I am so, so, so sorry that I haven't updated before now! And not even a long chapter! I swear to you, I will add the next chapter before this Tuesday! I promise! And this is the third-last chapter I'll be adding!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe, nor will I ever.

Claimer: I do own Ami, Hina and Chieko as well as the new character, Masaru.

Thanks to:

Chocoholic93

And

Cheetay

ENJOY!

Chapter 37: Once again; some bad news

Hina jumped up the moment Zetsu walked into the cave two days later.

"How is Deidara?" she asked immediately.

"He's fine. Chieko healed him after Ami found him. They're fine. Sasori too," Zetsu said tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Hina asked.

"Yes, thank you," he said.

"Good. Well I have something I have to tell you," Hina said, and Zetsu looked up.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I need to leave to Amegakure, so please tell the others I'm fine, should the battle be done before I'm back," Hina said.

"And in the meantime?"

"Keep telling them I'm fine and that I'm still in the cave. Don't mention Amegakure before it's necessary," Hina said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, and keep checking in on the cave every second day like normal," Hina said.

"Then it's all good," Zetsu said, and he left again.

Hina had already packed her things and took on a big coat, and not the Akatsuki one. She got out of the cave and into the water, her belly kicking vividly. Hina laughed slightly and got out of the water. She was sure the baby would like water. Hina was dry the moment she got out of the water.

But then she remembered; Kisame. Why hadn't she asked if Kisame was all right? She suddenly felt extremely anxious, but she couldn't possibly wait another couple of days. Hina looked up to the sky and hoped Kisame was okay. She then started running. She knew the running would be great for the baby as it would grow stronger every minute. But she got so easily tired so in the end she always ended up with using the wind to carry her away.

Ami punched down another ninja and looked around for Deidara who was on the other side of the field, getting the ANBU's away from Chieko. They had figured it out. They knew Chieko was the one who healed the Akatsuki. Chieko wasn't weak either, so she did manage to get them away from her. The Akatsuki were on their way to back them up, but that would probably use some strengths as well. But a lot of previously dead people had come to their rescue.

Madara knew just how valuable Chieko was to the Akatsuki as the one who kept them alive, so Kabuto wouldn't have to bring them back from the dead as well. Sasori just then stabbed a man with his poisonous sting and the man quickly faded. Chieko smiled at him as the ANBU's had withdrawn.

"Thank you guys," she said, but her eyes lingered at Sasori who gave her one of his very rare smiles.

Ami and Deidara exchanged a look, but it were different emotions.

Ami was all 'AW!' while Deidara was all 'come on'.

Then Kisame came out of the trees and shouted: "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you, hm," Deidara said.

Kisame sent him a deadly look.

"Shut it Deidara. Yeah, we're fine," Sasori said to Kisame.

Kisame nodded and took a deep breath.

"What is it?" Chieko asked.

"Hina would surely kill me should anything happen to her best friends," Kisame said, flashing a grin.

Chieko smiled.

"You got that right," Ami said with the same grin as Kisame.

Deidara and Sasori both rolled their eyes.

Hina smiled as she saw the village Amegakure. She really looked forward to seeing Konan again, but she still wondered how Kisame and, now that one day had passed, the rest of them were doing. She then reached the gates of the village and wasn't surprised when she saw no one was there to guard the gates, or that there were no villagers. She sighed and walked towards the tower on the end in endless silence where she knew Konan would be.

Hina hurried through the eerie village and into the building, up the stairs, through the corridor and opened the door to where she could feel traces of chakra. But when she opened the room, all she saw was darkness. She looked around and made a handsign and flames reached wherever they could.

Hina blinked. The room was completely naked. Only a fireplace with two chairs was in the middle of the room. But the chairs weren't some nice, comfy ones, but completely naked chairs made of normal wood. Hina frowned. The leaders of Akatsuki really didn't spoil themselves.

Then Hina heard something. Footsteps. She turned on the spot and looked out into the corridor, her heartbeat racing. She then let wind surround her and in the blink of an eye, and even faster, she was standing in the corridor, her hand holding the neck of a young man. The man looked scared at her, and Hina frowned, but let him go.

"Who are you?" she asked harshly.

"Masaru," he said with a shaky voice, massaging his throat.

"And why are you here?" Hina snapped.

"Because Konan-sama told me to keep the fort safe," Masaru said.

"Oh yeah? And what are you to her?" Hina asked, the words having a slightly different meaning to the boy, than what she meant.

"Well, I do admire her, but I don't think she thought of me in that way," Masaru said.

"Not emotionally. Why would she trust you?" Hina asked impatiently, not noticing how Masaru spoke of Konan in past tense.

"Because she had no one else to turn to after Pein died who could watch the fort," Masaru said.

"Oh? Okay. But where is Konan, then?" Hina asked, now smiling.

Masaru looked really serious.

"What is it?" Hina asked, losing the smile.

"You mean you don't know?" Masaru asked.

"Know what?" Hina asked.

"Konan's dead," Masaru said with a small voice.

Hina blinked and then felt her heart make a painful throb. "W-what?" she stuttered, swallowing and pressing the tears back.

"How come you didn't know?" Masaru asked.

"Well, I don't know!" Hina exploded.

She slipped down to the floor and breathed in and out. This pain couldn't be good for the baby.

"But I thought she was a traitor. Madara said so!" Masaru said, looking down at Hina.

The latter looked up immediately and in an instant she was standing right next to Masaru.

"Madara?" she asked surprised.

"Yes. He's the one who killed her," Masaru said, looking confused.

Hina got a pained look on her face. "Dammit," she said and turned on her heel, needing to reach back to the fight before something really bad happened.

Now, how did you like it? I hope you did! Now, look forward to the next chapter! And please review!

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-Gaara and Itachi's Devil