"You will escort her to the Mist Village. There you will meet with one of our informants, hand her off, and collect the money." The girl wouldn't look up from her lap as Pein spoke. Kakuzu huffed. This is ridiculous, could she not go by herself? What kind of ninja was she?

"You mean babysit?" Kakuzu ground out. The girl shot him a glare, biting her own lip to stop herself from snapping back at him. He suppressed a smirk. Feisty little punk. He brought his attention back to Pein, who was glaring a hole through his head. Kakuzu signed in response. Why fight it.

"Anything else or can we leave already?" He grumbled as he stood up. The girl remained seated as she looked at Pein for confirmation. Pein gave Kakuzu once last glare before nodding at both of them.

"Go and make it quick." Kakuzu was already heading out of the room grumbling to himself with the girl hot on his trail. He went to one of the plain dilapidated rooms in the hideout that he deemed acceptable enough to call his own. As he searched his room for various items he would need for… babysitting… the girl stood uncomfortably in the door frame waiting for him. She clung to her slightly oversized shirt, fidgeting with the hem, biting her lip all the while refusing to make eye contact with him. He wanted to rip her lips off, he couldn't stand this innocent and shy bullshit. He side eyed her as he finished collecting his things. What could she possibly be worth to travel all the way to the mist? Speaking of which.

"We can't cut through Fire Country so we're going to have to go around through Rice Country." He stated, not really caring if she was listening or not. He pushed passed her as he walked through the door towards the exit. The only way he knew she was following him was because she was literally walking on his heels. He sighed as they walked onto the road stopping short and turning around to face her.

"Look, Amira -"

"Amaya."

"Whatever, crawl out of my ass. You're a ninja, act like one and if you don't you're never going to make it to the Mist Village." An awkward staring contest was happening between them. His left eye twitched before he turned around and began walking again. Her footsteps followed suit a minute later. She kept her distance as they walked this time. He could literally hear her thinking, god this was frustrating.

"Look kid if you got something to say just say it. It's going to be a long journey so spit it out now so we can forget about it." Silence followed after that statement for a couple minutes before she replied.

"Stop talking to me like I'm twelve." Her little voice sounded annoyed. Ha.

"Stop acting like it, how old are you anyway?" He quickly replied. She frowned at his comment, she hasn't even said anything how was she acting twelve...right?

"Twenty. How old are you?" She quickened her pace to walk side by side with him, eager to hear his answer.

"None of your business kid." He shut her down immediately. He was grateful for her silence after that.

After three days of traveling non-stop in silence Amaya finally spoke up.

"Kakuzu," He didn't think he'd ever heard someone say his name so gently.

"Can we please stop and rest?" Hmph. Only three days and she sounds this exhausted. He stopped and looked at her. She had been lagging behind for a couple hours but he figured it was because her legs were shorter than his. Her braid had turned messy with the shorter strands sticking out and she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep. He almost laughed at her, she was a mess.

"Fine. There's an Inn nearby we can rest there for tonight." She almost crumbled with relief in front of him. She had a slight bounce in her step as she followed him to an Inn in a small run down town a couple miles on the outskirts of Rice Country. He haggled with the Innkeeper for what felt like hours to her but he eventually turned towards her and nodded. She wanted to hug him to show her gratitude but she stopped herself. He would probably push her away anyway. Then maybe even make her sleep outside. Just thinking about that made her want to pass out from exhaustion. The Innkeeper led them to their room. She was going to vomit. There was only a full sized bed, that means she would have to… to…

"I CALL THE FLOOR" She blurted out her cheeks flushing.

Kakuzu and the innkeeper both turned to look at her eyebrows raised.

"Nonsense! Newlyweds can share a bed dear!" The Innkeeper stated proudly while she patted Amaya on the shoulder.

"Now you two enjoy and don't make too much of a mess for me to clean." Her voice faded as she disappeared down the hallway. Amaya looked at Kakuzu, her face a bright red. He glanced at her only for a second before he walked into the room, shedding his cloak and sitting at the small desk in the room. Amaya entered the room in a daze and shut the door behind her before leaning on it. She felt uncomfortable and she didn't know what to do with herself. She stared at the bed then at the bathroom. Oh, how badly she wanted to shower and sleep.

"Amaya" Kakuzu said her name, grabbing her attention. Her head snapped to the corner where he was sitting. He didn't bother looking at her as he spoke.

"Shower and go to bed. We have to get back on the road as soon as possible." When she didn't respond or move he put down what he was doing and turned to look at her. They locked eyes briefly before she nodded and headed into the bathroom. He sighed and rubbed his temples. She's a fucking child. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. He heard the shower turn on and he closed his eyes. And she needs to grow the fuck up.