Tora went into every room except the living room, that room was taboo to her. It would take a certain amount of courage to go in there. Tora stood in the entrance of the room, afraid to even look in. She was sure that the walls and floors were stained with blood. Tora took a deep breath and stepped in the room. It felt weird, coming back into the room which changed her life completely. She went over to the part where the hidden compartment was. The outline of where her family's bodies were was marked onto the floor with the matching blood stains. She walked around the markings and stood over the compartment. So many nightmares she had over the years, and it never changed. Tora climbed in the compartment and sat there, things started to play out as if it was that night years ago. She saw her sister crying and clinging onto her mother while Tora sat quietly in the far corner. She saw everything play out in her imagination again.

Tora's eyes went wide as she felt a spike of foreign chakra nearby. She quickly stood up and took a kunai out of her pouch to defend herself. She walked carefully around the first floor, making sure there weren't any intruders in the building. Once she secured the first floor, she felt another spike of chakra making her return to the living room. She looked out one of the windows and saw that no one was there. She knew she wasn't being paranoid, someone was out there and they were looking for her.

Tora felt another spike behind her. This place isn't safe anymore. Tora quickly left the house and looked around, she couldn't find anyone so she released some chakra around her body and on the surrounding area. She couldn't sense anybody so she wearily left the estate, convinced that someone was there.

She decided to go back to the Land of Rivers and visit one of the villages there. She put her kunai away and quickly left the country of Amegakure. She was back in the Land of Rivers in a day in a half, taking no rests or stops to eat. She would only take out an apple to munch on but that was it and her adrenaline was serving for energy at the moment. The bluenette was afraid if Orochimaru had sent out another spy to eliminate her and she had heard that he had powerful ninja's under his wing and without her powers being completely under control, there could be severe consequences.

XxxxxX

All of the Akatsuki scattered throughout the forest, searching for the missing bluenette. Pein and Konan scouted out south; Hidan and Kakuzu, west; Zetsu and Tobi, east; and Sasori and Deidara, north. Kisame and Itachi stayed at the base just in case. Everyone else had a small radio attached around there neck and an earpiece that allowed them to hear the others transmissions.

No luck so far. Pein thought. The radio was silent, telling him no one had found her yet.

"Can someone remind me why the hell are we looking for her, un?" Deidara said over the radio.

"She is a vital part of the Akatsuki and we cannot let her escape, she knows too much." Pein responded.

"I know you're pissed at her Deidara-kun and so am I, but we have to find her." Konan said.

A sigh could be heard over the radio, presumably Deidara's, "Whatever, hmm."

The radio fell silent once more and the Akatsuki continued to search. The ginger and bluenette flew through the trees and incredible speed. Pein focused on one side and Konan on another. Konan suddenly stopped but Pein paid no attention and kept on looking.

"Pein!" He heard Konan scream from behind.

The ginger stopped and turned quickly to go back to where Konan was. He dropped from the tree branches onto the floor right next to Konan. Her eyes were fixated on something and she didn't look away.

"What are you looking at?" Pein asked, trying to find where her eyes were.

Konan raised a slender finger to point at one of the trees. Pein followed her finger and saw what the bluenette was fixated on.

Oh shit…

"Everyone go 5 miles south of the base and find Konan and I. Be quick." Pein reported.

"Hai, Leader-sama." All of the Akatsuki replied.

Konan and Pein got closer to the tree and stared at it. In no time at all, all of the Akatsuki was behind Pein and Konan. All of them saw the tree and stood motionless and quiet until Pein gave orders. All of them didn't give a fuck if the Susamajii had left. They didn't really care for her anymore…

They all stared at the carved kanji on the tree bark and the hanging Akatsuki cloak on the branch. Pein's hands became fists and the clenched together in anger. No longer able to hold it in, he punched the tree leaving a huge hole in the trunk. Miraculously, the tree held its ground but the carving was no longer visible. The ginger ripped down the Akatsuki cloak and the ring came flying out and fell on the floor.

"So the bitch high tailed it, huh?" Hidan snickered, breaking the silence.

"Good riddance, un." Deidara said.

"Damn Blondie, I thought I didn't fucking expect to hear those words come out of your mouth." Hidan commented.

"She was going to eventually leave anyways. The sooner the better, un." Deidara replied, ignoring the nickname. Konan turned and glared at the terrorist.

"I guess blondie has a fucking stick up his ass."

"Quiet!" Pein's voice roared over the others, all of them shutting up and giving him their full attention.

"Go and get her. We cannot lose her. Deidara and Sasori, use Deidara's birds to go up and search from above."

"Hai." They both replied, Deidara quickly made 2 clay birds and took flight in search for the bluenette that he loathed.

"The rest of you search on the ground. Don't stop until you find her."

"Hai." The rest of the Akatsuki members spread out in different directions. Pein informed Itachi and Kisame of their new orders over the radio.

After they were all gone, Konan went to pick up the ring.

"Let's go, Pein." Konan said, tucking the ring in her pocket.

Pein nodded and jumped onto a tree branch and started going forward with Konan right behind him.

XxxxxX

Tora was an hour away from Tanigakure. She had grown suspicions that someone was following her, she could sense a faint chakra source half a mile behind her. She picked up her pace a bit more, she wasn't even sure that her body could give anymore. She suddenly sensed something flying towards her from behind. Tora quickly dodged, from what seemed like a couple of shuriken and turned to see her attacker. More shuriken flew towards her and she dodged them all, but not seeing her attacker was a great disadvantage so she needed a different landscape. He or she was probably hiding within the trees so she needed to lead him or her to an open space. Tora remembered that there was a large field not so far from her location. Tora headed there and constantly dodged kunai knives and shuriken. She jumped out of the trees and landed in the middle of the field.

The Susamajii quickly took her stance and looked at her surroundings. It was steady and quiet, almost peaceful. But she knew that she shouldn't let her guard down. A minute passed and still nothing. She was beginning to think it was all in her head but there is no way those shuriken were a figment of her imagination. She waited in her stance for a few more moments until a shady figure appeared in front of her with a fist ready to make contact with her face. She quickly crouched and swept her leg to attempt to make the figure fall. Unfortunately, the figure jumped and landed quite a few feet behind her. Tora turned to face the figure and saw it was a man. He had short black hair with tan skin, his eyes were coal black and he was extremely muscular and built. Tora could tell that he meant business since he had blood lust practically written all over him. She took her stance once more and stared at the man in the eye, challenging him to take the first move. The man in front of her was HUGE and she was sure that one blow would knock her out.

"Your dead bitch!" He roared at her and charged eagerly at her with a look of insanity on his features.

He would throw various punches at the bluenette and she would dodge them all. Tora would try to counteract with kicks and punches of her own but taijutsu wasn't her strong point. Tora jumped back to get some distance between the two and made her hand signs quickly.

"Doton: Arijigoku no Jutsu!" (Earth Style: Antlion)

A huge hole appeared in the middle of the field as was sucking everything around it in, creating a huge pit. The unknown man was caught in the suction but held his ground. He's strong. Tora put more chakra into the jutsu to increase the suction. The man had difficulties to not be sucked in but he started pulling himself out. Tora's eyes widened as the man pulled himself out of the pit and stood in front of it. Tora canceled the jutsu and prepared for another one. I have to resort to fighting long to mid-range. If he gets any closer I'm done for. Tora formed more hand signs while the man composed himself.

"Doton: Dosekiryū." (Earth Style: Earth Dragon)

A dragon emerged from the ground made of earth and mud and attacked the man while his guard was still down. The man raised his fist and pondered the dragon's head, destroying the jutsu completely. Tora stood there wide eyed. None of her jutsus were working against this man. In her state of shock, he appeared in front of her and landed a punch in her gut, raising her from the floor and shooting her up in the sky. He then jumped up to join her in her ascent and kicked her back down to the ground. The bluenette's body came in contact with the ground and left a huge crater behind her. Rivers of blood flew down her chin, staining her clothes. Tora lay motionless on the ground, trying to force herself up but her body denying her to do so. The unknown male returned to the ground and stood over her motionless body. He took a kunai out and a sick grin was plastered over his features. A twisted look in his eyes told Tora that this guy was completely insane. He was about to strike her when an earth spike rose from the ground and grazed his arm, cutting him deeply. He winced in pain when another spike rose from the ground, he dodged it but more and more were popping out of the ground, forcing him to retreat a couple of feet.

"That's impossible! You didn't make any hand signs!" He yelled at her, frustrated at not being able to sate is blood thirst.

Tora forced her body to stand up and take her stance again. "I don't need hand signs to kill you." Tora said.

He was enraged to some odd reason and charged at her once more. Tora quickly extended her leg, as if she was kicking someone, and a burst of fire came out. The fire was fierce and it headed straight to the huge man. He barely dodged it but it singed half of his leg. He had at least a 3rd degree burns on his leg so that would slow him down greatly. Tora lowered her foot, stopping the wild flames. She took her original stance and waited for her opponent to strike. At this point, he felt no pain whatsoever so he started to form hand signs of his own.

"Rairyū no Tatsumaki!" (Ninja Art: Thunder Dragon Tornado)

The sky started to turn a deep gray and the roar of lightning could be heard. A lightning bolt shot from the sky and fell over the man. His body glowed a bright blue and then the lightning retreated and formed a dragon shape. The dragon roared at the bluenette and disappeared; it reappeared above Tora and moved at amazing speed. Tora crossed her arms and separated them letting a great force of air run against the dragon and destroying it. While Tora was distracted by destroying the dragon, the killer took that opportunity to fill his fist with chakra and strike her across the face. Tora flew back into the forest, going through tree trunks and slid through the rough earth. Tora ended up 1 mile away from her opponent. She had a broken nose, broken ribs, a black eye and probably some other wounds she just couldn't feel at this point. Plus, her muscles were starting to contract. Oh hell no, not yet.

Tora stood once more, but with more difficulty. At his rate, she was finished if she received another blow with such potential. She walked back to where her attacker was. This was the same place where they had started.

He let out a laugh full of insanity and madness. "Tough little bitch aren't you?! Why won't you just fall down and die?!" He yelled, his voice leaking with the same emotions.

Tora held her silence and decided not to encourage his insanity. She just stood there looking at him with pity. "Come on you little bitch! Attack! Try to kill me!" He let another insane laughter slip from his lips. Tora smirked at him and raised her pointer and middle finger to make a basic sign. All of a sudden, wire and paper bombs came out of the forest and the ground and wrapped themselves around the insane man. His face went dead serious as he tried to escape from the trap. His intentions were useless since the wire was tied securely around him.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Let me go you whore!" He yelled out.

"You should know something about me," Tora said, a glint of evil shined in her eyes. "Nobody calls me bitch and lives." Tora made the same hand sign once more and she triggered the paper bombs around her opponent's body, causing a massive explosion.

XxxxxX

The explosion could be heard from every part of the forest, startling animals, birds and the humans that inhabited it. Pein and Konan heard the explosion and noticed they were close by.

Konan looked at Pein, asking him if they should see what happened. Pein nodded and the pair headed out to the explosion site.

"Did anyone else her that?" Kisame asked over the radio.

"How could I fucking not?! It practically left me fucking deaf!" Hidan replied.

"Konan and I are going to check it out. We will inform you if you are needed." Pein said.

"Hai." All of them replied.

Pein and Konan reached the site in no time, but remained hidden in between the trees. Nothing was visible since the smoke hasn't cleared. It took a few minutes for the smoke to clear and reveal the ones who were fighting. The first to appear was the Susamajii.

"Tora." Konan whispered. Both of the missing nin's could see the state the Susamajii was in. It caused worry in the origami user; Pein wasn't sure what to feel at this point. Tora was staring into the cloud of smoke, waiting for her opponent to appear.

"Everyone come south from our previous position." Pein informed the other member's through the radio.

"Should we head in?" Konan asked.

"Not yet, we have to see who she's up against." Pein replied.

The smoke finally cleared to reveal a huge crater with nothing in it. The two heard Tora sigh in relief as she fell to her knees, clutching her rib cage. She closed her eyes and raised her head to the skies. Her lips started moving but whatever she was saying was inaudible to the two childhood friends. Out of nowhere another person came out of the ground in front of Tora and punched her right in the chest. Tora flew back into a tree and coughed out even more blood. They guessed that that was her opponent.

"Now." Pein said.

Pein and Konan entered the battle field and stood in front of Tora in a protective manner. Tora looked up and immediately saw the cloaks and already knew who was there. She forced herself up again and stood in between the two.

"This is my battle. You guys don't have to interfere." Tora said. She didn't want them fight her battles. It has been a while since she has entered a battle and she desperately needed one, but she didn't want someone finishing what she started.

"Tora you are in no condition to continue fighting." Pein said. His eyes making contact with their opponent who seemed even more pissed off now.

"Since when did you start caring about me again?"

"…We will talk when we get back to the base." Pein said.

"Who said I was going back?"

"Tora-san, you can't leave. We can't risk our organizations secrecy." Konan stated.

Tora glared at the two Akatsuki members and walked forward, passing both of them. She stared into the coal, insane eyes of her opponent and examined his physical state. His body was covered with 3rd degree burns; it was a miracle this man is even breathing. Just a little push and he is gone. She would encourage herself to finish the battle even though her body was screaming for medical attention. She glared at the man and he glared back with his maniacal eyes. His breathing became labored as he was reaching his limit. Tora took her stance, which she was hoping to be the last time. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She slid her shoes off and let her feet feel the grass, feel the earth. He became impatient with the bluenette and charged at her. Pein and Konan immediately took a defensive stance as he charged at her. The injured man suddenly disappeared within the earth. Pein and Konan retreated to the trees, leaving Tora alone in the field.

What is she doing?! She'll be killed if she stays there! Pein thought but kept his stoic demeanor. He was ready to attack if anything happened to his bluenette. Wait, my bluenette?

The monstrous man appeared behind Tora ready to land a fatal blow but Tora sensed him within the earth so to counteract his attempt the banged her foot against the earth, letting a huge block of rock emerge from the ground and hit the man under his jaw, which sent him flying upwards. When he came falling back down, before he touched the ground Tora swung her foot back so it connect with his neck, dislocating it, causing immediate death. The man was shot over to a tree where his head hit against the trees bark. Tora opened her eyes and saw the man's motionless body. She sighed once more in relief; her knees gave out as she fell onto the floor. Tora chuckled for some odd reason. By this time, all of the Akatsuki members were behind Pein and Konan watching the rest of the battle with a smirk plastered on their faces as they had watched the bulky man get his ass handed to him.

The ginger and origami user jumped off the tree and went over to the bluenette lying on the floor.

"Get up." Pein ordered.

He heard Tora smirk as she sat up and she retorted, "Or what?"

"I'll drag you by your hair back to the base and make Itachi put you in his Tsukuyomi."

Tora quickly stood up and faced her former lover. Pein glared at her and gave her his back, "Let's go."

"I'm not going back, Leader-sama." Tora said.

Pein's eyes widened, she didn't use my name… "You don't have an option."