Here's the moment we've all been waiting for…Cindra learns to fight!

MaliceArchangela doesn't own the Akatsuki nor Toni Morrison's quote "If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." But she absolutely agrees with it!

… … … … … … … … … … …

Itachi was teaching her in tandem with Deidara and Sasori while Kisame was watching and calling out encouragement.

Finally, the Uchiha called for a break, and Cin fell to the ground, exhausted.

"That's the end for today," the weasel said, and took the artists to get dinner while Kisame fell asleep and Cin tried to catch her breath.

Cin had no clue how long she spent there on her hands and knees before Kisame woke up again and spoke to her.

"Hey, can you go get Hidan for me?"

"Can't…you…get…him?"

"Where's your stamina, Cin? You lug that golf bag around all day."

"It's…different."

"Think of this as additional training. Besides, I'm comfortable here, and you need a little cool down."

After thinking about it, Cin had to agree that it made sense. If she stayed like that much longer, her muscles would cramp up, she had to stretch them out.

"Fine," she sighed, "I hope you're happy."

"Extremely," he toasted her with his hot chocolate.

"Meanie," she entered the house only to try to remember where exactly Hidan's room was. The second story?

From there it got infinitely more easy, seeing as the doors were marked for the occupants. Deidara's had scorch-marks along the edges, while Sasori's had intricate carvings on it. Itachi's was plain, but Kisame's was painted blue. Tobi's was splatter painted, and Kakuzu's had enough locks on it to sink a battleship. Zetsu's had vines growing out of it, some of them being briars. She had a feeling that if she opened the door, she would find a world out of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. But she resisted the temptation and kept looking.

Hidan's was easy to pick out, especially seeing as it had the Jashin symbol carved into it multiple times, but it also seemed red-stained…blood?

She shook off the worries, they had told her that they weren't killing people in the area, and so she was going to have to trust them, or else go completely insane.

She didn't know that the closer she got to the Akatsuki, the further she got away from the world of sanity she knew.

And one of those steps involved opening that door.

… … … … … … … … … … …

"Kisame," Itachi asked, as Deidara and Sasori deposited their burdens on the kitchen table, "Where is Cindra? I was thinking we could fit in a little more practice after dinner…do not tell me she ran away?"

"I sent her upstairs to fetch Hidan."

The artists and the weasel froze.

"Kisame, you do know what today is, right?"

"What about it?"

"What time did you send her up, un?"

"Just a few minutes ago, why?"

"Kisame," Sasori thwacked his head with the heel of his hand, "Do you not look at Hidan's calendar?"

The fish-man's face turned an even paler blue as he realized the problem.

"Maybe he's cleaned up already?" Kisame asked hopefully.

Thunk!

"I'll take that as a no, un," Deidara hurried up the stairs, followed by the others.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Something heavy was holding her eyelids down, and something warm and wet was laid across her forehead.

"Is Cin-chan okay?"

"Yes, no thanks to Hidan, un."

"Hey, I'm a victim here too! Blame Kisame!"

"With all the sacrificing you do, how am I supposed to know what days are extra bloody and which aren't? Usually you're done long before dinner."

"S-s-shut up!"

"Hidan, temper."

"Shut up, Kakuzu!"

"Tobi, give her some space."

"Yes, Sasori-sempai!"

"A little bit more, un."

"But Tobi is already one whole foot away!"

"But Deidara is feeling a bit lonely without you near him."

"Sasori-no-danna!"

But she could hear the hyper-active member hit the explosives artist and knock him to the ground while the blonde groaned.

"Is this a sick room or not?" she heard a dry voice, "Zetsu, if they keep up all this noise, please remove them from the premises."

"Can we eat them?"

"Perhaps."

That got everyone quieted down awfully quick.

"Cindra," the voice was closer now, "If you do not want the food to grow cold, I suggest that you wake up now."

It was phrased as a suggestion, but the tone was anything but, so she responded to the implied order and opened up her eyes.

At first, the world seemed blurry, but then it came into focus for her to see the concerned faces of the Akatsuki looking at her.

Carefully, she sat up, and someone put a huge pillow behind her for her to rest on. Ginger ale was placed on a card table, along with some Chinese food (which is called "food" in China), still nice and hot.

Gratefully, she downed a large gulp of the soda and took a bite of her orange chicken.

"So, you saw it," once again, it was phrased like a question, but Itachi was stating a fact.

Cin nodded, swallowed her food, and spoke, "I thought you guys said you wouldn't be killing while you were here."

"Hidan's a special case," Kakuzu grumbled, "It is part of his religion."

"Human sacrifices?" Cin asked, "Like the Aztecs?"

"Guess you could say that," Kisame shrugged, "Except a bit more sadistic, as well as masochistic."

"Do I really want to understand?" Cin did not like the way this conversation was going at all.

"No, un," was the firm reply.

"Okay then," she spoke brightly, a wide grin on, "I don't want to understand!"

"Hidan, apologize." Like always, Itachi was not one mince words.

She heard a sigh, "Look, I'm sorry Cin. I have a calendar put up in order to keep people from walking in on me when I'm in the middle of a ritual, but I guess it didn't work this time."

"I thought you guys weren't supposed to be killing around here?"

Hidan didn't answer.

"At any rate," Sasori said, finally shooing Tobi off of his sempai, "It would be best if you do not enter his room again. Next time, he might not realize that you are a…friend, and so are not a potential sacrifice. Especially since you are completely unable to defend yourself."

"Not my fault," she grumbled to herself, "This is not an area where being able to fight is extremely important."

"Yeah, well, whatever. Just don't go into my room again," he marched back upstairs.

Silence.

"Well, at least he finally washed the blood off!" she said perkily, smiling at the Akatsuki, startling them.

"What did you see, un?"

"Um, a dead person bleeding on the floor, and Hidan was absolutely covered in blood. What did he do, roll around in it or something?" She tilted her head like an inquisitive bird, and the room relaxed.

"Something like that," Sasori smirked…seriously, what was with these boys and their smirks? Was a smile so hard? Or was it just too nice?

Unknown to herself, Cin pouted, and the Akatsuki wondered just what they had done wrong this time.

"Cindra?" Zetsu's voice brought her back to herself with a start.

"I'm fine," she smiled, before realizing that she had finished eating while talking, and that the boys were placing their fight-clothes back on, "Then again, I'm feeling a little woozy, I think I have to go home."

They all smirked, and Itachi said, "One would almost think that you did not want to get better at this."

"One might almost be right," she thought to herself as she became resigned to her fate.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Now, we shall leave Cindra to her unhappy fate yet again.