Akira's POV

It had been seven days since I had defied Pein, and 4 days since I had doubts about my decision. Wouldn't it be easier to help them? It had to be better than rotting in a cell. Why do I even are about Naruto? I should be worrying about myself. No that's wrong…I care about Naruto, I don't want him to be hurt because I was bait. For the past three days I've had similar thoughts, I had also noticed that I had begun to speak out loud to myself having arguments much like a certain plant-man named Zetsu. Which reminds me, he must have already skulked off to tell Pein about my recent psychological break.

The door opened suddenly and Itachi stood stoically at the door. I glanced at him before starring back at my feet. Over the course of these seven days Pein ordered the group to get as much information out of me as possible. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't but it was beginning to work more frequently…

"Follow me." He said and I fell into step with him, eyes fixed on my shoes. I had finally learned not to speak unless giving information or acknowledging a higher rank. It had taken the Akatsuki only a week to teach me what people had been trying to teach me for 13 years. I was beginning to understand, being a tortured prisoner sucks.

We arrived at the meeting room and as usual everyone was around the table in their assigned seating. Pein was sitting in his at the head of the table Konan sitting beside him muttering something to him to which he would nod to before he looked at me.

"So Akira, I've heard that you would be more cooperative today? Seems you were having trouble with your decision. I'll ask again, work with us and bring about world peace or be tortured, used for bait before finally being killed. What do you decide?"

I knew my choices, stay with them as an ally or stay with them and be used like the enemy I was.

"I'll help you." I said finally raising my eyes to meet Pein's.

"Good. You'll be moved to your own room within a few days. Until then you'll be under surveillance as you have been for the past week, you'll be staying in that cell but with a few furnishings. A cot will be given to you this time so you won't have to sleep on the floor."

"Thank you." I said bowing.

"Thank you…" He prompted.

"Thank you, leader." I resigned.

He nodded and Konan stood to lead me back to my cell. On the way back Konan filled me in on what was expected of me. It was basic rules and who would train me until I was ready to go on missions. I was not to speak to Tobi as apparently he'd give me bad ideas.

We reached the room and a cot was brought in soon after. That's when I decided it was time to do a little experiment, I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Besides I would never abandon Naruto just because I had a small mental lapse, he was the only thing that I didn't want to blame for this. I blamed myself for being reckless as usual and expecting the kidnappers to adopt me, I blamed Kakashi for not killing Itachi and Kisame, I blamed the leaf village for making me a ninja, I blamed my family for being completely messed up but I never blamed Naruto even though, now that I've gotten some fresh air, he technically is to blame if it was beyond his control.

I started my first experiment by completely tearing the cot apart. After that, well I had some fun.

Jaraiya's POV

It had been days since Akira was taken and I realized that I would have to write a very miserable letter to a certain teacher and father. If that wasn't enough already I had Naruto's training and him constantly chattering about Akira every spare second.

"And when I first saw Akira he seemed lost and really cold kinda like Sasuke but then he was really cool. He stood up for me in class and-" His voice stopped and his head dropped. "When will we be going to get him?"

"We'll be getting her, sorry I mean him, after we find Tsunade. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"I know but, I-"

"You miss him."

"No! Well, yeah but not how your thinking. I'm worried that he's in trouble…again."

"You've got a good instinct when it comes to him. But don't worry so much Akira can take care of himself. You of all people should know that."

"Yeah he takes care of himself by nearly getting himself killed."

I sighed, I was in a losing battle. I had heard all about Akira's tendencies from Kakashi but I had never expected any of what he told me. When he said watch over her carefully she gets kidnapped often he wasn't kidding around.

Akira's POV

I had it all sorted, large metal in one corner, springs in the middle, fabric pieces from the mattress beside that and long thread peeled off the mattresses beside that and finally in the opposite corner a giant mound of stuffing from the mattress and pillow. Now to work with it.

I grabbed a spring straightened it to the best degree possible and used the sharp end to make 'x' marks around the door. I used the larger metal to reach the arch at the top and before long I had many neat little 'x' marks on the stones. I stood back to admire phase one of my plan luckily I did or I would have been hit in the head. The door swung open revealing a man wearing an orange mask with only one eye hole, holding a platter of food.

"Hi there! My name's Tobi. Tobi brought food for the new companion." He said setting the food down. He took a swift glance around the rooms I ate and tensed when he saw what I had done to the bed. He glanced at me once before looking back at the bed. "Can Tobi ask what Akira has done to her bed?"

"I took apart."

"Why?"

"I- well I guess I needed to."

"Why?"

"It was possessed by demons, don't worry though I got rid of them."

"Tobi is scared so Tobi will be leaving with the tray now."

"Okay see you around then."

The moment he was gone I used a few heavy pieces of metal to squish the spring into a spike. With this spike I was able to drill tiny holes at each 'x'. I soon realized that the holes weren't big enough so I found a slightly larger bit of metal and did the same thing. I took the dust that was created and packed it into a bit of the stuffing. Luckily, Tobi only took the tray and what I had already finished away as I needed a few things from my dinner.

I soaked the fibers in the oil salad dressing before slowly pulling apart the stuffing into thin strands. With these I wrapped them around a fabric casing also dipped in the dressing which was around a small bit of fire starter that I had in my weapons pouch. Since I wasn't their enemy anymore I was allowed almost all my weapons back except any bombs of any kind. Apparently they've had past experiences with trial runs and crazy bombers.

I stuck a bit more debris and added a small vial of my own creation, it was quite effective in creating bombs but was harmless enough to keep in your pocket. I poured that into the casing and used the end of a spring to put it into the each 'x'. I used the threads from the fabric to create a make-shift fuse leading from each 'x' to my hand. They were doused in the dressing as well just in case I had difficulty starting it.

I rubbed my hands together and remembered what the dragons had taught me, fire is in the breath. I sat cross legged on the floor with the fuse between my hands. Meditation and concentration were the keys to using fire without jutsu. Sadly I had never made a flame appear in my hand by itself but as long as I had an object I could create enough heat to start a small chain reaction.

After a half hour of meditating it finally happened. A small ember of fire lit the threads and travelled down to the 'x' marks. It wasn't a few seconds later when the door's hinges broke leaving me with a way out.

I ran quietly through the halls, turning corner after corner, it was a seemingly endless maze. I rounded what I thought to be the last corner and ran head first into Deidara. We both fell back landing harshly on the ground.

"Ow, Tobi- Akira? What are you doing out of your cell, yeah?" He asked.

"I got bored so I left."

"Oh, Leader let you out then?"

"Yeah…" If you count giving me my weapons as letting me run free then yes.

"Oh alright well your room's not ready yet un. Do you want to go see everyone?"

"No, thank you though. I'll catch you around. Later." I said dashing around the next corner. Well that was close. Wait he's heading for the hall I just escaped from. I had better run faster.

Deidara's POV

It was nice, if a bit strange, of Pein to let Akira out early. I thought walking down the prisoners hall.

Something's wrong. I looked around but saw nothing unusual, I sniffed the air again. Smoke? That's odd. I continued walking careful to be on my guard, I pressed myself against the wall before looking around the corner. The prison door was blown neatly off its hinges letting small amounts of smoke waft out of the room. I stepped closer analyzing the damage. It was an amateur job but it was impressive. She had somehow created a bomb with next to nothing. I held my cloak over my nose as I stepped into the room, the smoke smelled terrible.

My eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the cell and I saw in the corner what remained of her bed and a bowl of almost untouched food. I turned to the door and saw small 'x' markings around it. Looked like she was trying to make a big show of it but it didn't work out judging by the small amount of damage.

Still, with a bit of training she could be a pro. I should go talk to Pein about this, that girl needs training and for the sake of the building I suggest we start fast. Who knows how big the next explosion will be.

I quickly exited the room, jogging down the hall to the meeting room. Wait, before we can train her we'll have to catch her…damn it, she was right in front of me earlier too. I'm going to have my ear lectured off for this one. Hopefully that dumb puppet finds her; he was working on his puppets in his room when I had passed him.

Akira's POV

I stopped to catch my breath after getting lost in the winding halls once again. I looked around quickly before starting at a quick walk again. He must have seen the door by now, should I hide or run?

I heard the soft movement of a cloak not far from where I was, I slowed down. Carefully breathing and stepping lightly. I sudden line of light appeared as a door was opened not far from me, I ducked close to the wall in the shadows. They stepped out of their room and as the light disappeared once again behind the door I heard a voice.

"I know you're there. Stand."

I stayed where I was, maybe , if I was lucky, he only had a suspicion and didn't actually know I was there.

"I'm not a patient person. Come here." He ordered again.

I didn't move, how could he be so monotone? It's like he's already dead.

I heard a sigh before I was being forcibly dragged from my spot into the middle of the hall. How did he do that he didn't even take a step? I looked around panicked until I discovered an almost invisible thread of chakra leading from me to him.

"How did you do that?"

"Chakra strings."

"Chakra strings? What can those do, besides tying up hostages?"

"They are useful for controlling puppets and," He moved a finger forcing me to rise from my spot on the floor and follow him. "humans."

"Hm, sounds useful." I mumbled. "So where are you taking me?"

"To leader. If I didn't I would get in trouble."

"Great…" I said.

It didn't take long before I realized that having a lack of control made me feel really…weak? Uncomfortable? Mad? All of the above? It just didn't feel right, I had thought that by leaving my family I would have forever been free from people controlling me but I felt like I was wrong somehow. There would always be someone stronger that would tell me what to do and I doubt I'd be able to say no…kinda like when I said yes to this deal with these people.

Can I get strong enough to be able to say no anytime I like…probably not. I don't have an awesome power, I don't have immense chakra and I definitely don't have the logical brain for it. All I have are some dragons and- wait a second…I have dragons…How could I forget about them. I rolled my eyes at myself. Turns out the puppet guy in front of me with his red hair had been talking and thought I had rolled my eyes at him.

"Were you even paying attention, brat?"

"Uh…yes?"

"What did I say?"

"Be polite this time in front of leader?"

He shook his head. "You're hopeless, just like another brat I know. What is your opinion of art?"

"Uh…I've never really seen art. So I'm rather neutral about it. If I saw some I'd probably like it though. Why?"

"I suppose that answer will do." He said ignoring my question and opening the meeting room doors. He used the chakra strings to walk me inside where the meeting had already started. "Got the runaway."

Pein nodded his head as he listened to Deidara finish explaining what he saw in my cell. "And the door was neatly blown off its hinges. If someone hadn't walked by it could have been a clean escape."

"I see. Thank you Deidara. Now Sasori, care to fill us in on what happened after she left the cell and bumped into Deidara."

Sasori nodded curtly. "She managed to reach my room in the North hall without being seen or heard by others, her chakra was suppressed so that no one could track her. The light from my room created an outline of her and so I was able to find her easily. I used chakra strings to retrieve her and bring her here."

"Thank you Sasori. Now Akira why try to escape? You rethink your decision?"

"No sir, I just get bored and wanted to see how well I could think of a way out, just in case. I figured it was safer to test and experiment when around allies than in an enemy base."

"She's gotta be lying." The silver haired man said.

"Hidan." Konan's voice was enough to shut him up almost immediately. "I believe Akira made a good assumption and not only did she show a valuable skill for the field she also showed us how relaxed or inner defense is. How long were you out for?"

"I dunno maybe an hour? Maybe less? Those halls were pretty confusing, even if someone did escape they'd have to worry more about the maze of hallways than worry about you guys finding them."

"I prove my point. Pein I believe she's an asset. She's still young, we can train her. She could be one of our best."

"I know Konan but should she be trusted? I'd rather not train an enemy."

Konan stared down with cold eyes, "What does the group say?"

Everyone visibly flinched aside from Sasori, Pein and Itachi. Eventually mumbles of agreement went up and I had found myself with 10 new teachers. Tomorrow I'd begin training Akatsuki style.