Abi scraped the last of the burnt rice out of the pan before leaving it to soak for another hour, "We really need to learn how to cook."
"You're telling me," May groaned and swallowed the last of her half burnt-half raw meal with a small cringe, "Has Tay eaten anything yet?"
"I put a plate outside the bedroom door and she took it in but I don't know if she's actually eating any of it."
"Me and my big mouth."
"Speaking of your big mouth, why the hell didn't you tell me about your little meeting with Tobi?" Abi spat out that man's name with great distaste as she walked away from the sad black dishes that drowned in the sink. First he nearly kills Elle, then seduces Tay and now she discovers he threatened to rape May; it made her furious enough to smile at the memory of killing his right hand man.
"If you had just told me that was the reason that you were so determined to follow orders I would've been more accepting," Abi sat with a quiet sigh next to her friend, "I feel so stupid now."
"You and I both and, if you don't mind, I really don't want to talk about that ever again," May shivered as her skin crawled at the recall of Tobi's "chat" with her; his leering embrace, that cold stomach-lurching kiss. She felt like she was going to vomit.
Steering the topic into a slightly different direction, Abi started, "But we need to figure out a way to trap him so we can use the Jutsu and then the others can kill him, it's the only way we can ever be truly safe from him."
May didn't want to admit it but the man terrified her to the core. She didn't believe he could be stopped, especially by them. Four high school girls are so going to bring down one of the most powerful villains of Naruto. Yeah, so fucking likely, just as likely as they were going home in the next five minutes.
"I would want to do it with all of us a few times first," May swallowed her sour fear, "but I highly doubt that that is going to be possible since he'll be expecting that move now. We're just going to have to go for it the very second we get a chance."
"I guess we could do that…"
"Have you got a better idea?"
"No, not yet," Abi turned back to the dirty dishes and began to take her frustration out on the defenceless burnt-food encrusted cooking utensils, "but I will come up with something. We can't hide forever."
Shouldn't be too much longer now.
In an alleyway of the village, Tobi lurked in strong afternoon shadows. He had been eyeing the apartment for a little over five minutes now and he could only sense the chakra of Uzumaki and Sasuke in there so he knew it would be fine once the demon fox left. Uzumaki stood in the open door.
"I'll just grab Neji, I'll be right back."
"Hn."
As the door was closing, Tobi made his move. He didn't have much time. The door clicked to a soft close. Tobi materialised into the quaint room, forcing the young Uchiha to snap his head around to his dominating figure. A smile stretched across Tobi's hidden face as he nodded once sharply in greeting.
"Hello Sasuke."
"Tobi," Sasuke sneered with no expression, he didn't appear the least bit fazed to see the man standing there, "What the hell do you want?"
"Can't I come and visit a member of my own family?"
"What do you want?"
"I see that you don't want to share pleasantries," Tobi examined the room; it looked as though more people were living here due to all the clothes and tools lying around, he sat at the kitchen table looking at what was left of the meal, he counted six plates, "So I will be frank. Someone has taken my little pets and I want them back. However I can't do it by myself…"
Sasuke stacked up the plates effortlessly quick and dumped them into the sink, "Pets?"
"Some girls I came across and decided to keep," Tobi waved it off, that part wasn't important, right now he just needed an outside man, "The point is I need someone to track them down, and the man who took them. I have some subordinates of my own but they have grown somewhat…attached…to the girls so I can't be sure that I will get them back if I sent them."
"Listen here," glared Sasuke, "the only reason as to why I'm not attacking you is because if we fought we'd both die, but I will never help you again."
"Not even if I had the power to bring back your entire clan?"
Sasuke froze at the opportunity, obviously thinking it over.
A distinct powerful chakra signal was rapidly closing in on the small house; Tobi stood up and looked directly at Sasuke, "Don't you want to see them again?"
He looked momentarily down the short hallway before snapping his eyes back to Tobi, "Get out. Now."
Tobi smirked softly and slowly began to disappear, "You'll come around eventually."
Sasuke breathed a small sigh of relief once he was absolutely certain Tobi was gone and the door burst open with a frantic looking Kage storming through, "Did I just sense Tobi's chakra?"
"Yeah he was here."
"Elle, why can't I sense hers?"
"Bathroom," Sasuke marched forwards and began to shake at the still locked door, he and Naruto had tried to get in earlier after Elle's signal disappeared but failed just as miserably. He rapped on the door as loud as he could, "Elle, Elle open the door."
Gaara pushed past him and sent sand flying into the door, eliminating the obstacle in a matter of splintering seconds. He charged in and immediately spotted the small sobbing girl huddling in the corner. Gaara heard the door open signalling Naruto return and he nodded for Sasuke to go deal with him then looked back at pale girl, "Elle-chan, look at me."
She slowly met his gaze, still shivering from fright, "Is…is he gone?"
"Yeah, don't worry he's gone."
She dived into him and clung tightly to his shirt; he reached over to grab her cloak and quietly wrapped it around her. She was wrapped in nothing more than a towel and it made him slightly uncomfortable to see so much, too much skin. However, Elle didn't look like she was going to move for a while so Gaara adjusted his position to a slightly more comfortable one; he placed an unsure hand on her head, "Are you going to be okay?"
"Mhm."
"How?" Gaara wasn't sure whether he should question her right now but curiosity got the better of him, "How did you hide your chakra so well?"
She sniffed slightly but didn't look up at him, she answered quietly into his shirt, "Tay and I use to hide from the others on the roof. Sometimes we found that when we got agitated or scared no one could sense where we were, and just as I got out of the shower I got scared of a spider and I knew that it happened when Naruto-kun was banging on the door. I just kinda froze after I felt Tobi come into the house."
"It's okay," he wasn't going to admit he was a tiny bit of a fraction impressed with this unique ability that the girls seemed to have, he just needed to calm her down as fast as possible so he could find out what Tobi wanted from Sasuke, "We're not going to let him get you, you don't have to be scared of him."
He heard her snort a chuckle as she clung slightly tighter, "Easier said than done."
"Hey Gaara," Sasuke stuck his head around the corner, he was obviously keeping Naruto away with one hand, and nodded towards the shaking girl, "Everything okay in here?"
"Yeah," he ran his hand through Elle's still damp hair; she responded by relaxing slightly after ever slow stroke, "Everything's going to be just fine."
The silent corridors of the Akatsuki house hummed with Tobi's smirking joy; none of the other members had left their rooms unless they needed vital things like food or the bathroom. No more triviality. Things were exactly the way he wanted it to be. He looked over his shoulder as the main door creaked open, his smirk widening, "Did you find them?"
"Not a trace," Itachi growled through his teeth, they had to play this right or it just wasn't going to work, "The track just disappeared as soon as we crossed the border, no footprints, no chakra, no blood or any sign of struggle. Absolutely nothing."
That did not make him happy, "Zetsu?"
"No trace of him either. I don't know what is going but we need to fix it fast."
"Tch," Tobi's teeth began to grind together as he realised the trail had just gone cold; he turned on his heels and began to plan away in his mind. Of course things were never going to be that easy, but then again that was half the fun of playing the game.
Low murmurs came from the other side of the bedroom door, meaning May and Abi were somewhere in the lounge. They were far enough. Tay skid the empty dinner plate out the door before shutting and locking it once more. She really wanted nothing more than to go out and beg for her friends' forgiveness but she just couldn't face them. She deserved to be punished. She was so naïve. About Elle. About Tobi. May and Abi weren't going to punish her even though this was all her fault. She needed some sort of punishment and since they weren't going to do it; Tay decided to do it herself. She didn't have the courage to self-harm, nor did she have the will to starve herself, so she chose isolation and hoped that she would suffer this way. Tay sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest. She felt so pathetic.
A muted tap-tap-tap interrupted Tay's moping state. The inaudible talking stopped too. Tay tiptoed to the door and pressed her ear against the door out of morbid curiosity. Their chakras had vanished too, meaning the others were frightened out of their wits. Tay shakily gripped the door handle. Stiff shuffling. A clear "Shh". Tay wanted to turn the handle but at the same time didn't want to. She wanted to help them but still couldn't face them. And she hated herself for everything. A moment of nothing. Tay could feel her pulse in her ears. Then their chakra came back as they sighed in relief.
"Deidara-san," May laughed a little awkwardly, "you scared us."
"You guys have no reason to panic," the sound of his voice calmed Tay down, all the built up worries dissipated, "Where's Tay-chan un?"
"She's locked herself in the bedroom," Abi's voice was full of concern, "I think she believes that she needs to be punished."
"For what un?"
"Falling for Tobi."
"Kami," heavy footsteps grew louder as they drew closer to the bedroom door and it began to shake under Deidara's fist as he tried to pull it open, "Open the door Tay-chan un."
She didn't want to open the door but she knew he was going to bust it down unless she did, and that meant breaking her small barrier. Tay unlocked the door so Deidara didn't have to force his way in. May and Abi tried to follow suit but the door was slammed right in their faces then immediately lock it during the objective thumps and calls. She stayed staring at the door, too scared to face him and telling the others to leave her alone; he placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed, "Tay…"
"Open the door!" May knocked loudly on the wooden surface.
"Tay, please open the door," Abi called more politely.
"Please give us a minute, you two," Deidara said.
She bit softly on her bottom lip she did not want to cry in front of him but the guilt was becoming too much for her, small tears began to roll down her ashamed cheeks, "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, don't feel guilty un."
"But…"
"Don't, you're causing yourself grief that isn't needed or wanted here. Listen really carefully to me Tay," he turned her around and took off his cloak, bandages lined nearly every ligament on his body, he smiled weakly and wiped away some of her still falling tears, "This is just a clone but the point is the same un."
Tay ran her hand softly over some of the wounds on his arm, she began to blush slightly at his well-toned muscles, but concern soon took over once more, "What happened?"
"Tobi wasn't happy with the fact I talked to you three but I'm not sorry, it was his choice to do this because he believed I was no longer useful to him. You didn't do this, he did, I won't stand by and let you blame yourself for his actions un."
"But I…"
"He used you," Deidara confidently stated, "this wasn't your fault un."
Guilt still lingered with Tay for being so stupid but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as before, she pulled her hand away and held it softly against her chest, "Thank you, Deidara…"
"Come on then," he put on his cloak again and held Tay's hand, he opened the door and smiled at the two girls who had obviously been eavesdropping, "I'll make you three some food un."
"Yay!"
"Real Food!"
Tay smiled to herself, she felt better than she had in what felt like forever, she slid up beside him and shuffled nervously, "I'll help you Deidara-san."
"Then let's get started un."
"YOU CAN'T GO BACK TEME, YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T‼"
"Shut up Dobe, I'm not going to," Sasuke rubbed his temples, Naruto had been yelling at him ever since he explained why Tobi had come to see him, "I will admit I was tempted but Itachi is alive, he is my family."
"I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE AGAIN."
"I already said I'm not going."
"I'LL LOCK THE DOOR AND JAM THE WINDOWS SHUT."
"Sakura, make him shut up."
She giggled softly from her position on the couch. Sakura had finally got Elle dressed into some soft pink pyjamas she leant her and was currently having fun playing with the girl's hair, "That's what you get for leaving us once, this is punishment."
Elle looked like a child of twelve in the oversized pyjamas, she was still shaken from when Tobi was here and now that she knew her friends were in trouble she had gone back into the quiet shy girl she was when she was way back in Suna. But that only made her look younger because of the small pout that lingered on her face.
Temari sighed softly when she saw Elle's pout deepen with Sakura's rising amusement, "Would you please leave that poor girl alone."
"She doesn't mind," Sakura smiled at the sand kunoichi and patted Elle's head, "Do you Elle-chan?"
Elle growled softly and her eyes looking everywhere but at anyone, "I mind a lot."
"See, not at all."
"I said I minded."
Sakura giggled and clung onto the flailing Elle like a child and her doll, her teammates were slightly disturbed at seeing her be so…girly, "You're so cute Elle-chan!"
"Hey! I'm not a teddy bear, put me down‼"
"Hehe!"
"Anyway," Kankuro turned away slowly from the two squeaking at each other and got back to the main focus of the situation, "If Tobi wants you to join him then don't you think we should move the teddy bear to a safer location."
"She can stay at my house‼"
"LET ME GO YOU PINK HAIRED BITCH‼"
"So Sakura's is out of the question," Temari decided to do the same as her brother but chose to focus on the dirt hiding in her nails, "I don't think that she'll settle in anywhere other than here to be completely honest. People just don't trust the Akatsuki."
Sasuke actually growled at the thought of Elle moving out, "Itachi ask specifically for her to stay here because he trusts us, she's staying."
"I don't think it's your choice Uchiha."
"It's her life, ask her."
"Elle?"
Elle slipped out of Sakura's grasp and dove out of her reach under the table, "I will live in a deep dark hole."
"We're out of those."
"Gah!" Elle crawled further away as Sakura chased her under and out of the table, "Call her off, dear God please call her off‼"
Gaara smirked slightly as an idea popped into his head; he pushed Naruto away from stopping Sakura and closed his eyes peacefully, "Only if you agree to our conditions."
"Conditions?"
"Exactly."
"Now you want me to agree to stuff?! You're crazy!"
"It's a simple yes or no answer."
Elle squeaked as Sakura nearly grabbed her again, "What are the conditions?"
"One; you start being up front and honest, we ask questions and you will answer them honestly."
Sasuke smirked to himself as he caught onto Gaara's idea, "Two; while you are staying with us you can be on cooking duty, every meal."
Naruto joined in laughing as ideas floated into his head, "Three; you have to start talking to everyone, no more hiding in the corner."
They looked at Temari; she nodded softly, "Four; you can also help with cleaning, laundry and things like that."
Kankuro thought carefully for a few seconds before smiling evilly, "And five; you have to wear a short maid outfit."
"NO WAY‼" Elle froze, the conditions were reasonable up to now; unfortunately Sakura took the opportunity and latched onto the small girl. Elle cried wistfully and before any of the others could tell her Kankuro was joking she gave in, "Okay, okay, I agree to your stupid conditions. Now get her off me!"
"Sakura let go of her," Sasuke commanded, his fan girl complied, he then held out and victorious hand to Elle, "Don't forget what you agreed to."
"Yeah, yeah. You guys are nothing but perverts. I swear even Hidan looks like an innocent baby compared to you lot."
