"We should arrive at our destination within the afternoon." Saya twitched slightly at the Uchiha's words. They had sped through the rest of their journey, and it had only been two whole days since her little infomercial to the two men. She could hardly believe how quickly, and silently it had went by. The war in her mind was deteriorating her from the inside out, and she was content with just simply following the mercenaries footsteps rather than pestering Hoshigake.

She was tired, constantly drunk or hung-over, and languid in all of her limbs. Of course, she didn't let an ounce of this show, or at least, she tried not to let it. She still had some pride left in her carcass, and she sure as hell wasn't gonna let these men see her fall from grace. Regardless of her state of mind, she could still feel the Uchiha's gaze that would settle on her every so often, and Hoshigake's glares that would penetrate her form in her sleep. She paused.

Penetrate? Yeah, there was a better word she could use in place of that, and one that wouldn't make it sound like she was being sexually assaulted.

Just the night before, as she was just about to doze off against the trunk of a dying tree, she felt a harsh glare centered at her back, and it sent chills down her spine. She instantly knew it was Hoshigake. For some, very confusing reason, she got the notion that the man hated her.

Or at least, he hated her guts.

She smirked.

Or maybe it was just the fact that she had bested him three times now, and with the help of his own partner in their latest round. Yeah, that could be a possibility.

But soon they would arrive at this so called base, and she would have to face her most-likely demise. Then again, their leader did want her alive; but when she would refuse to comply, she was sure she would be murdered. So that's what left her off where she was: Would she agree to whatever it was Akatsuki wanted, or would she refuse them, like her past self would have?

Because if she was right, and she was very sure she was, Akatsuki wanted her for her known trait. And like she said before, she wasn't some awesome superpower, demon, or major character in anyone's story: She was simply good at what she did. And while what she did was quite the…unique maneuver, it was still something just about anyone could do. The only catch was that for just anyone to do it, they had to first learn and remember it. And that was what most didn't have the chance to achieve.

She sighed.

So yes, technically she could be considered 'valuable'. As she thought this, she unconsciously brought her hands up and made quotation gestures with a sour face, little did she know a certain Uchiha was watching her little charade out of the corner of one bloody red eye.

What pish-posh. She wasn't special, not at all.

If she was, she would have been able to handle her past, and maybe things would have worked out differently. She would have been able to handle the situation she was given, and she would have been able to wriggle her way past her obstacles and into the light of glory.

Sighing animatedly, she sagged her shoulders and let out a big huff.

What a crock of bull.

'Glory'? Yeah, fat chance of her getting any piece of that. There is no glory for drunks and beggars, only half-dreamed dreams and wishes to ponder, and wonder the endless abyss of what could have been, but never will be. And let's face it, Saya was one hell of a drunk.

"What's bothering you?" The Uchiha's voice brought Saya out of her musings suddenly, as if blowing a heavy fog right out of the air. She looked forward and saw that he had not turned to watch her, but rather kept his face forward and walked on without pause.

"I was…Thinking." She finished lamely.

"Tch. I'm surprised." Kisame grumbled. She raised a brow, as if to ask why. "I didn't see any smoke coming out of your ears." Well, there was definitely smoke puffing out now. Saya balled her fists and gave the blue man a forced cheeky grin.

"Huh? What's that? I think I hear a mosquito, buzzing somewhere in the distance." She cocked her head to the side and cupped her ear. "Buzz. Buzz. Buzz." She pursed her lips and made a face.

"More like the voice of reason." Kisame retorted.

"The voice of reason? Please." Saya wagged her finger. "If the voice of reason had a voice like yours, the world would be thrust into chaos. No one with a sane mind would listen to something like you." A deep growl began to form in the back of Kisame's throat. It was guttural, and ready to snarl some sort of clever comeback at Saya, but Itachi intervened with a soft cough.

"Thinking?" Saya almost guffawed at the priceless rage on Kisame's face, and at the soft bridging the Uchiha created to change the topic. But the blue man never challenged his younger partner, and Saya realized that either Kisame respected the young man, or he really liked him.

"Yes," She chuckled, "I was thinking."

"About?" Saya sighed.

"A lot of things. Mostly on how I was going to avoid your leaders wrath when I refuse him what he presumably wants." She itched her nose with her knuckles. The skin around her nostrils was dry, and really needed some sort of moisturizer. A bird screamed hoarsly, gliding along the wind above them, and swooping down into a hoard of bushes.

Kisame was about to ask her just what it was that he wanted, but caught himself. If he asked, then it would be acknowledging that they themselves didn't know specifics. And knowing the woman's arrogant attitude, she would probably make fun of him for being out of the loop. If he was going to get anything out of her, then he'd have to try and play it off like he already knew.

"Oh? And just why do you think he wants, hm?" He threw her a knowing grin and raised a brow. Watching for the bird to resurface, Saya distractedly answered.

"Like I'd tell you. You know that I know that you don't know why he wants me, and I'm not going to entertain your attempt to play it cool, Hoshigake." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hey, you're from Konoha, aren't ya Uchiha?" Itachi didn't reply. He had no wish to pursue the topic of his home village, lest of all with this woman. Still, Saya took it as a confirmation, and continued. "Didn't that place get attacked by a bijuu not too long ago? I heard from the villagers a couple of years ago that it fucked up Konoha pretty bad." He still didn't answer. "I came across a bijuu once. She was woman, and when I met her I was supposed to take her into custody. She had been missing for a while, and her village thought she had become a rogue shinobI. Turned out she just stopped along the way home to visit some friend of hers." Shaking her head, she noticed the bird was still submerged. "Anyway, when I confronted her, she did the strangest thing. Instead of defending herself or attacking, she…asked me to join her for tea." Saya started chuckling inside of her palm. "I was so taken aback, I almost fell. She had a tea set and everything…" Sighing at the fond memory, Saya wrapped her arms around the back of her head and decided to turn her attention towards the sky.

"Custody? What were you, some sort of anbu or something?" Saya glared back at Kisame.

"Is that seriously the only thing you got out of all that?" She harped, shooting him an annoyed look.

"Yeah, 'cause the rest of what you said was trash. Just about anything that comes outta your mouth is." Saya bristled, and was about to spit shoot a nice, gooey piece of phlegm at him, until she saw the bird launch itself into the sky. She hadn't gotten a good look at it before, and that was why she was watching out for it. She ran ahead of the two men and shielded her eyes from the suns rays as she gazed at it gliding through the air. It had plum purple feathers, with a patch of lilac on the back if its head. And while it looked more like a hunter, rather than a song bird, its voice was as light and had a bright tune to it. She grinned up at it and jumped into a nearby tree, temporarily forgetting her escorts.

She really wanted to get a closer look at it, because if it was the bird she thought it was…

She didn't use chakra to climb the tree, she had too little to spare of that; instead, she hopped from limb to limb on a brief surge of adrenaline, almost loosing her balance twice due to her slight drunken state. The tree was very large, one of the bigger tree's that made up the dense foliage around them, and by the time she got to the top, she was worried that maybe the bird would be out of sight. But as she popped up from the leaves, she instantly caught the birds movement just above her as it descended onto a tree across from her. It perched on a bare branch and ruffled its wings. A large gold eye peered at her before focusing on something on the ground.

Yes! Her grin widened as she excitedly watched it prim itself before taking off again. Her grin softened as she watched it soar, and suddenly, she felt a tear stroll down her cheek. She quickly rubbed it away, before catching the last glimpse of the falcon before it disappeared entirely.

Ginza. That was the birds name, or at least, it used to be.

"Hey, Sayuri-dono!"

"Yo." Saya approached a young man, probably just touching his early teenage years. His mousy brown hair was messy, and stuck up in all directions, almost like he had forgotten to brush it. The boy himself was mostly plain: His eyes were a muddy brown, and his skin was speckled with dirt almost all the time. At the moment, he was struggling with what looked like some sort of giant rat to Saya, and the smile on his face with his current position made her smile back fondly.

"Whatcha up to, Jin?" The boy, Jin, frowned a little as he tried to position himself to face the girl he'd known his whole life.

"Sayuri-dono, you know you shouldn't talk like a mere commoner." The bird squawked, annoyed with the boy's grip, and tried to peck at his hands. The boy swiftly avoided them, however, and he quickly restrained the animal. Saya scratched her head and raised a brow.

"I didn't know we could have giant rodents as pets in the manor." She asked, stopping beside the boy. The boy chuckled and stroked the feathers, calming it instantly down. The plumage was a bit dirty, probably from the recent rain storm, and it seemed like the left wing was damaged.

"It's not a rodent, Sayuri-dono. It's a hawk."

"And what're ya gonna do with it?"

"Well," He paused, a gleaming look in his eye, just like all the other times when he got excited about something. "I'm hoping I can heal his wing, and set him free." Saya cupped her chin and gave the thing a bored glare.

"How troublesome. You should be concentrating on training, not playing with rats." As if insulted, the bird sent Saya a menacing glare and screeched, flapping its wings.

"I promise, Sayuri-dono, it won't get in the way of my studies." He gave her a solemn look, and it couldn't help but make her laugh. He looked at her questioningly. "…Sayuri-dono?"

"Ora, ora, ora. I thought I told you before. Don't call me so formally. It makes me feel like an old woman or something!"

She heard a rustle in the leaves as a strong breeze brushed by.

The memories were so rugged now, it hardly stung her heart. But if the bird was near, then that also meant her ex-village was very close.

She sighed and shrugged. It wasn't her problem, not anymore. Why was she so worried? She settled her ties long ago, and he wouldn't go out of his way and make trouble for himself by messing with her. He and his lackeys-.

Saya's eyes opened a fraction wider.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

How could she have forgotten the chakra, never mind that annoying voice?

Her mind flew. There were two chakra signatures, and if she was right, and she knew she was, the other brat was with her. But why had they'd been so far away from home? And why was it that she hadn't realized this before?

Saya was completely confused (As I know all of you guys are. But don't worry, all will be explained soon). They couldn't have anything to do with her, after all, their master was the one who forced her to leave the village. It was probably just coincidence that they were in the area. Then again, the last time she left things to coincidence, she ended up in a hell hole of trouble. But even if they had been after her, she could handle herself against the two brats, regardless of how 'powerful' they had become or how much they had honed their skills.

She was good at running away, after all.

But how would that play out with Akatsuki? Or better yet, how could she use her situation to her advantage?

"Oi, Onna! Hurry up, we don't have all day!" Kisame's voice called her away from her daunting thoughts, silencing the murmurs in her mind.

"Yeah, yeah, Fish-Face. I'm coming!" She yelled. She pranced off of her branch and landed as softly as she could next to the two men. Itachi looked as monotone as ever, but Kisame's eye had been twitching slightly from impatience.

" 'Bout time you hauled your carcass down from there. Just what the hell were you doing?" Saya dusted herself of with a pat as she straightened herself out. Then, she gave him a grin.

"I was trying to get away from the stench of low tide, and breathe a breath of fresh air, Mr. Grumpy Gills." Kisame glared at the woman, but decided to say nothing. It was killing him to ignore her jibe, but he had concluded something…

"Yeah, you just keep up the jokes. I'm not gonna stoop down to your level by acknowledging them." He retorted. Saya chuckled but otherwise remained silent as they picked up their walk again. Her thoughts were clouded by 'If's' and 'Why's'. There were so many possibilities laid before her, so many different roads she could decide to travel. But which one? She used to fight for justice, but now what did she live for? She had been a vagabond for many years now, and besides saving the occasional kitty from a tree, she hadn't really committed herself to any heroics.

Although her past self wouldn't have approved, she had blatantly ignored major crimes, after all, they were just too troublesome. She simply didn't want to get involved in too much work, regardless of how wrong the bad guy was, and so she had repented through small deeds. But now what?

What was she going to do now? The Akatsuki was a criminal group, completely and utterly ruthless. Suddenly, someone's voice entered her mind as she pondered this.

And she grinned, teeth wickedly shining as she realized how simple the answer was. This was most definitely her chance. Karma, however fake it was, was finally giving her a shot at revenge. But it wasn't just revenge she was after: She could actually….

"Oi, hot-rods." Itachi and Kisame ignored her beckon as they calmly strolled before her. Her grin widened at her reckless choice. To hell with plans, to hell with reason: Half her life was already gone (She was bound to die at a young age, especially when factoring in the amount of liquor she consumed) so why not make the most of what was left, ne? "How well does Akatsuki pay?"


"Yo! Saya!" Saya looked back towards the manor, the oceans spray blowing at her from behind. An older Jin jogged down the sand and stopped just before her, huffing slightly. Then, looking up, he smiled.

Thanks for the cool reviews, and I'm sorry this took so long to get up. I've just been doing other things. Regardless, I've already started on the next chapter, and it'll be a doosey.