Oh look at that, because I love you all so much you get three updates today. And my chapter is 2000 words because of all the lovely explanations that are revealed in this one. Maybe we'll get lucky and Shidonii will have another chapter for us soonish? Anyway, enjoy! P.s. I'm glad I can make you feel special Shadow :D

~Sasori's POV~

I stared again at the picture on my phone. I thought for sure she had been over this. I sighed, sending a text back to Deidara telling him to take care of her, and put my head down on my desk. I fought back my urge to rush to her side. I was still furious, she had claimed she would wait for me, and I waited for her to come back, and yet she dated someone else? On the other hand though, with her gone I suppose we weren't really together at that point, so it wasn't like she cheated on me, was it? I sat up in my chair as my phone went off. I glanced at the screen noting that it was Deidara calling me. I hit the ignore, shoving my phone into the desk drawer. I walked over to my bed and grabbed the framed picture I had of Aki and I that sat on my nightstand. It was from only a few nights ago when we went ice skating. My arm was wrapped around her shoulders and she was huddled into my side, a smile on her face and her cheeks red from the cold. I knew I loved her, and I thought she loved me. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized she never really expressed her feelings toward me without me saying I love you first. Now I had a decision to make, I could walk away from her and not look back, or I could go back and ask her myself how she really felt and accept the answer either way.

~Deidara's POV~

I scowled at my phone as my call was ignored. What the hell was he thinking? I glanced at my sister sitting on the floor, still groggy from the medicine. "I'm going to go let Kai in un. I'll be gone for two minutes, move and I'll take you straight to Tsunade yeah." I threatened before walking out the door and down the stairs. I opened the front door and Kai burst through, tackling me. "Dei-Dei!" he screamed. I laughed as I hugged my long time friend. I glanced him over and noticed he was taller than the last time I had seen him. He was lean with a mess of dark brown hair that hung over his eyes and the back reached to the middle of his neck. What stood out though were the same piercing green eyes I remembered growing up.

"It's been a while un." I said, grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah it has. Where's Aki?"

"Still always thinking about girls. This one's my sister and taken you know yeah." I laughed.

"Please. She's been like a little sister to me, nothing more." he replied. I laughed again and led him upstairs to Aki's room. "Shorty!" He yelled, seeing her. He ran in and tackled her into a hug much like he had me. I watched as Aki's eyes widened in fear and I mentally cursed myself, forgetting the state she was still in around guys other than Sasori, Sasuke and I. I quickly pulled Kai off of her and positioned myself between the two in an attempt to calm her shivering. Twilight ran between the two of us and growled at Kai. He tilted his head in confusion and gaped at Aki and Twilight. "What on earth did I do?"

"My room is across the hall, we need to talk yeah." I told him, motioning him out of the room. I turned back to Aki and put my hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't give that any thought. Are you okay un?" She nodded her head, clinging to my shirt. I took her by the shoulders and made her face me. "I'm going to go explain this whole situation to him un. You know you're in no danger from him, but if you still feel uncomfortable I understand yeah. Just stay here with Twilight."

"Alright. Sorry Dei." she mumbled, wrapping her arms around the dogs neck. I ruffled her hair before getting up and walking across the hall to my room. Kai was standing at my desk holding the picture of his sister.

"You still miss her?" he asked.

"Every day un. Though thanks to Shidonii it's gotten easier yeah. Or was anyway."

"What the hell has been going on here? Aki looks like she's a mess." he said, concern lacing his voice.

"We all are yeah. But first I need you to fill in the blanks for me un. What happened to Aki while she wasn't here?" The question had been burning in my mind for months, and I was thankful that now I would finally get my answers.

"Well, I'll try to clear up what I can, though I don't know all the details myself. When Aki first started our school, everyone stayed pretty clear of her. Her scars were seen on the first day and rumors spread like wildfire. I was the only one that talked to her, you know me, always have to talk to the new girls." He said, chuckling. "When I first started talking to her at lunch I noticed she had your picture with her, and when I asked her about it she explained to me the situation with her family, with your family, and why she left. Honestly I was pretty impressed that she had the guts to want to change herself, she reminded me a lot of you, so I was determined to help her. For the first few months that went great. She made some new friends, was pretty outgoing, and was soon pretty popular among a few students. It wasn't long before she was joking and laughing with all of us. She was funny and cute, and that drew Pein's attention. He saw right through to her weaknesses and went straight for her. He played the good guy, carrying her books for her to class, brought her coffee and a muffin in the mornings, made himself seem like the model boyfriend. I tried to warn her what he was really like, but she refused to believe me. She played right into his games and instead of working through her insecurities fully she leaned on him for support. About a month later, they drugged her, and marked her as part of the Anbu. When she found out what was going on she gave them hell. Cursing them out and insisting that since she didn't take it willingly she wasn't a part of them. There was only one problem with that, Pein started to actually care for her."

"What? There's no way yeah. Pein caring for someone? That guy has no heart un." I said, astounded. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Apparently he has a bit of one. He liked her attitude and pretty soon her in general, though liking someone for him is having her more as a pet than a girlfriend. He managed to calm her down by promising to show her how to be stronger. Which was the one good thing he did for her, he taught her to fight. Which is why I don't understand why she's in the shape she's in. Deidara, your sister single handily took out a rival gang that tried to move in. Pein taught her well in marital arts, the girl is ruthless and dangerous. Who managed to blind her eye?"

"Hidan...She was protecting her real brother, Sasuke." I said, shocked at the news. Aki, dangerous? It just didn't seem possible.

"Hidan?" Kai asked, the shock clear in his voice. "She must have taken a hit on purpose. Hidan is scared shitless of her. She's beat the crap out of him on multiple occasions just for calling her a cunt or a bitch. Anyway, to wrap things up, Pein promised to help her get revenge on Sasuke, so you'll have to explain to me how she came to protect him as well. He set up the perfect opportunity for her for arson, and she took it on his promise that Konan would offer her an alibi. Of course Konan had other plans since she despised Aki for taking Pein's attention. She went back on her alibi and Aki was arrested. Itachi and Pein bailed her out, but Aki lost all trust in Pein thinking it was his doing and left. When I spoke with her before she left she confided in me that she never had true feelings for him. She felt at first she might, but when she saw more and more what kind of guy he was, she wanted an escape. But Pein was furious, not because he lost a girl he liked but because.."

"He lost his property. She was the first one to defy him un." I finished the sentence for him, everything becoming clear. So that's why Pein was after her. I had to remember to talk to Sasori about all of this.

"Right. So now you tell me how Aki came to be this mess that just freaked out when I touched her." I quickly recapped everything that had happened the past few months. Kai listened intently, nodding where needed and asking questions along the way. "Wow," he said when I finally finished, "something really must have been going through that girls head before this Neji guy came after her. For her to lose it like that and not fight back..."

"It could be the fact that Gaara just kept walking yeah. I think she felt betrayed and kind of lost un." He nodded, looking deep in thought.

"Well, as long as I stay a good distance she'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah, though I have to warn you she may not talk at all when you're in the room un. If she does it'll be very little."

"We'll see about that! No girl can resist this!" he said, standing up and striking a pose. We both turned as we heard a burst of laughter from the doorway and saw Aki bent over, laughing. "Well, laughing is a start." he said, shooting me a grin.

The next day was spent discussing Aki's and mine plan for Kai, which he quickly agreed to. Whether to actually help us out or wanting to rise to the challenge of seducing a girl I wasn't sure, but whatever it took to get Shidonii safely home with us. Aki remained mostly quiet, offering only small responses here or there, but she seemed comfortable once more with Kai around. Twilight on the other hand stayed under Aki's feet at all times and made it an effort to growl at Kai when he felt he came too close. He only smiled at the animal, making jokes about how good of a guard dog he was. Around dinner time we got ready to go find Shidonii and put our plan into action. I handed Aki her coat and grabbed her arm, flipping it over to expose her wrist. I unwrapped the ace bandage to make sure there were no new cuts before wrapping it back up tightly and releasing her arm.

"Are you going to check that every day?" she asked.

"Yes, now empty your pockets yeah." She sighed but did as I asked and I quickly confiscated the pocket knife. She glared at me.

"What if I need that? We're going to confront three dangerous gang members and you take away my knife?" I smirked as I pocketed it.

"From what Kai tells me, you won't need it to defend yourself un." She scoffed at me before following us out the door. We located the diner just as Shidonii and the others were coming out. Aki and I made our way behind a telephone pole to watch Kai. Everything seemed to go as planned as he leaned against the building next to Shidonii, a smile on his face. What I didn't have planned was Hidan's reaction to Kai.