Welcome to the next chapter of "Changing Destiny"! Before I get into the Author's Notes, I'd just like to thank Mmyself29 and Sasunarufan101 for their reviews and feedback. You guys are awesome!

I decided that this story will have a pairing; Aoi will end up with Sasori. But don't worry; the romance won't happen for awhile, and when it does, the story will not be totally focused on it.

The Akatsuki are back! The real plot can begin now!

Oh, I don't own Naruto (sadly, lol).

*WARNING: Spoilers on how the Akatsuki die are in this chapter!*

-Chapter Two: Is This a Dream?-

When Aoi came to, she had a killer headache. She brought her hand onto her forehead to check for any damage. Sure enough, she felt a gash on her forehead with blood dripping out of it. She groaned to herself and thought, How embarrassing! I can't believe I fell down the stairs! I must've looked like a total idiot! Opening her eyes, she was shocked to find that she wasn't in the art supply store anymore; she was outside, on a small hill that overlooked a city. Okay, this is weird. I must've hit my head pretty hard, and now I'm in a coma or something. Yeah, that's logical. Because there is no way that I would end up in a city that looks like…

Aoi's eyes widened when she realized what the city reminded her of: Amegakure. She knew that Ame was a fictional place, so she assumed that she was still unconscious. Pretty realistic dream though, she continued to think, looking at her surroundings. She slowly stood up, and decided that she was going to look around.

Picking up her messenger bag that she surprisingly still had, she started to walk down the hill, holding her bleeding forehead. If this is all a dream, why does my forehead still hurt? She shrugged and rolled her eyes; she didn't understand dream logic. Just as she thought this, she felt something in her other hand; she realized that she was still holding the jewel she found at the store. She put it in her bag so she wouldn't lose it and continued walking.

When she got fully into the city and saw various people with Ame forehead-protectors, she knew that her first assumption was correct; she was indeed in Amegakure. She looked around, taking in all the sights and sounds. Aoi was fascinated by this village and, dream or not, she was going to enjoy her time here. She wasn't looking where she was walking, however, and bumped into something or someone. Definitely someone, she thought when she heard a grunt.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" she exclaimed, turning to face the person that she walked into. She did a double take when she recognized this particular person…

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Deidara was not having a good day. His entire arm was still sore from Pein dislocating it the night before, even though Kakuzu fixed it. To add insult to injury, the pierced man had sent him and Sasori to scout around the entire village, looking for the person Pein summoned. The bomber sighed as he thought of how the others just had to look around the base itself. Deidara knew that Pein knew he hated large crowds, but he sent him into the city anyways. For some reason, the leader didn't like him, and the Iwa-nin had no idea why.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he felt someone bump into him. Cursing under his breath, he looked to see who had almost knocked him down. The person was a short, brunette girl, and when she looked up at him, he noticed that her eyes were the same shade of brown. She said something that sounded like an apology, but he couldn't tell; she was speaking a language that was unfamiliar to him. For some reason, she looked at him with recognition, even though the blonde was positive that he never saw her before in his life.

"Deidara-san, Sasori-san," she said, looking at the two with awe. She then proceeded to say something else, but Deidara couldn't understand any of it.

"She has no chakra," said Sasori, elbowing the blonde.

"What, Sasori no Danna?" asked the blonde.

"Like I said, brat, she has no chakra. None at all. And she's not masking it either. It's bizarre," the redhead replied.

"Should we take her back to Pein, un? He said that we should look for someone with unusual chakra," Deidara asked, looking at his partner.

"My gut says we should. She apparently knows us, though we have never met her. If she is not who we're looking for, I could always make her a part of my collection," answered Sasori.

His collection. Deidara shuddered. He hoped, for her sake, that she was who they were looking for.

"Come along, girl," barked Sasori, pointing at the girl, who was just standing next to him the whole time, watching them.

She shrugged her shoulders and said something in her language. Guessing that she couldn't understand them, Deidara grabbed her hand. He immediately dropped it when he felt something wet and sticky. He looked at his own hand and realized it was covered blood. Taking a closer look at the girl, she realized that she had a long cut on her forehead. That can be fixed when we get to the base, he thought. Once again, he grabbed her hand and pulled her arm, trying to convey that she must follow them.

She must have gotten the message because she nodded and followed the blonde. Sasori followed behind them so she wouldn't try to escape. Not that she would; she seemed quite content, even though one of Deidara's hand-mouths was licking the blood off her hand. Either she didn't notice or she didn't care. She's quite different, thought the bomber.

Once they got inside the base, the two Akatsuki took her to Pein's study.

"Pein-sama," said Sasori, slightly bowing his head. "I believe we found someone who could be the person you summoned. She knew our names, even though we never met her before. She has no chakra at all, though, which is strange."

"What is her name?" asked Pein, looking at the girl.

"We don't know; she doesn't speak our language, un," answered Deidara.

"That can be fixed," answered the pierced man. He made a few hand signs, then placed a finger on the girl's mouth. "Girl, what is your name?"

"My name is Aoi Coulter, or as people in your world say it, Coulter Aoi, Pein-sama," answered the girl, who could now speak the same language as everyone in this world.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, tightly gripping Aoi's shoulders. If she was scared, she didn't show it, and Deidara gave her credit for that.

"I know all of the Akatsuki members' names, and more. I know everything about you," said Aoi, smiling. On her teeth were shiny, metal squares with a metal wire running through them.

What are those? They look mechanical, thought Deidara, confused. He looked at Sasori, and then back at Aoi. Is she a human puppet too?

"You will tell me what you know and how you know it," hissed Pein, grabbing the girl and nearly throwing her into his study. He went in after her, closing the door behind him.

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Aoi was surprised when Pein threw her into his study. Her forehead still throbbed painfully, and she was starting to doubt that this was a dream. Something weird was going on, and the brunette was positive that it had something to do with the mysterious jewel.

"Aoi!" barked Pein, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What do you know, and how do you know it?"

What, no honorific? thought Aoi. She didn't say it aloud, though; Pein was even more intimidating in person than in the anime and manga. What she did say was, "I will tell you everything I know, if you answer a question of mine first. How did I get here, Leader-sama? As you probably know, this isn't my world."

Pein nodded. "That seems fair enough. Yesterday, the members of the Akatsuki and I performed a jutsu that would summon someone who knew our futures to us. That person is apparently you."

"Did it have anything to do with this?" Aoi asked, taking the jewel out of her bag.

"Actually, yes," answered the pierced man. "I drew that same pattern on the floor, for the jutsu."

Aoi nodded. "You answered my question, so I will answer yours. I know everything about your organization. Your names, abilities, successes, failures, backstories, favorite foods. I even know your deaths, exactly who killed you, and how."

"Tell me then, if you know so much," demanded Pein.

The brunette nodded. "Sasori dies first; killed by Haruno Sakura of Konoha and Lady Chiyo of Suna. Hidan "dies" next. Yes, I know he's immortal, but he is decapitated and buried alive by Nara Shikamaru of Konoha. He is slowly dying of malnutrition. Next is Kakuzu, who is killed by Hatake Kakashi, also of Konoha. After him comes Deidara, who uses his C0 attack to blow himself up in an attempt to kill Uchiha Sasuke. He fails, because Itachi dies next; killed by Sasuke. After that, uh, you die, Pein-sama. Or should I say…Nagato-sama. You die bringing some of Konoha's dead back to life. Kisame dies next, letting himself get eaten by sharks he summoned instead of revealing information on the Akatsuki to the people who were interrogating him. That's all I know."

This was actually a lie. She knew that Konan dies protecting Nagato's body from Uchiha Madara, who was disguised as Tobi. She didn't want to say this to the leader yet; she didn't want to start a war between Pein and Madara. "However," she continued. "I do know that Tobi is actually Uchiha Madara, who is another leader of the Akatsuki."

"So you know Tobi's true identity, then," stated Pein.

"Yes," answered Aoi. Suddenly, a shooting pain shot through the cut on her forehead. She reflexively brought her hand to the wound.

"I will send you to Kakuzu-san so that will be healed. I must have time to think about this. After you are healed, he will take you to the meeting room. I believe that the others would want to know this information," said Pein.

"Yes, Leader-sama," answered Aoi, her teeth slightly clenched in pain.

"Oh, and one more thing, Aoi-san. Do not mention that Tobi is Madara to the others. Only Konan, Itachi, Zetsu, and I know. I'd like to keep it that way." Pein's voice was friendly, but Aoi heard the hidden threat. She nodded; she didn't want to be killed now that she knew this wasn't a dream.

"Good. Let's go, then." Pein opened his door and led Aoi out. He looked surprised when he saw that Deidara was still standing by the door.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked.

"I thought that I should take her to Kakuzu-san to get her forehead fixed, un. Sasori no Danna left because he got tired of waiting," answered the blonde

"Then take her. I have work to do," said Pein, pushing the brunette towards the bomber. She almost fell into him, but grabbed his shoulder to stop herself.

The blonde flinched, and Aoi was surprised. She didn't think she was that strong. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No, you just startled me, un," answered Deidara. Aoi didn't believe him. Something was up with the bomber, though she didn't know what. He seemed…jumpier than usual. "All right," he continued, "let's go to Kakuzu-san's infirmary."

The two walked in silence until Deidara asked, "What are those things on your teeth?"

"You mean my braces?" asked Aoi. She realized that ninja probably didn't go to the dentist, and mentally chuckled at the thought of the Akatsuki in a dentist's waiting room. "Braces make your teeth straighter. They really hurt sometimes though, especially when the wires get tightened and new brackets get put on and…" she stopped when she realized she was rambling. She really didn't talk to people very much, so she tended to say a lot when she did. "Sorry," she continued. "I bet I sounded stupid."

"No," answered Deidara. "Actually, what you said was kind of fascinating. What kind of world do you live in, un?"

Aoi explained her world to the bomber. She only left out that he and the rest of the Akatsuki were supposed to be fictional; she didn't think that he could handle that yet.

"So in your world, girls dress like guys, un?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, surprised. She looked at her clothes, which consisted of a blue t-shirt, navy blue zippered jacket, and dark blue jeans. "Actually, an outfit like this can be common on girls." She didn't say that at her school, most girls wore skirts and blouses. "Guys' outfits are baggier than this."

"Oh," answered the Iwa-nin. "In this world, girls usually wear a dress of some sort, with leggings or shorts."

She nodded, thinking of Sakura's and Ino's outfits. I should probably get new clothes so I don't look like a freak here.

"You don't look that freaky, un," Deidara joked.

"I said that outloud?" Aoi asked, embarrassed.

He nodded, and her face started to turn red.

"Not to be creepy here, but how old are you, un?" he asked, tilting his head.

"I'm seventeen," she answered.

"Really? I'd never guess," he replied. "You look so much younger, un."

Aoi sighed. "I know. I haven't grown any taller in four years. I've looked exactly the same from when I was thirteen. I even still have the braces."

"Like Sasori no Danna, un," he muttered, half to himself.

"What?" asked Aoi.

"He hasn't changed his appearance either," he explained.

"But he's a puppet; he's not supposed to look older," she retorted.

"How…did you know that?" the blonde asked, surprised.

"Like I said to Pein-sama, I know everything about all of you."

"Really, so that time I grabbed your hand, you didn't care that I had mouths on mine?" he asked.

"Nope, doesn't bother me a bit," she replied. "I'm used to being an outcast; I don't find people who are different from me weird. That'd just make me a hypocrite."

"So you know about my past in Iwa, un?" Deidara asked.

"Actually, your past is one of the few I don't know. All I know is that you blew up some people and then became a bomber-for-hire."

"Oh," replied the blonde. If Aoi didn't know any better, she'd think he was…relieved. But she dismissed this as being her reading too much into it.

"Well, we're at the infirmary. I have to go now; Kakuzu-san will show you where to go from here, un," said Deidara.

Aoi nodded. "Thank you, Deidara-san."

"For walking you to the infirmary?" he asked.

"Well, yes," replied the brunette, "but also for talking to me. Not many people do. I thank you for that."

With that, she knocked on the door. An extremely tall, stitched man opened it. "Ah, Pein-sama said you'd come. Something about a forehead injury?"

Aoi nodded, and walked inside. She turned around and saw Deidara wave to her, the mouth on his palm grinning. She smiled and waved back. Maybe being trapped in this world won't be that bad, she thought.

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And that ends Chapter Two! It might have been boring, but Aoi needed to prove that she indeed knew about the Akatsuki before Pein even remotely trusted her.

I do know that Deidara has a backstory, but I am altering it for the sake of the story. (Think of this fic as being slightly AU with an alternate timeline).

Also, Deidara will not be paired with Aoi. I just needed for her to make a friend, and Deidara seemed to be the obvious choice because he is the closest in age to her, and seems to be the most talkative Akatsuki member besides Tobi and Hidan.

Chapter Three is coming soon!