat these people and find my way back home. I only had to learn for a bit.

And so, two hours later, I found myself trying to summon this 'chakra' from my body. We had been at it for almost an hour now, and sweat ran down my forehead from my concentration. Sasori continued trying to give me pointers, but it was like telling a person who had never seen how to color-coordinate a room. Eh, maybe not my best example.

He kept telling me that it was kept in a corner of my mind, but the only 'corners' I could find is where the little voice in my head lived, and she did NOT appreciate me knocking at her door. All I ended up getting was a mental bitch-slap and a headache.

Finally, after three hours of me just staring into empty space, Sasori gave up.

"Obviously, you're not getting it. Follow me, we're trying something else."

I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and I wondered where it had come from. What exactly had he expected of me? I was a geek at school, hardly athletic enough to participate in sports, though I loved hiking and running for fun, and my contacts were burning my eyes. Yeah, sleeping with them in was not the best idea, but I had nowhere to put them.

We walked for a long while, and finally entered a huge, dim chamber, large enough to dwarf the high school gym. I stopped and stared for a bit, not used to seeing something this large, then shook my head and hurried after Sasori, not wanting to be on the bad side of his temper again. My head still rung.

"What is the farthest distance you can run?"

I furrowed my brow.

"I could probably run a mile before I collapse."

He stared at me.

"How long is a mile?"

I actually had to stop and think. I looked to the other side of the cavern, and saw two others fighting, though I couldn't tell who they were from the distance.

"Maybe….. twice the length of this cavern?" I guessed, mentally calculating the distance.

I heard a laugh from behind me, and I turned to see Deidara.

"That's it, un? That's all you can run? How pathetic."

I only hunched my shoulders, looking to the side. Deidara always made me do this, with his degrading comments. I hated him for it. Wow, I was going through a lot of hate lately.

"Deidara, from what I've gathered, her universe is one where they create weapons to fight for them. They don't need to be in shape."

After listening to Sasori's voice for the past few hours, understanding the accent became easier. I cheered up slightly from what he said, only to be quickly let down again.

"Which is why I'm going to have to get her into shape fast. Leader won't wait too long for her. He gave me six months to get her to fighting shape."

I didn't need to ask 'or what?'. I knew what would happen to me. A slip of the knife, and look, no more Tally. And to think I had been planning on going to college. So much for that dream.

"Tally, get running. You are to run until you fall, you will rest and try again at chakra, and then you will run again. Get moving."

I stared at him for a second, not believing, but a single, low growl got my ass moving. To be safe, I kept away from the fighting duo, so I wouldn't be caught in the cross fire.

I started a steady lope, one I could keep up for a while. The most running in one shot I had done before was chasing after my brother when he stole my headphones, and I had caught him after a quarter mile when he was gasping for breath. So yeah, I didn't really run much. And now I had to run until I collapsed. That sounded like it would hurt. I didn't want to hurt.

However, I was quickly panting for breath, despite how much I tried to pace my breaths. I knew Deidara was watching me, so I kept at my same pace, but when my vision started fading over I knew I was done. Thoughts seemed like a dream, and the only thing my mind could think of was running, running, running, like it was all I had been meant to do with my life. Maybe I had been born running. Was that a possibility? What was possible any more? Sight didn't seem possible. Neither did hearing. The only thing I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. Thud-thud, thud-thud, thud-thud….

As I considered the possibility of sound ever existing, my world went dark.

I didn't know how long I was out, but it was long enough for someone to move me back to the other room and place me back on my bed.

I groaned and sat up, muscles feeling like lead. Scratch that, burning lead. Ow, I never knew I could hurt this much. Like, OW.

"It's about time you woke up. You've been out for almost a half hour."

I groaned again and opened my eyes, forcing my blurry vision to focus on Sasori's back, absently noting how the desk he was at was almost taller than him. Heh-heh, Master Sasori's a troll.

"Get up, you're going back to chakra. You can drink some water if you need it, and then you are back here."

He had to mention water. As soon as the syllables escaped his mouth, I became aware of the desert in my mouth, and I panted, eyes focused on the dark doorway to the bathroom, still managing to listen to his words. Yes, I had learned my lesson. Painfully.

As soon as I could, I stumbled to my feet and headed for the doorway, legs feeling like weights had been tied to them. I tripped through the door, ignoring the torch that burst into flame, and gulped as much water as my body could hold from the tap. The cool liquid slaked the fire in my throat, and all the sand was washed down, leaving it feeling cool and moist. Thank whatever god existed.

Pleased, I walked back into the room, stomach sloshing happily. I felt so much better, and my muscles didn't hurt as much.

"Sit back down and start trying to find your chakra again."

I frowned at Sasori's back, but dutifully walked to my bed, hissing as I forced my legs into a cross-legged position. I closed my eyes, and began searching for a little space in my mind that didn't have any use that I was aware of. Again, I automatically went to the space where the voice lived, but a low growling sent me away, afraid. Yes, I had two personalities, but my 'other' didn't really do much, just help me when I need it, and give me the occasional mood swing. Either that, or I was crazy. But I've known that.

I searched through my consciousness, looking for the little node of power Sasori was telling me about. I could dimly hear his voice, but I had withdrawn so far into myself I couldn't clearly hear him. I was in the space I went when life became too much, where nothing existed but me. It was such a nice place….

I was roused out of that state by Sasori shaking me, and I grumpily opened an eye.

"I said search your mind, not meditate. Try again."

I sighed and closed my eyes, mentally 'looking' toward my alter ego first, annoying her. She didn't like when I came over.

I was searching through all my memories, thinking maybe it hiding in there, when I was again shaken by Sasori.

"Obviously, you can't find it. Up, you're running again."

I knew better than to groan and argue, but I physically paled when I heard that. Not again!

However, he only started walking, and I forced my leaden legs after him. Good god, the pulling muscles, which I thought felt so good this morning, felt like fire was in my legs. I had never exercised that much ever, and now I had to go back to it. Just kill me now.

It seemed to take longer to walk back to the cavern, but maybe it was because I was trying to keep whimpers of pain from escaping my mouth. As it was, I was constantly hissing.

Finally, we walked through the dark doorway, and I saw that this time it was empty.

"Start running. I don't care how much your legs hurt, get moving."

I whimpered once, softly, then began forcing my legs to start moving. My muscles revolted against me, until my motions loosened them up, and moving became easier. I was slightly surprised from this, but then I remembered my high school biology class. The heavy feeling I had in my legs was a buildup of lactic acid, and by moving the muscles again, I was allowing the acid to drain, and letting the muscles get more oxygen. Even so, they were still sore from disuse.

Once I started feeling tired, I adjusted my lope again, to travel at nearly the same speed but with less energy. My downward movement from my steps was reflected from my ankles, and the tendons would force my foot up again. Don't think I'm actually this smart, because I'm not. I just have a fascination with muscle structure.

However, I knew that me running fine was too good to be true. On one step, just when I was beginning to gasp for air, my ankle twisted just enough in the wrong way to allow my Achilles' tendon to slip out of its path, and I fell to the ground, screeching with pain.

Sasori walked over, looking oddly at me, but I was too focused in trying to pull the pain from my ankle. I could feel the tendon slip back into place, but it still hurt, and I bit my lip, trying to keep the tears in my eyes. The offending ankle was swelling to the size of a baseball, and I tried to elevate it without bending it much.

"What happened?"

"I twisted my ankle", I replied, hissing out the words.

"This happens often?" he asked, eyes narrowing. I knew better than to lie.

"Yes. I was born with a slight skeletal deformity. My ankle sprains easily."

As I said that, I remained trying to choke back my tears, not wanting to seem weak, but it was a fruitless task. My eyes betrayed me and leaked water down my face, and I hugged my knees to my chest, being careful to keep my foot from touching the ground.

Sasori frowned, but reached down with arms way too long for his body and picked me up. I of course struggled with surprise, but he ignored my efforts and flung me over his back, and oddly enough, I could feel a hard surface. Maybe he wore armor under the cloak?

He carried me back through the tunnels, and I was glad beyond belief that we encountered no one. That would be hell, being seen while being carried by someone that was half as tall as I was. What a day that would be.

I frowned. My brain and too much empty time were a horrible combination. It obviously couldn't shut up.

We finally reached the room in what seemed like way too fast for his legs to move, but who was I to speak?

We, or rather he, walked through the door, and I could kinda see past Sasori's back to notice Deidara. I could hear my voice in my head ask me a question, and I thought back 'Absolutely fucking ecstatic. What the fuck do you think I'm feeling right now?!'

Needless to say, that got her to shut up. Great, I just lost my only conversation for a while.

"What the hell happened to her, un?"

"Sprained her ankle."

I cringed at the venom in Sasori's voice. Yes, now my day couldn't get any better! Not.

"Are you serious, un? Sprained her ankle? Doing what?"

"Running", I muttered, and he apparently was used enough to my accent to understand that, as he started laughing. I felt my face go crimson, and I buried it in Sasori's cloaked back. It lasted all of two seconds before he flopped me forward on the bed, me landing on my back with a "huff!" and making sure my ankle didn't touch anything.

He walked out of the room, leaving me with the blond. We stared at a wall for a majority of the time, him snickering every now and then, until he finally spoke to me.

"So, outsider, how do you like it here so far?"

"To tell the truth, there are moments when I hope to god this is just a horrible dream."

"Is it really that bad here, un?"

I could only stare at him until the door opened again, and Sasori walked in, followed by the one with the odd eyes that had been in the hospital with me, the one who could seem to only look at me with glares. Such as now.

"You sprained your ankle?" his thick voice rumbled, and I had to pause a moment to decipher the words before I nodded, trying to shrink into the bed.

He walked over, and with a swift motion grabbed my ankle with his callused hands, and I yelped softly both at the speed he showed and at the motion jostling my foot.

His eyes flicked up to my face, trying to kill me with a glance, silencing me. My inner voice chastised me for being so cowardly, and I started to dare her to say something before I remembered that she WOULD say something that would probably get me killed.

As rough as he seemed at first, however, the odd-eyed guy was gentle with my ankle, feeling it gently for any internal problems. When he seemed to find nothing wrong, he placed one hand on each side of the joint and hooded his eyes slightly, hands glowing green.

I jumped when I felt a sharp pinprick travel through my ankle, but I relaxed when it started feeling better, like it was healing under his touch. It only lasted a few seconds before he pulled away, muttering something to Sasori before leaving the room.

Sasori turned to me grumpily, and said, "You are not to be on your feet until I finish making a brace for your ankle. In the meantime, you are to continue trying to find your source of chakra."

I nodded and tenderly set my foot down, wondering at what the other one had done to make it feel better. It was almost as if it was perfectly healed, though I knew that wasn't the case. It was impossible, right?

However, my inner voice yet again ruined my peaceful world by reminding me of how these people seemed to make the impossible possible. You know what, inner voice? Screw you. Let me be happy in my own little world. At least things make sense there.

I sighed and again closed my eyes, looking for the 'inner power'. The only 'inner power' I had was when I ate a bean burrito and we had to evacuate the living room, me laughing on the couch. Okay, so what, I'm not the most lady-like female ever. I had four brothers, blame them.

Once again, my little thought-probe went to my inner voice, and she snarled at me again, pretty much telling me to 'back the fuck off'. I had a flash of yellow eyes in my mind, and I furrowed my brow. Okay, this was new. Since when did she have a shape? She was just the voice, when did she get eyes?

She remained hidden, and I spent the rest of the time with my eyes closed trying to get her to show herself again. She stubbornly evaded my attempts, and I gave up when I felt someone tap my shoulder impatiently.

"Put this brace on and see if it fits."

I accepted the crude brace from Sasori, acknowledging its remarkable craftsmanship. Obviously, Sasori knew what he doing.

I slipped it around my ankle, lining up the bulge with the joint. I had a brace at home, I just never used it.

It was almost a perfect fit (somehow, the swelling had gone down), except for the sides were a little sharp and dug into my leg. Before I could comment, Sasori took it back, yanking it from my hands and walking back to his desk, muttering.

I stared after him, head tilted slightly to the side, and watched him work, observing how he smoothed the wood down with sandpaper. I had done well in woodshop, but this was a skill unheard of in my world. He was doing in minutes what would take one of our best days. Amazing, really.

He brought it back, and I again lined it up with my ankle, him watching with observant eyes. When he could see no more flaws, he again brought it back to his desk, sanding it down once more before attaching some straps to it, to secure it to my lower leg. Once he was done, I fastened it around my calf muscle, pleased at how it still allowed flexibility.

"You are to wear that whenever you are on your feet. Only remove it when you sleep."

He waited to see my nod of acquiescence, his glare earning a hurried, "Yes, Master Sasori."

"Get up, you're making lunch."

I stood and followed him out the door, trying to plan just what I could cook with the rotten food in the fridge.