Chapter 12

I sprinted down the hallway, my heart pounding a mile a minute. This is when it all really starts. I have to save them! I almost crashed into Hidan as he stumbled sleepily out of his room. Down another hallway and the door I was looking for was in sight.

"Pe- Leader- sama!" I burst through the door breathing heavily from my sprint. His purple eyes narrowed at my unannounced entrance. Konan looked at me with surprise as I stepped into the dark room. Seriously, how could they see anything in here? "Leader-sama, you have to call back Sasori and Deidara, now!"

"Why?" Pein asked.

"Why? Because they're gonna get killed! That's why!" I exclaimed gripping the edge of Pein's desk.

"They know the risks of the mission." He replied calmly, unphased by my grim declaration.

"But-" I started but turned sharply as the door to the office closed, covering everything in black.

"And tell me," a dark deep eloquent voice said, "How exactly are Sasori and senpai going to die?" I inhaled sharply, seeing the glow of one blood red eye in the gloom, I knew exactly who it was.

"W-well…" my voice was shaking. "Deidara will survive this time. He just loses both arms. Sasori though…"

"Do we collect the One-tail?" Pein asked. I sighed heavily. "Yes."

"Then their mission will be a success. Sasori knew the risks when he joined, he will accept his death with-"

"There has to be a way to prevent his death in the first place! Isn't that one of the reasons you decided to keep me around?" I slammed both my palms on the top of the desk.

"In all honesty, I expected Hidan to dispatch you fairly quickly. I have only allowed you to remain here because I keep to my word. Your information will be useful but I do not intend on attempting to change anything by making rash decisions." Replied Pein, still completely calm, though the slightest edge of annoyance was starting to slip into his tone.

"Besides," added Madara, "Their deaths will happen sooner or later to coincide with my plans. I will not delay the fruition of my goal to avoid the loss of a few minor pawns."

"Minor pawns? Is that all they are to you?" I growled. "And how can you be okay with that?" I shot the last part at Pein and Konan.

"The loss of the few is worth the price for the peace of the many." Answered Pein. I felt my eye begin to twitch with anger.

"Then change your plans." I turned back to Madara. "Sasori will survive his fight. Even if I have to intervene myself." I stormed from the office, pushing Madara aside and slamming the door behind me.

I grumbled a colorful variety of curses under my breath as I sped through the hallways.

"And I thought Hidan had a filthy mouth." Said a deep familiar voice from behind me. I spun to see Kakuzu leaning against the wall.

"You." I glared daggers at him. The masked man blinked. "We were up on that roof all night and it never occurred to you to tell me you people were starting to hunt for the tailed beasts again?!" I yelled. Hidan, Kisame, Itachi and Tobi poked their heads out of the kitchen door. Zetsu phased up through the floor.

"And just what were you two doing up on the roof last night?" Kisame asked slyly with a smirk.

"Ooooo, Jen-chan and Kakuzu-senpai were naughty last night." Tobi sang in his annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"I fucking called it." Hidan added, a piece of french toast dripping with syrup hanging from his mouth.

"You never called anything, Hidan. Yeah, your pansy ass was too busy sulking in a corner." Zetsu countered.

"Get your minds out of the gutter guys. We only talked." I replied crossing my arms over my chest, my cheeks starting to flush.

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked flatly. "Yes." I growled. "Hn." Itachi returned to the kitchen.

"If you say so." Kisame laughed following his partner.

"Fuck you, guys!" I yelled and ran down the hallway. I don't have time for this.

I found a travel size atlas with maps of each of the elemental nations in the library. There were notes marking the locations of each of the major hidden villages and major landmarks. Well that's convenient. I stuffed the atlas and several scrolls and tomes I had been studying into a bag. Kakuzu stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, blocking my way out of the library.

"Why are you so worried about those two?" he asked. I stared at my feet.

"Back home, I just accepted it as the way the writer want the story to run. And I was fine with it. But now…" I took a deep breath, my eyes starting to burn. "Now that I've been able to meet you guys. Live with you. Get to know you all, I don't want to lose you. I know how everything is going to go down, so I can figure out the best way to counter it. You guys are the closest I've had to a family in a long time." Kakuzu nodded and stepped aside. "Good luck."

I nodded and slipped into the hallway. "Oh." I stopped and turned back to him.

"After you guys catch the two-tails, please. Please, just come straight back, no side trips. Please." Kakuzu rolled his beautiful red and green eyes and waved a hand.

Before leaving, I snuck into the kitchen and filled up the rest of the bag with food. There was so much, that no one would miss what I had taken.

"And where do you thinkyou're going, girly?" voices said behind me. Shit! I spun around to see Zetsu phasing up through the black and white tiled floor. I took a step back as he fully emerged, only to find my back pressed against the wall.

"Are you going after them? There's no point. You don't even know where they are."

I looked away from the bi-colored plant man. He took a step closer to me. An idea popped in to my head. It was risky, but this would get me there so much faster than the original plan I had been formulating since I left Pein's office.

"But you do." I said looking up into Zetsu's yellow eyes.

"What?" the white side rose his eyebrow.

"But you do know where they are. Or at least where they will be. You can take me there and I can save Sasori."

"And what makes you think that we would do that?" I smiled evilly and crossed my arms over my chest.

"If you don't then I'll tell everyone here about your pink daisy tighty whities and that it was you who ate all Itachi's dango."

"You wouldn't dare."

"But that was Deidara!" Both halves spoke in unison. I merely smirked. "So do we have a deal?" I held out my hand to shake his. He stood there for a few moments, quietly conversing with himself.

"We could just eat her."

"That's gonna be one hell of a case of heartburn and indigestion then." I said. "Acidic blood, remember? I'm sure you heard about it." Zetsu grumbled frowning deeply.

"C'mon Zetsu-san, I don't have all day." I tapped my foot. I spotted Kisame pass by the kitchen door.

"Oh, Kisame-san!" I called out catching his attention and waving at him. "Hey guess what!"

"Okay!"

"Alright!" Again both sides spoke, well yelled, in unison. In a single fluid motion, Zetsu grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me down into the floor. The last thing I saw was Kisame staring at us stunned as we disappeared.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by darkness. The earth was pressing down around me from all sides. I couldn't tell which way was up. The only thing I could feel was the strong arm I was hanging on to for dear life. My lungs ached, I couldn't breathe. Finally, we breached and I fell flat on the ground panting heavily. I felt like I had just been released from a bone crushing bear hug.

"Oh, thank god." I sighed pressing my hand against my chest. After a few more deep breaths I sat up and looked around. We, or rather I, was in a large grassy field, similar to the one I had turned up in just before meeting Deidara and Sasori.

"Zetsu?" I called out hesitantly. No answer. "Zetsu, you there?" Again no answer. That ass ditched me! "Damn it Zetsu!"

"Shut up." Zetsu phased out through the grass beside me. "The cave is a day's walk from here to the west. We assume you know what it looks like, Ms. Know-it-all."

"What? A day's walk? Why couldn't you just drop me off inside?" Zetsu's white half smirked. "'Cause we didn't feel like it. See you later." Zetsu disappeared into the ground.

"No! Dammit, Zetsu you asshole! Get back here!" I screamed and beat the ground where he was a moment ago. "Shit. Okay, west. So that would be…" I have a terrible sense of direction. How the hell am I supposed to know which way is west? I looked up to the sun. It sets in the west, right? So I'll just follow whichever way its setting. Unfortunately, it was directly above me, so it was around noon. That's not really helping. I could wait for it to start to set but that would be precious time wasted. But if I head in the wrong direction that would be even more wasted time.

"Psst." A white hand poked out of the ground and pointed to my left.

"Oh. Thanks, Zet!" I smiled and hurried off into the woods and towards the cave.

Another chapter down another, another case of writer's black conquered. I'm trying to get as much written as possible before school starts because once classes startwho knows when I'll be able to write next. Hope you enjoyed and reviews are super appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.