A/N: Hi guys, sorry for this rather late update. I've been extremely busy typing on a Wolf's Rain fanfic, then my laptop got a virus which was a bitch to get rid of and this past week I've been busy, so I haven't had the chance to catch-up on this story. But don't worry; I haven't given up on it. Thanks for sticking with this story and to the reviews I got to kick me up the arse, haha! Happy reading!

IMPORTANT NOTICE-PLEASE READ (EDITED): Okies, so I KNOW I probably confused you all with that last notice, however, I'm editing it cos I no longer have to worry about updating on this story. I am NOT going on that 3 month course, BUT I am still working on my job. So updates should be around the 2-3 week mark considering the LENGTH of the chapters. I will try to update as soon as I can. I'm also sorry about asking for reviews; I don't like doing it and in a way it puts others off, however, please-PLEASE review, cos I really do need the support since everything else in my life keeps changing and I've been hurt by a few things regarding these changes, so please, any support is more than appreciated, many thanks!

DISCLAIMER(wtf, this should've been done AGES ago!): I do NOT own or make any profit from this story, I only own the plot-bunny and my own characters (those being; Shinko Hoshi, Tadashii Hoshi, Jarl and his sisters, the Kinzoku clan, the Youchi clan and the Gekkou clan). Seriously, if I owned Naruto it would make a heck of a lot more sense. In other words; shinobi at the level of Genin and Chuunin wouldn't be able to kill an S-class criminals *glares at Shikamaru, Sakura and Naruto in the Manga book* and I would also make it shorter, over 500 chapters is fucking ridiculous!

Summary (EDITED): Tadashii Hoshi; a royal Vampire was in debt to Akatsuki. As well as money, he gave them his granddaughter, begging them to take her away for her safety. Now, four years later, Shinko is a subordinate to the criminal organization, but, something isn't right. As the past of her grandfather and her real parentage catch up to her, who can she turn to for help?

Part Twenty-Six: Intrusion

"What are you doing here?" Pein spoke venomously to the intruder in his office.

It was early hours of the next morning, Pein had only recently finished the last bit of paperwork, he felt relieved and had sent Konan to bed a couple of hours before, since he'd promised that they'd go out later today for a meal and just have a chat. It'd been long overdue, but once again, something always managed to prevent things from happening, this time though, he was pissed off and for good reason.

A red eye flashed at him in the dark corner of his office, the silhouette of the man was barely seen, though was only noticeable by the bright orange-swirly mask he was wearing to cover his face.

A cackle filled the room, making Pein ground his teeth together in annoyance, he didn't understand why this man had to bother him now of all times, he was pretty sure that whatever it was could've waited until later that evening.

"What's wrong, my friend? You don't look very happy to see me..." The man's voice was smooth and deep, often the man behind the mask was calculating and deceitful, unforgivable and distrustful, he always gave Pein a reason to be on guard, for the man was always sneaking around; appearing at the worst and most unexpected of times, it often astounded Pein how this man managed to go about the base undetected.

"Of course I'm not happy, Madara, it's the middle of the night and I was just about to retire to my room." Pein snapped, he was exhausted, it'd been a long day full of paperwork, shouting and tears, and now all he wanted to do was go to sleep in his bed and hold Konan to him.

"My-my, you really aren't happy are you?" Another cackle was heard and was only met with silence, for Pein did not say a word, he knew of Madara's short fuse and how angered he could become, as much as he wished to tell the other man to 'piss off' he knew it'd be his head if he did just that.

"Actually, there is a reason for why I have appeared before you. Did you like my little charade?" His voice sounded highly amused-on the verge of laughter and Pein froze; confusion clouded his mind as he found that he couldn't understand what exactly Madara was referring too.

"Charade? What charade?" Pein asked in disbelief, if he was hinting at the charade he was pulling over the entire organization into believing he's a harmless weakling then he'd certainly succeeded, though he couldn't understand why the older and noticeably more powerful male would bring it up. Both himself and Konan knew of his charade for they worked closely with him for years. Though truth be known, Pein was fed-up with Madara's 'disguise' since it meant a lot more unnecessary work for him whilst the older Sharingan-user could go off and laze about in the sun if he so wished it.

A menacing chuckle escaped the other man as he sauntered across the room, stopping before Pein's desk, his gloved hand resting upon a pile of papers; fingering them in what looked to be boredom, though his voice distinctly proved otherwise.

"I'm talking about the one at the ball in Tea country, remember?" His voice threatened on the last word and Pein mentally gulped. He was actually thankful that after years of hard-work in criminal acts and keeping the others in his organization in-check he'd also mastered his face into a calm and often bored expression. It was rather rare for him to show much emotion, despite Konan being the only witness to an array of them he expressed in private-mostly in the confines of his office or his bedroom; the others thought he was indestructible and domineering. If he was told the world would end tomorrow, he wouldn't even batter an eyelid; instead he'd hang his cloak up, destroy any and all evidence of his-or rather Madara's organizations criminal affiliations and then spend the remainder of his time left with his love.

But just lately it seemed that Madara had found a way under his skin, as if he'd figured out which buttons to push to garner a reaction from him and try as he might, he really did struggle to keep his cool in front of this arrogant and cruel man.

He gave a deep nod in recognition, for Madara's question didn't really need an answer, the older man would continue on in his musings whether Pein had remembered or not. He figured age must really be getting to the older man; how old was he anyway?

"Prior to the party our lovely little Dhampir discovered my existence, not that I resisted to show her anyway. It was rather humorous to see the horror on her pretty little face," he snarled, all humour seeming to have been erased immediately in the mere thought and mention of the female half-breed. Pein had been very much aware that Madara didn't like Shinko in his organization, in a way their personalities did clash, whether they both were aware of it or not. But Pein had remained firm in his belief that she'd be an asset to their band of criminals. However, lately Shinko had been the cause of some dire problems, she'd left the base without permission, fought battles unnecessarily, resulting in the base almost being discovered, she'd had a couple of breakdowns and had caused a lot of panic and worry among the members of his organization. It would stand to light that in Madara's point of view Shinko should be 'gotten rid of'.

Was that the reason why Madara had appeared before him?

"Good thing for her she'd backed off entirely and was clever enough not to breathe a word of it to any of the others. She may not know of me personally, but she's aware of my heritage; she knows I have the Sharingan. I'd have expected her to run off to Itachi and demand if he knew, luckily for her she didn't." Madara continued on a growl as his hand fell from the stack of papers to Pein's desk, purposefully tapping his fingers on the hard wood to irritate yet threaten at the same time. He was displeased by something and Pein failed to understand why, if Madara had shown Shinko his Sharingan and she hadn't spoke of the encounter to anyone-including himself or Hidan then there was little to warrant the older man's wrath.

"So I had to take the suspicion off of myself, just in case she did decide to speak of it to anyone, so I devised a cunning plan to pretend that my alter-ego; Tobi is a homosexual with none other than Zetsu." Madara laughed cruelly and Pein felt the colour drain from his face instantly.

How low would Madara stoop as to prove of 'Tobi's' innocence? And what of Zetsu? Pein knew for a fact that the plant-like man was asexual; he was neither attracted to the male nor female sex, which left the only possible conclusion that Madara had forced Zetsu to comply with him. Pein felt very sick, of course there was nothing wrong with homosexuality-not in his opinion, it just sickened him that Madara would actually force someone of the same sex and one that isn't even appealing to the eye into pretending to be sexually interested in him just to save face.

"Of course both Hidan and Shinko noticed, though it wasn't long before they thought of me as harmless once more; just as I'd predicted, you see, with the right tact and plan, everything will go the way you want it too, that is why I have a proposition of my own-actually, it's an order. So you'll have no choice but to agree with me on this one." Madara's red eye flashed dangerously at Pein, signalling him of the possible dangers he could be placed in should he choose to object.

Pein's jaw clenched slightly at this, he knew whatever Madara had to say wasn't going to be pleasant or easy to stomach and he had the horrid suspicion that it had something to do with the Dhampir since the older man was so avid in mentioning her a lot in their one-sided conversation. Madara must've noticed this-how he did in the dimly lit office completely baffled the orange-haired leader for he heard the older man smirk loudly.

"You will give permission for Hidan to seek out Tadashii Hoshi for acceptance of his engagement to Shinko, but don't expect them to return. I've heard from a contact of mine that the land there is desolate of most life and is riddled with Werewolves from the 'Gekkou' clan, not to mention those Demon Hunters from the 'Youchi' clan that often travel there to hunt. The only thing that can kill a Vampire is a Werewolf after all, ah, you don't seem to like this idea, tough, need I remind you of who it was that helped you bring this organization to the promising standards that it's at today? Considering all of the recent followers you'd had if it weren't for me, you'd still be running your village, desperately searching for those to do the world justice." Madara snarled, his arm flexed out and slammed the stack of papers that Konan had so meticulously piled together for him flew across the room and onto the floor in disarray. Though the mess was quickly forgotten about as he could feel Madara's chakra radiating from him in anger; threatening Pein to not disobey him.

Although Madara rarely interfered in his running of the organization, there were moments when the older man would appear and demand he do something for him, but usually this something often cost a lot of money or time, both of which they were lacking on at the moment considering the lack of requests coming through. Even so, it pissed off the orange-haired man that Madara would demand him to drop everything just so that he could have his way once again.

Pein schooled his features to become the stoic mask that he had perfected over the years, taking away the frown so that Madara wouldn't be so displeased at his lack of interest and disgust at this plan.

Just what was the old man scheming now?

"I believe a little test is in order for the young lovebirds. If they wish to be together forever," the red eye rolled in irritation at this but continued "then it's only fair that they prove their worth. I mean, c'mon, Hidan isn't exactly worth it is he? And Shinko, sure she's a good fighter, but she's so moody. They can easily be replaced."

Pein stood up, a subtle challenge to Madara. Of course Pein may not be as powerful as Madara, but who said power was needed to win a fight? The older man was going senile, Pein was certain of it, the crazy, old man would no doubt slip-up in his moment of madness and Pein would succeed with his intellect and patience. The one thing Madara didn't have is patience. It was even over-played on 'Tobi's' character.

"Hidan and Shinko may have faults and their abilities may not be as effective as yours or Konan's, but they certainly have potential and have so far proven me wrong by judging them negatively in the past. They work well together and have done nothing to warrant this scheme on them; you're hiding something and you're determined for Shinko and Hidan to be the ones to discover this secret." Pein glared at Madara, forgetting momentarily of whom exactly he was talking too and that he'd allowed some form of emotion show upon his usually expressionless face.

Madara's red eye narrowed on him, though his other hand waved his statement off casually, as he replied in mock interest "Be that as it may, you and I both know that it is unwise to allow two members to marry within the organization, just the same as having contact with a marital partner outside of this organization is equally forbidden. Being lovers isn't all that bad, is it?"

Pein's anger flared, Madara was deliberately pointing out the obvious and throwing it in his face that he and Konan had never thought to marry since they believed it would jeopardize their goal. Besides, they had no right to happiness after all the misery they'd caused in order to heal the world. Yet the older man found it rather hilarious.

Madara cackled once more, seeming to be unfazed at Pein's rush of anger and that he was gripping the edge of his desk almost painfully, though turned away, keeping his back to Pein as he slowly stepped towards the door, he stated "You will do as I say, believe me, it'll be worthwhile in the end, you should have faith in your comrades," the older man snorted at his comment "if you believe I am being unfair, then send Kakuzu along, he too can be replaced."

Madara's faint cackle could still be heard ringing through his ears, even after the older man had left the office-or rather the base completely. Pein deflated instantly, his grip loosening on the desk to find it rather dented with cracks due to his in-human strength; he let out a shaky sigh once again taking his seat in the chair. All thoughts of sleep dispersing before him. There was no way he'd be able to sleep now. He brought his hands up to his face, and sighed heavily once more.

Just how was he going to tell Konan of this?

/*\*/*\

A whimper cut across the chilled silence.

It was the middle of the night and on the other side of the base that a lone figure sat huddled in the corner of a room similar to a lounge with four very different and distinct doors running on from the same room into other territory. The shaking form of a female facing the wall in the darkness with shining blue eyes that were leaking tears continued to rock herself back-and-forth hardly aware of the small whimpers that left her throat.

She'd been sat here for half an hour already and if anything; she hadn't calmed down.

Her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, keeping herself from falling backwards onto the floor, her long white hair hung around her like a veil, successfully hiding her face from any who dared to come near her and ask why she was crying.

Of course no one would. She wasn't expecting nor wanted sympathy, she was tired and although she wouldn't admit it; she was frightened. Not for herself; oh no, she could hardly care about herself in the midst of what she'd learned. Instead of going to her soon-to-be fiancé and confide in him as she should, she found her body locked in place-refusing to go to him, just in case he'd recently bled within his room.

She hated it when he self-harmed himself; especially on missions. Usually, she was able to control herself around the scent of his or anyone else's blood, but when she hungered or was provoked she became...someone else. She didn't like this someone else but knew that if it weren't for this other person then she wouldn't be sat here as she was now...crying to herself like a pathetic weakling.

But it weren't her choice to come out into the living area and cry; she just had to leave her room. It was as if the walls were enclosing around her and out here, she felt that she could breathe, which was very strange considering she'd never been claustrophobic in her entire life!

She didn't bother to wipe the tears that flowed down her now rather puffy-red cheeks, there was no need, no would come and find her, no one would notice anything different about her except for the minor facts that she was shaking, whimpering and sat in the corner rocking herself back-and-forth, back-and-forth...as if she were mad.

Perhaps she was?

Insanity was easy to attain, being in the same line of work as she is and knowing what she is and what she could easily inflict on others if she didn't keep herself inline was more than enough to push her limits. But this...this was just messed-up.

Crying, showing emotion, a monster sat whimpering in the corner in fright all alone; how ironic. What right did she have to cry? She had lost that right after she'd killed so many innocents for her own selfish needs. She's a cruel, cold and violent monster that deserves to be locked away rather than allowed to carry on in the world free and thirsting for blood-despite her best intentions.

She sniffed a few times, feeling some snot trickling from her nose and roughly with naturally enhanced speed she wiped her nose clean upon the sleeve of her shirt that she'd worn to bed. She thought nothing of the damp stain it left behind, for now her airways were free if only for a short while.

She hadn't needed enhanced hearing for her ears to catch onto the sounds of footsteps, they were light and well-practised, they belonged to someone who had learned etiquette. She knew who they belonged too, even so, she made no effort to move, to wipe away the tears and pretend everything was beautiful like the sunshine-when it clearly wasn't nor did she even acknowledge the presence of the other.

The footsteps stopped behind her and then silence...

She didn't need to turn around to know that the other hadn't left; she knew the other was stood there merely watching her probably in mild interest and disgust.

"You and I both know that you don't belong here, so let's cut to it-shall we? Do you honestly think you're worth anything here? Do you seriously believe that Hidan loves you? C'mon! Even he admitted it himself that he only hooked up with women just for sex!" A dark, cynical laugh followed after the statement, causing the woman to grind her teeth together in anger as she saw red and sprung round upon her hands and knees-ready to pounce on the other, tears still running down her cheeks, though she paid little heed as she came face-to-face with...nothing.

There was no one there...

Looking about herself avidly, successfully glancing around the furniture and the room with her night-vision to find nothing out of place, all four doors remained shut and nothing looked touched or moved.

Had she really conjured up such a voice?

"I'd watch your back if I were you." The voice from directly next to her right ear, as if someone had leant in to threaten her on a low growl, the sudden sound causing her breath to hitch as she could've sworn she'd felt the warm breath of a human upon her skin. Her body shook in fury and fright at whatever this being was that could move faster than her eyes and in the dark as well. She snapped her head round and once again found nothing. The air seemed to shift and become light and the woman allowed her guard to drop. A choked sob escaped her throat as she turned away from the room to face the wall once more, this time bringing her hands up to her head to grip almost painfully at the white strands, her sobs becoming an octave higher.

She remembered distinctly who the voice belonged too and it sent a shiver tickle down her spine at the realisation, it was obvious his words had been unsympathetic and chosen carefully to garner a reaction. Worse of all, it'd done the trick, though had only served to make her feel more panic. Her nerves were jumpy and the fright still hadn't completely left her system.

The man or whoever the man was beneath that orange swirly mask had visited her, threatening her subtly and toying with her as she often would with her prey except now the tables had turned. What made her feel worse was knowing that she couldn't tell anyone about him. She had an inkling that Pein must know who he really was or at least what he was capable of and that he had the Sharingan. The others didn't seem to have a clue and she daren't ask Itachi, for one thing they'd rarely spoken to each other and she had no right to shove her nose into others' family affairs.

What could he possibly gain by taunting her?

In the midst of her thoughts she'd briefly heard the grunts and curses of none other than her love from within his bedroom-no doubt he'd just awoken. He must've heard her whimpering and in a futile effort to stem this sudden madness, she quieted down as best as she could, though small whimpers still escaped her. She heard the springs of his bed move under his weight as he left the bed. Upon hearing his footsteps, the woman bared her teeth in her panic and quickly bit her fangs into her arm, cutting off anymore source of her noise.

Silence once again resumed and despite her best efforts, it'd done little to sway him as his bedroom door was roughly yanked open. She didn't need to look at him to know he was standing in the doorway, no doubt holding that pike that he always had connected in his belt underneath his cloak as a last resort should he lose his three-bladed scythe.

"Who the fuck would wake me up at this bleeding hour?" His snarl was low and threatening, the worst time to catch him was in the middle of the night, he never did enjoy being awoken by something other than himself. Though he must've caught sight of her sat in the corner of the room, since he held little in the ways of jutsu's he had trained his eyes to notice shapes in the dark. It often came in handy on assassination missions.

She faintly heard his breath falter as his heartbeat picked up and his rough voice question her name in confusion almost as if his eyes were betraying him.

"Shinko?"

She didn't reply and instead continued to remain where she was sat, shivering as her teeth remained in her arm and blood began to flow down her arm and dripping off her elbow in steady flows, the scent didn't attract her, but she knew as soon as he sniffed the air that he'd caught the scent of it and was stalking towards her within a minute, breathing heavily, his voice shaking as he asked "I smell blood...it's yours, isn't it?"

She didn't reply, even as he knelt by her side, placing the pike down behind him, he put a comforting-yet firm hand upon her shoulder, giving it a squeeze, he snarled "What happened? Were you attacked?"

Shinko disconnected her jaw from her arm, only feeling a dull ache considering the fright still hadn't left her, but had certainly dulled now that Hidan was here with her. She turned to face him and in the dark she noticed his eyes narrow, from the small glow of the moon spilling in through the small window of the lounge room he could clearly see the blood around her lips.

"What the fuck-?" He questioned bitterly, before his hand shot up to her face, gripping her by the chin in a rather hard grip, he studied her intently, now noticing her wet cheeks and distraught expression. Her eyes...so sad and full of pain.

"Why the fuck are you crying?" His voice was firm, leaving her little room to brush the topic off as nothing of interest, he'd seen her cry a few times before, but this'd been the first time that she'd actively sought out an area that was frequently used by others. Usually in her grief she'd disappear to be alone and gather her thoughts, but this was different.

"Hidan..." She whimpered, sounding in pain and it made him let her go thinking that perhaps he was causing her some discomfort. Within a second she threw herself on him, burying her face into his chest, her left arm hooking around his back to hold herself to him, he felt more of her tears spill out and drip onto his bare chest, heard too her shaky breaths and small whimpers. Gently, he placed his arms about her, he knew she was bleeding somewhere, but wasn't sure where exactly, either way he didn't wish to aggravate the wound. Confusion etched his thoughts and then aggressive anger flared through his system as he quickly forgot of the temptation that the scent of her blood held to him.

Someone had hurt her and he weren't sure who, his mate was in pain and he was almost powerless to do anything about it. Almost. Hidan knew he wasn't the best person to seek comfort from, but he also knew for a fact that he was probably better at doing it than Kakuzu or Pein. In his opinion they were both stuck-up arseholes that were too caught up in their own lives to notice anything going on around them.

"I thought I'd lost you...I couldn't find you...and when I did-" she cut herself off as a rather loud sob broke from her and she hugged closer to him for comfort, more tears flowed from her eyes and Hidan found himself understanding what was wrong with her. With a heavy sigh, he murmured "You had another one, huh?"

She gave a few frantic nods as her reply and he allowed his eyes to close, placing a few kisses on top of her head, one of his hands resting upon her back and stroked soothingly in hopes of calming her, but inside he found himself utterly helpless.

For the past four nights Shinko had been experiencing night terrors, each becoming worse than the others beforehand. Each feeling more real and disturbingly detailed than the others. Of course tonight was the only one she'd been this frightened, the other nights she'd woken up either screaming, crying or cursing at whatever she'd been dreaming of. Naturally, he was there to comfort her when she accepted it, but tonight...well, it had to have been something pretty bad to garner such a reaction.

"Don't be so fucking silly, you haven't 'lost' me, I'm right fucking here, aren't I? Look," he angled her head up with his other hand, their eyes catching hold of each other's instantly, he noticed the curious glint written in her eyes that glowed at him through the darkness that without having spent years with her and falling in love with her would he have been rather creeped out at how they lit up. Without a further thought his lips met hers, differing from being gentle and rather forceful, she remained uncooperative for some moments, the tension was still clear as she remained rigid where she was leaning against him, her lips unmoving and hard as stone. However, once his tongue licked across her bottom lip did she finally respond and granted him entrance to her mouth. Their tongues danced carefully-avoiding contact with her fangs and eventually Hidan won due to Shinko's sleepless exhaustion.

He pulled back slowly and watched her with magenta eyes as she sighed tiredly and leaned towards him, resting her head against his bare chest once more, she breathed in his scent and mumbled something akin to an apology, but he wouldn't hear of it as he continued to rub soothing circles upon her back and muttered "Don't fucking apologise to me, I don't know what the fuck is making you have these nightmares, but I'm willing to try anything to make em stop."

And once again the words of the other Tobi returned to Shinko's mind, echoing off the inner-walls of her head as she angrily reprimanded herself mentally to ignore those comments. Hidan may have been like that, but that's just the way he was, she knew he loved her and wouldn't betray her trust. Especially since she'd easily castrate him so that he wouldn't ever be able to betray her again, tear his tongue out so he would no longer talk, gouge his eyeballs out so that he would no longer look at another woman-ever and permanently sew his hands together so that they wouldn't grope anything other than his own arse ever again.

Those thoughts quickly made Shinko feel sickened by herself, how could she so easily think of harming Hidan in ways that even he wouldn't be able to prevent from happening or heal from without assistance from Kakuzu or someone else?

She didn't wish to think of such things, especially in her exhaustion, the last few nights had been taking their toll on her and having completely forgotten about her previous thoughts and concerns, she found herself dozing, feeling calmer and comforted in Hidan's arms, with his head resting upon hers and a hand rubbing back-and-forth along her back. Oh, how easy it would be to sleep like this.

The blood from her wound stopped flowing and instead was slowly mending itself, though the red tracks of dried blood remained on her right arm, she figured she could wash it off later. Hidan sniffed the air once more and must've noticed that the blood had stopped flowing for he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed his own tense body.

However long they remained that way, neither of them knew, but in the midst of her sleep, Shinko felt herself being lifted and carried in strong arms, though she was much too tired to complain and welcomed the warm darkness that consumed her tired body with the scent of her lover in her nostrils she continued on in a dreamless sleep and didn't once cry out or wake-up.

A/N: Finally! I've updated! XD Gosh, it was SO hard to type this chapter, I changed the second-half of this chapter at least four times! But I'm happy with the result and it's a little longer than the previous one if I'm correct :) So sorry it's rather late, but I shall hopefully have the next chappie out in a fortnight-if things all go to plan.

Anywho, today I'm shouting out a BIG thank you to; 'Hybrid301', 'xXLoveXxXIsXxXDeadlyXx', 'Aiko of the Akatsuki' and 'Akuma Chi', thank you ALL for your support, without your reviews I wouldn't have updated this until next month! O.o

!Reviews are appreciated!