Kiri had been waiting for Kakuzu to move for almost an hour now. In the meantime, she'd managed to squirm and yell for help and get absolutely nowhere in the process. She was beginning to panic.

Okay so worst-case scenario is he isn't talking to Kisame and he finishes meditating and he kills me. Or would worst-case scenario be that he did talk to Kisame, and that sharky bastard tells him to kill me? Either way, worst-case scenario, I die. Best case scenario, Kisame tells him not to hurt me and I find him. At least… that's what I want, right?

She was beginning to wonder if seeing Kisame after all these years was even a good idea anymore.

"I can't even reach my hidden kunai," she muttered in frustration.

The man in front of her began to stir and Kiri anxiously held her breath. Kakuzu's eyes pinned her to the wall as he stood. He hmphed and reached for the bingo book that was open to her page.

"Hoshigaki is going to have to set up a payment plan for how much he's costing me."

Kiri's eyes widened in shock. Was she really safe? Had Kisame vouched for her freedom? The man she hadn't trained with, let alone seen, in years had saved her life again? Kakuzu glanced over to her surprised face.

"Don't get too excited, Same. Hoshigaki only said he'd deal with you later. You're not getting special treatment."

Kiri's heart dropped. There was no reason for Kakuzu to paraphrase or twist Kisame's words. Her former sensei had said he'd deal with her later. He had grown callous, she should have known. Kisame's playful smirk had now morphed in her mind to the sadistic grin he wore when shredding his targets. Kiri couldn't imagine that look being purposefully aimed at her. She wouldn't, she couldn't believe it.

"Unfortunately for him, I don't feel like carting you all the way over to him, so you'll just have to stay here until we return," Kakuzu drawled as his threads wrapped around Kiri's body, pinning her legs and arms together. She struggled momentarily as the bonds became tighter.

"I wouldn't move a lot if I were you. My Earth Release heart will tighten its hold on you the more you move. You won't be able to fight it. Since you're a Mist-nin, you won't be able to overpower the earth-nature chakra in this heart," Kakuzu explained as he reached down to pick up the cocooned bundle that Kiri had become. "We'll be back in a few days, try to stay alive long enough for Hoshigaki to see that I didn't purposefully try to kill you." Kakuzu tossed her into one of the small questioning rooms. Kiri bounced and rolled across the floor before slamming into the wall and landing face flat on the ground with a grunt. She heard the door slam and lock (no doubt with a seal only Kakuzu could break), and as she tried to adjust herself so that she wasn't lying face down, the threads around her tightened quickly.

Well shit.


The next day

Kakuzu approached Itachi and Kisame outside the small town on the border of the Land of Fire. Itachi looked at the two curiously as Kakuzu explained to Kisame that "the package" was waiting for him back in Tanzaku. The shark-nin wasn't particularly happy to hear this — he knew Kiri wasn't one for patiently waiting, and that Kakuzu wasn't one to go through more trouble than necessary (time is money as he would always say). He could only assume that Kiri was unconscious or restrained somehow.

As the three began their trek to search out this Hidan, Kisame began to wonder what would happen when he saw Kiri. She definitely wouldn't be in the best mood after Kakuzu freed her from his restraints. Aside from that, what was her purpose on searching him out? The shark-nin mindlessly followed the other two Akatsuki.

Was she hunting him to kill him? Or searching for him to be reunited with her?

Either way, she could die if she finds out about Akatsuki. Leader won't let her live if she doesn't pledge her loyalty.

Kisame grimaced and his stomach sank at the thought of being forced to kill his former subordinate should she choose to oppose Akatsuki's mission. Kiri had always been opinionated about the topic of loyalty. She'd lived through three of the biggest betrayals the Mist had ever seen.

First her mother selling secrets, Zabuza's coup, and then… me.

Kisame shook his head. Thinking about what would happen wouldn't change the results. He'd have to push her out of his mind until his return to Tanzaku. He'd deal with the consequences then.


Kiri had lost track hours ago of how long it had been. She'd tried meditating, but the threads didn't like that her chakra stores were growing so they'd squeezed until Kiri had lost concentration. She's tried counting things in the room, but it was far too dark in the closet to even see the tiles a few feet away from her. Finally she'd attempted to sleep, but as soon as she dozed off her dreams of fighting Kisame to the death had begun and she'd awoken thrashing about with shortness of breath because of the threads tightening around her.

Kiri grimaced as she tried breathing deeply and slowly. Kakuzu surely doesn't expect me to be alive when he returns. But I have to survive. I have to…


Kisame and Itachi had watched Kakuzu battle the young immortal. Once Hidan had been recruited, the four set out for Tanzaku. It had been two days since Kisame had first been told by Kakuzu that Kiri was in his custody. It was another day or so before they would arrive at Tanzaku. He already couldn't handle the incessant bickering of the Zombie Combo, and Itachi's silence was still irritating as hell.

"I don't care that you're my fucking 'partner,' if you insult Lord Jashin again, I will fucking kill you!" Hidan shouted.

Kisame could practically hear Kakuzu's eyes rolling.

The punk just lost to Kakuzu a few hours ago, what makes him think he can defeat Kakuzu again?

Kisame strode ahead. He'd be damned if he let two bickering zombies stop him from seeing Kiri again.

Where's this determination coming from? Not two days ago, I was eager to put her from my mind anytime she crawled back in. Get it together, Kisame.

He growled and huffed as he forced himself to slow down his long stride to match Kakuzu's. He found himself frowning and furrowing his eyebrows.

Five years and she still gets to me… But I can't let her. If she's even a hint of a threat to Akatsuki, Madara will end her.


Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'd love to hear all of your thoughts so far. This weekend has been lucky and full of inspiration for this story. Seeing how many of you are following and still keeping up warms my heart! Please keep up with the reviews! :)

Thanks for the support!

~Kiri-chan