Longer chappie this time. Yay. Be appreciative. I'm up at a quarter passed midnight finishing this and I'm still avoiding my essay.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Three days left… She had to finish testing them before school resumed. Besides, if she just started acting perfect for no reason, they wouldn't trust her. Then again, she doubted they would either way. It was starting to become painfully obvious (to some) that she was planning something, but what it was, she'd make sure that they'd never know.

'Well then, what shall we do next?'

'How should I know? I'm letting you run this show.'

'Oh, that's so sweet. Well then, how about we launch a final attack? Let's show them how powerful we can really be.'

'You're insane.'

'So you've noticed.'

'I like it.'

'And I'm flattered. Well then, if you let me do this and we merge our thoughts today, I'll let you run the rest of your life.'

'Really?'

'Just promise to let me have my fun when we're fighting.'

'Deal.' Autumn could see her other half smirking inside of her mind. This might've been a bad idea, but they were running out of time, and drastic times called for drastic measures.

'So what's the plan?'

'Simple. We stage an all out attack and take the punishment later.'

'So I get hurt?'

'Hon, you know you would.'

'True… I guess the scars'll heal anyway.'

'That's the spirit, now gear up and let's go!' As if it was fate, just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Com-" Sasori entered. "… In. Rude much?" He threw a senbon at her head and watched as she dodged.

"You're going to train with me." She raised an eyebrow,

"Was that a request?"

"No, shoujo, that was a command. Come." He held the door open and motioned for her to go.

'…'

'What?'

'Why do I bother listening to you?'

'I don't know, why?'

'I'm trying to figure that out…' Autumn felt her body move forward as Sasori forced her out the door. For once, she didn't mind. It just meant less work for her.

"Oi," She called over to Sasori as she started to walk down the stairs "You're not going to try and murder me this time, are you?" Her body froze as he held her in place. Sasori came from behind her and turned her head so that she was facing him.

"I will do as I like with you. If you die, then all the more benefit for me."

'I'd take that as a yes.'

"Wouldn't that be- Ah!" He slapped her and allowed her body to fall down the stairs.

"Child abuser!!!" She cried out.

'If I get hurt falling down the stairs, what makes you think that I'm going to make it through whatever they do to me?'

'I never said I did. Sorry, but for that part, you're on your own.'

'A lot of help you are.'

"Get up." Sasori demanded, looking down at her.

"And if I'd rather stay here on the floor where's it's almost impossible for me to get hurt?" She immediately ate her words when a blade came out of Sasori's sandal. He swung his foot back to kick her, but she got up and jumped out of the way before he could do anything more to injure her.

"Basement or outside?" She asked, nervous. Sasori smirked, now that was more like it.

"Outside. Walk." She ran.

'A bit eager to die?'

'Do me a favor, and don't talk to me while we're doing this. Whenever we talk, I start blanking out.'

'Can do! I'll just watch.' Autumn walked outside to a random field. Since there was no one for miles around and the Akatsuki had a barrier up, it was perfectly safe to train outside for once. Sasori came out moments later, followed by Deidara, Kisame, Konan, Hidan, and Kakuzu.

"Please tell me they're going to watch!" Hidan smiled and shook his head.

"Payback time, bitch."

"I haven't done anything to you!" He pointed to his foot and his pants.

"Oh… Those were accidents. And why are Deidara and Kakuzu after me too?" Deidara looked at his mouth on his hand.

"We haven't trained with you that often, un."

"Plus, Konan promised to pay us if we did." Autumn started to back away, but soon stopped as Sasori held her still with his chakra threads and she felt Kakuzu hold her down.

"This isn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair," Konan spoke for the first time.

"So I think it's time for you to realize that and get over it." Kisame added. Not wanting to die a painful death at the hands of these weirdoes, she did what any other kid would do… Scream for their parents.

"Pein, Itachi!!!!" Luckily for her, they're ninjas. They heard her and came running.

"What?" Pein didn't seem all that concerned.

"A little help… please?"

"I see nothing wrong here." Way to go, Dad.

"This isn't fair! Sasori dragged me out here and suddenly everyone else comes out of nowhere trying to kill me! I'm not even armed!" Sasori raised an eyebrow,

"And what do you call those poisoned senbon that you have hidden in your mouth?"

"A last resort." Pein sighed,

"Sasori, Kakuzu, release her." They did as they were told, and Itachi walked over and handed her a katana. As soon as he did, Pein gave them the order to resume and she was tied up again.

"Wait, you're not serious…"

"You may begin," he stated.

Immediately, she was drowned in a sea of paper while several clay bugs began to crawl up her arms and legs. Autumn struggled but to no avail… She needed… air… Doing as she had been taught to, she retracted her chakra into her body before releasing it in a huge wave, causing her attackers to back off temporarily.

Autumn fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"You all… fail… at life…" Pein glared at her, but she didn't seem to notice. She picked up the katana and stood up. Before she could think of a strategy, she was attacked from behind. It was Tobi.

"Oh come on! You weren't part of this either!"

"Tobi wanted to train too…"

"Tobi is a good boy, un!" (don't think any one expected that one.)

"Shut it!" Autumn yelled, infusing the blade with her chakra. Out of nowhere, Hidan came running at her. She rolled to the side, and she was caught in Sasori's trap. Hundreds of kunai started to fly at her from every direction. She managed to block some with the katana, but the rest embedded themselves deep inside her flesh. In less than five minutes, she fell. When the storm of kunai ceased, nothing could be seen except for a backwards porcupine, huddled in the middle of the field. Itachi took a step forward to see if she was hurt, but retreated when the kunai in her body somehow repealed and flew in all directions.

Autumn took some time and struggled to stand. Her head came up, the sharingan swirling furiously in her eyes. She grabbed the katana and just stood there. No one moved. Then, before they could blink, Autumn, half under the control of Akiko, disappeared.

"Where'd she go, un?"

"Right behind you." Everyone turned just in time to see Aki shove her katana through Deidara's stomach. Konan split herself into sheets of paper and flew at her in a blinding white cloud as Kakuzu attempted to stab blindly with his threads, and Kisame ran in to the middle and swung at the spot where Autumn should've been standing. Meanwhile, Sasori caught the kunai that had been flying toward his heart from behind. Summoning several puppets, he turned and sent them all after the girl. Kisame noticed this and hurried to land an attack on his real target. Tobi helped Itachi carry Deidara into the house, and Pein started to get agitated.

Every focused their attack on the real Autumn and could feel it when they finally hit their mark. When the dust cleared, Autumn had been stabbed through both her stomach and what should've been her heart by Sasori's puppets, Konan flew around her, causing paper cuts every time she batted an eyelash. Kisame had successfully shaved the whole right side of her body with Samhada, Hidan had his scythe positioned at her throat, and Kakuzu had managed to run his threads through her body at every other angle. She was a bloody mess. She dropped the katana, and struggled to lift her arm, still being cut constantly by Konan, to push away the blade of Hidan's scythe. Autumn's arm started to heal and the blood stopped flowing, but anyone could see, her eyes were empty. Suddenly, Sasori yelled out and relinquished his control of his puppets as he fell back, severely burned. Autumn would've fallen forward because of the puppet's weight as their blades were still embedded in her body, but she was forced in place by Kakuzu's threads after he had impaled her. Using her good arm, Autumn made the necessary hand seals to do a fire jutsu, once again, setting Konan on fire. As expected, the paper retreated.

Itachi came back out and stared at Autumn's current predicament. As soon as he made a move to help, Pein held him back. Seconds later, Hidan's limbs began to fly in every direction as Autumn used her chakra as blades, slicing him to bits, and freeing herself from Kakuzu's threads. Loosing all support, she fell to her knees. Sasori, seeing a final chance, reconnected his chakra strings to his puppets and ripped their blades from the girl's body. Instead of dying like most would've, she glared directly at him.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"No, you're the one who shouldn't have done anything." Konan said, reassembling herself, pissed. Autumn sighed; this was going to be harder than expected. She had four able-bodied enemies to fight, and she was starting to itch to kill.

"Enough." Pein intervened. No one listened. Sasori was posed to strike, as was Kisame. Konan drew a kunai, and Kakuzu just wanted to get paid.

"Burn…" Barely a whisper, but her sharingan complied and created the black flames of Amaterasu, which engulfed her remaining foes and mistakenly surrounded Pein and Itachi.

'Am I going to get in trouble for this?' Autumn asked Akiko who had full control of her body at this point.

'Probably, but it won't be your fault if it helps any.'

'I feel so much better.'

"Call if off!" Pein commanded as the ring of fire started to close in only to be somewhat subdued by Itachi's own Amaterasu. Pein escaped the circle of flame and approached Autumn. She shot six senbon at his throat, but Itachi stopped them as he passed through, subduing the remaining flames.

'I'm dead.' She thought, looking up at a not-so-happy Pein as he towered over her.

"I will give you one chance to explain your actions."

'Please don't mess this up!'

"Rot in hell you murdering bastard."

'You did not just say that!!!!'

'Good luck~!' Akiko's essence retreated back into the far corners of Autumn's mind, but it was to late to defend herself. Pein grabbed hold of her hair and dragged her toward the house. The whole entire field seemed to be in flame, but Autumn had no control over it. She struggled against Pein's iron grip on her hair, but to no avail. He led her into the house and then into the basement where he threw her into the ground. She watched in horror as he picked up a whip from a nearby weapon rack.

"Stay still."

"What are you doing?" He looked the whip over and cracked it a few times,

"Disobeying my orders. 5 lashes." She backed away until she was against the wall.

"A second attempt at my life. 15 lashes." Behind him, the door opened. It was Itachi, there to tell him that he had finished extinguishing the flames. Pein did not turn to him.

"Final insult, 2 lashes."

"Attempted murder of the whole Akatsuki." She interrupted him,

"They tried to kill me first! They always do! They just don't like me, that one isn't my fault, it was self defense!" His gaze upon her turned almost completely hostile.

"Very well then. You will be excused from that crime." That helped, but very little.

"22 lashes total. Anything else in your defense?"

'Yes!'

'No.'

"It was Akiko."

"And she is you, am I correct?"

"… Hai."

"For your sake, you will learn to control your alter ego." He took a step toward her.

"Please, don't do this…"

"No 'gomenasi, Otou-sama' this time?" He mocked.

"Will it help?"

"No." She bit her lip as Itachi descended the stairs. She didn't want him to see this…

"Turn around." Pein commanded. She didn't move.

"Turn around, shoujo." By now, others had heard the commotion and decided to check it out. Kakuzu descended the stairs, Hidan's head in tow.

"Kakuzu, restrain her." He gladly complied. He sent his threads and tied her against the wall.

"D-don't do this…" She couldn't help but cry. It wasn't her fault!"

"Kabuto, stand by." Well that was surprising. Kabuto descended the stairs and joined the party. Pein ran his hand over the whip and infused it with just enough chakra to keep the wounds open for a while.

"Bastards! I will kill you all!" Akiko screamed, lured to the surface. Pein cracked the whip once and then began.

Autumn was in her temporary room, being treated for her wounds by Kabuto.

"Quite a bit of trouble you've gotten yourself into in my absence." She didn't respond. Itachi sat in a corner, watching his every move.

"If you had just come back with me when you had the chance, you would've been treated like a princess, just like you deserved." Still no response. Autumn was too busy with her own thoughts.

'What is wrong with you!?!'

'What?'

'After that smart comment of yours, he kept adding lashes!'

'What's your point? I should be the one yelling at you!'

'You? Yelling at me? Ha! I'm the one with the scars.'

'Yes, but I'm the one who felt the pain.'

'Boo hoo. The spoiled little brat got a booboo.'

'You should be thanking me!'

'Thanking you! I should mentally strangle you! This is your fault!'

'Oh stop it. And Kabuto's right, we should've gone with him. I wanted to.'

'Not your decision to make. Never was, never will be.'

'You're so mean! I'm not talking to you anymore!'

'Thank you, there is a god.' And then all was quiet. Autumn gave a somewhat contented sigh as she felt her other half retreat back into the depths of her mind.

"Have a fight, did you?" Kabuto inquired.

"That's none of your business." As Autumn came back to reality for the first time in three hours, she was met with the stinging pain in her back from her earlier punishment. She cringed and grinded her teeth, trying to hold back tears. How could someone as fragile as Akiko stand something like this? Itachi, not aware of her mental status and her switching personalities, was under the impression that Kabuto had done something to her. He pulled out a kunai, but Autumn's voice stopped him,

"Nii-san… What happened?" Momentarily, Itachi forgot about Kabuto and hurried to her side.

"You were barely conscious." Kabuto answered, earning a glare from Itachi. "Good thing I was here."

"Why are you here, anyway?" Autumn murmured.

"You brought me here yesterday. Everyone found me this morning, laying on the couch."

"I don't remember falling asleep..." Itachi played with a few loose strands of her hair,

"You did, I was watching. It wasn't for very long, though." Autumn blew her hair out of her face, and tried to sit up, but the pain in her back increased.

"Ah!" She cried out. Kabuto held her down until she agreed to be still so he could finish.

"Autumn, you're not helping yourself. Don't move." She was more than happy to comply. Autumn lied there, perfectly still, not wanting to go through any more pain than was already necessary.

"Things have changed a lot in our world since you were there last." Kabuto started a new conversation.

"Oh?" She didn't really care, but anything to take her mind off of the pain.

For two hours, Autumn and Kabuto conversed, occasionally graced by the small input from the Uchiha in the room. In that amount of time, Autumn was calm, and by the end of that period, Kabuto had finished bandaging her wounds. She felt better than ever. She even actually thanked him! But after two hours, that was when Pein came in, looking for Itachi. Autumn and Kabuto had been in the middle of a heated conversation on pouring salt in a wound, but were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Co-!" Pein opened the door. "-me in… Why do I even bother?" Pein's gaze switched to her after a few seconds, causing her to duck under a blanket, not wanting him to look upon her in such a state.

"Itachi." He got in hint. Itachi patted Autumn's head beneath the blanket and left the room, Pein following in suit. Kabuto laughed,

"My, you seem to be so tame now!" She hit him.

"One more comment, and I'll be sure to slit your throat." Kabuto chuckled at her remark. What happened to that wild little girl I met last year?"

"She died."

"Oh? When was her funeral?"

"She didn't have one. No one noticed that she had gone."

"How unfortunate."

"Yes it is, now are you just going to sit there all night?"

"Yep. Someone's going to have to watch over you."

"Whatever. I need to sleep. Hopefully, everyone'll be gone when I wake up."

"Have fun."

"Die."

"Goodnight to you too." He turned off the lights and listened as her breathing calmed until it was slow and even. She was up to something. He knew it. Itachi knew it. But what? That, no one knew. He guessed that he'd just have to watch her for a while, after all, he had all the time in the world.

Kabuto watched as Autumn rolled over in her sleep a few times. Her wounds had healed because of her body's constant emittance of chakra increased while she slept. For once sleep really was the answer, instead of just being a useless piece of advice. Who knew what she could really do: He was so intrigued with the possibilities. He guessed that he'd have to test her, starting the next day. Until then, he wasn't planning on leaving so he'd just have to tie himself to that world… His mission began at dawn.

Yes, I brought Kabuto back! Why? Just because I like him for some really odd reason. Trust me, even I don't know. Aw well. While you're getting some 'R&R' don't forget to R&R my story.