Chapter 17. The King's Hand

"You never really know yourself until you see yourself under pressure." – Joyce Meyer

|Sasuke|

I got up and opened the door to find Deidara standing outside.

Dressed alike, he was wearing a black turtleneck with black joggers. The only difference between our outfits was that his turtleneck had some Chinese writing on the sleeves.

"It's time." He grinned, "The others are already downstairs but I gotta grab something. I'll come back and we can go down together, hm."

I nodded and turned back into the room. Although I was sure I had everything I needed, a quick sweep wouldn't hurt.

As it turned out, I had forgotten my wedding ring, and as I grabbed it off the nightstand, I saw that Karin had left her room keys. I wondered how she would get in and for a second considered calling her to ask if she was nearby.

'As if she'd pick up.' I reminded myself.

It had been a week since that night. I had barely touched Karin before I found myself flat on my back, with a throbbing pain in my side from her horse-like kick. But what shook me even more was how she remained frozen after kicking me, as if her mind had shutdown.

When I called her back to reality, she quickly apologized and ran out of the room, and I punched myself in the jaw for being so stupid. Horny or not, I wasn't a teenager. There was no excuse for what I had done, and right after she'd been assaulted, no less.

It didn't help that Karin had been steadily avoiding me since that incident, and while I understood I had messed up, it was starting to affect our image. Just a couple days ago Kakuzu had asked me if everything was "alright on the home front."

I'd managed to worm my way out of a long-winded conversation by blaming it on preparation for Pain's plans, but if things didn't change soon, I was sure to get caught up again.

Hearing movement behind me, I turned around and caught Karin grabbing a sweater from behind the door. Our eyes met and she looked away.

"Hey." She began to leave, "Just came to get this."

I quickly stepped to her and grabbed her hand, "Wait. Let's talk."

"Toshiaki-kun—"

"We have to." I interrupted her, pulling her to the couch, "I need to apologize. That night I drank a bit, and that's no excuse for what I did but I hope you can forgive me."

"Really, it's fine." She tried to resist me, but I persisted.

"No, it's not." I ran my thumb over her knuckles, "You were hurt, and I ignored that for my own desires and hurt you again. I know there's no one-step solution and these words really don't do anything but…I want to at least start making it up to you."

She bit her lip as if she was refraining from saying something.

"What is it? Anything I can do, just say the word."

She mumbled something and I leaned forward.

"What did you say?" I asked, unsure of what I'd heard.

"J-Just, don't touch me…anymore…" She trailed off.

"Oh. Okay." I nodded my head, standing up and letting go of her hand, "Yeah, that would be a start wouldn't it?"

"Don't be mad." She asked earnestly, and I shook my head as I assured her I wasn't.

"Like I said, anything I can do. Or cannot do." I tried for a joke and force a little smile, but her eyes told me she hadn't been fooled.

'Don't be stupid, Sasuke.' I told myself, 'She was almost raped and you tried to have sex with her. This is the mildest request.'

"Hontōni," I tried hard to convince her, "It's not like there's a reason for me to touch you. If you'd wanted me to give you some space or move out I—"

"Don't leave me here." Karin's voice broke, "Don't leave me alone…"

Again, that child-like tone from her nightmare's had surfaced, and though I wanted to console her I remembered I had been barred from touching her.

"Toshiaki-san, you—oops." Deidara stopped in the doorway, "I really have the worst luck when it comes to timing."

I turned to him and cleared my throat, "Aa, you can say that again."

"Oh well!" Deidara handed me a brown lunch bag, "Everyone's ready to go."

I brought out an X9 Beretta and gave it a quick look over before looking up at him, "What's this for?"

He smiled, "Just a little something to keep on your person. The big boy toys are in the car, but it doesn't hurt to have your own piece, hm."

I stuffed the pistol in my waistband and turned back to Karin, "Then, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Be safe." She stood up and held my face before planting a kiss on my forehead.

I was glad she had done this in front of Deidara, as now he would be inclined to believe everything was alright. But there was something her kiss, the way she lingered before letting go…as if she was trying to tell me something.

"Shinpai suru na!" Deidara threw his arm over me, bringing me out of my thoughts, "I'll bring your husband back in one piece."

Karin nodded and I followed Deidara out of the room.

Downstairs, I met some familiar faces. Daibutsu and Kie were laughing with Gekkō and his "heir" Ryōgi, while Sasori, Hidan, and Kakuzu discussed something in low voices. As we approached, Hidan looked up and spoke to us.

"Deidara, Toshiaki's coming with us."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "Boss's orders?"

"Nah, but everybody's been having their character development arc with him, now it's our turn." Hidan looked back at Sasori who rolled his eyes.

"This isn't the time for that. Besides, he's been preparing for this all week. You take him, we're gonna be down a man."

"So switch, Kakuzu will go with you and he'll come with us." Hidan shrugged, and Sasori and Deidara looked at each other.

"Me?" Kakuzu coughed, just becoming invested in the conversation, "There's no way my old ass will be toting guns. Leaving that to the younger generation."

"Come on Kakuzu, it'll be just like old times." Gekkō smiled to which Kakuzu shook his head.

"See? He can't go with you." Deidara crossed his arms, "Stop fucking around; if any part of this goes South, Boss wouldn't just banish you."

Hidan grinned at me, "What do you think, Toshiaki? You gonna Jūzō me?"

I recalled my first victim, eyes wide before and after death, and shook my head, "I won't have to."

Hidan put his hands behind his head, "Now I get why *Taicho chose you. The way you said that was really cool. I wish I could kill people and be cool."

"Yeah, ya kill people and then sound deranged afterwards." Sasori commented, to the chuckling of the others.

"I can't help it!" Hidan grinned crazily, "'Specially since I'm a hands-on kinda guy, something about the way the life just leaves their eyes—"

Deidara clapped his hands, "Enough of that. Before you turn Toshiaki-san into a crazed killer too."

"Toshiaki-kun…" All of us turned around to see Karin a few feet away, the elevator door open behind her.

"Uh oh…" Hidan said under his breath, and Kakuzu elbowed him.

She held out my Gedo ring and as I stepped towards her, I searched her face to see if she had heard anything.

'How long was she standing there?' I wondered as I took the ring from her, slipping it on, "Arigato."

Whether she had heard any damning words, her face did not reveal, and I began to regret that when she really tried, she could be a master at faking expressions. Deidara pulled on my shoulder, forcing me to turn back to the group.

"It's going to be 10 soon, we should get going."

Reluctantly, I agreed and started towards the door.

Hidan called out, "You sure you don't wanna come with us?"

Deidara walked backwards and scowled at him, "You go get that kid from Shojoji; Toshiaki-san's coming with us and that's final."

"Isn't…dead?" I heard Karin faintly mutter and looked over my shoulder to see her conversing with Sasori.

I couldn't help but wonder what he had said that caused her eyes to widen so quickly. She thanked him and went to the elevator, and I faced forward.

'You can't chase two hares. Bank first, Karin later.' I held the door for Daibutsu, and he nodded a silent thank you.

Kie, the more expressive of the two, did the same and I realized that play time was over. Only Gekkō wore a smile and even his looked like it would fall of any moment.

"Let's do this." Deidara told the four of us, and I tapped my forehead.

'Focus.'

Ryōgi laughed, "This is gonna be an interesting Monday."

*Taicho means Captain

|Karin|

"You lied to me." That was the first thing I said when Suigetsu opened his door.

"…What?" He rubbed his eye groggily, "What are you talking about?"

"About Shojoji." My fists instinctively tightened as I said his name, "You said you killed him, but Hidan-san said they're going to get someone from him. He's not dead."

Finally coming to terms with what I was saying, he stepped to the side, "Come in, let's talk about this."

I was hesitant to enter his room. Although our relationship had strengthened since that night, I was still playing the part of someone else's wife.

"Come on." He said softly, going back into the room, "I'm only dangerous when I'm hungry."

Hearing those familiar words should've helped me, but I couldn't help but think of them in a predatory way. Shaking my head, I followed him into the room and shut the door behind me.

'This is Suigetsu we're talking about. He would never do that.'

He switched on the light and searched for something in his drawer as I took a seat on his bed. Looking him over, I saw that his "pajamas" consisted of a white wifebeater and boxers. It was so Suigetsu I would've laughed if I weren't so anxious.

"Alright so…" He sighed as he shut his drawer, "Shojoji isn't dead."

That brought me back to my reason for coming here, "So…why did you tell me you killed him?"

He leaned against his drawer, "I thought that if you thought he was dead, it would make the memories go away faster."

"That's not how—"

"I know." He nodded, pulling his lips into a thin line, "Trust me, I know."

We went silent for a moment before I asked the first question that had popped into my head when Sasori told me the truth.

"…Why didn't you kill him?"

"I thought you didn't want me to." Suigetsu raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't but you said all that stuff about being a yakuza…" I trailed off, "It was Pain's plans, right? He was too important to be killed."

"No, I couldn't care less about that." Suigetsu rubbed his head, "I just…fuck, I've been lying to you this whole time, Misaki-san."

"How?" I tilted my head, confused at this revelation.

"I'm no yakuza." He admitted, "At least, I'm not a real one that's ever killed someone. Jūgo's been able to cross the line, and he was ready to do it again that night, but I stopped him."

"W-Why?" I silently cursed myself for my unnecessary stutter.

"Something I promised a…a close friend when I was younger. She asked me to stop hurting people so…"

'He's talking about me.' I realized, and for a second I thought about hugging him and telling him who I was, '"I'm right here! All this time, I've been right here!" Yeah right, I'd have to be crazy.'

"You must think it's stupid." He said, "Joining a criminal organization and holding onto something so childish."

I shook my head, "It's not. It shows you're a man of your word."

He laughed bitterly, "A word that I only kept after I'd killed somebody. I doubt she even thinks about me anymore."

"Don't say that." I got up, "You never know."

"Arigato." Suigetsu said dully, "Sorry for lying but I didn't want you to worry about him. You still don't have to worry about him. He can't hurt you, or anyone else anymore."

Something about that came off as cryptic, and I asked him to clarify.

"It's nothing." Suigetsu said quickly before patting my head, "Anything else?"

'He's avoiding it.' I thought, and stood for a moment to look at him, "Suigetsu…"

"It's nothing." He said again, this time slower to convince me, "I guess you don't have anything else to ask?"

If I didn't even have an idea what was behind those words, what could I do?

I thought about the quick exchange I had heard between Sasuke and the others, "You also said Toshiaki-kun killed someone? Was that a lie too or…?"

"Uh…" Suigetsu rubbed the back of his neck, "You should probably ask him about this. I'm not in the position to—"

"Please, Suigetsu." I interrupted him, rubbing my eyes, "You owe me for lying."

"Misaki-san—"

"You owe me." I repeated, and he sighed.

He was silent for a few moments before he leaned against his dresser, "I don't know the full story, I just know what's been said."

I nodded my head.

"There's a guy…was a guy named Jūzō who used to be one of the Gedo, had Toshiaki-kun's ring before him. But two years ago he fucked up big time and got one of Boss's best men locked up." Suigetsu crossed his arms, "Akatsuki lost millions of ryo and almost fell to nothing. Jūzō begged for his life and Boss gave it to him, on the condition that he never show his face again. Turns out he showed up the night of the dinner."

"How could he be so stupid?" I asked rhetorically and Suigetsu shrugged.

"Of course, even with a disguise, the Gedo spotted him right away. They had him locked up somewhere and that's when Boss and Toshiaki-san got to him. Apparently while Boss was trying to interrogate him, Toshiaki shot him point blank." Suigetsu re-enacted it, "Bang. He said that there was no point in sparing a traitor, something like that. They say that's why Boss is trusting Toshiaki-san more. He proved he could cross the line."

I covered my mouth as an image of Sasuke shooting someone formed in my mind, "No…that's not true, he would never…"

"That's just what I heard!" Suigetsu quickly waved his hands, "It's probably false or exaggerated."

'It's not.' I thought to myself as I remembered Sasuke saying our room hadn't been bugged by Pain.

"Not after what I've done for him."

"Buddha be merciful…" I stood up from his bed, "This whole time and I…"

"Misaki-san, wait." Suigetsu stepped in my path, "I don't want you to leave here upset because of some rumors. Toshiaki-san didn't tell you anything, right? Then it's probably not true."

"No." I shook my head, "It's the opposite. If he didn't tell me, it's true and he didn't want me to know."

"Misaki-san—"

"Suigetsu, I'm fine." I pushed past him and opened the door, "Thanks for telling me."

I left before he could say anything else and took out my phone to call Konan. She picked up on the second ring.

"Good morning, Joō-sama." I greeted her, getting in the elevator, "Can I talk to you?"

|3rd Person|

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Hidan cursed, slicking his hair back, "What did you say their names were?"

"S-Suigetsu and Jūgo." Kokuri stuttered before yelping as Hidan pushed past him.

"Fuck are you screaming for?" Hidan eyed him in annoyance, "I'm not gonna hit you but if you keep acting like a bitch, I just might!"

"Leave him, Hidan." Kakuzu sighed before turning to Sasori, "Now what?"

"We ain't got a choice, we gotta look for the kid." Sasori shrugged, following after Hidan and heading for the exit.

"When I get my hands on those two, they're dead!" Hidan raged, "And what kinda shitty organization does this fat fuck run? Where the fuck is his lieutenant? Even if he's out of commission, he should have somebody who can take care of things!"

"T-Tsukiyo-kun's staying by Shojoji-sama's side in the hospital. I-In case some were p-planning to take advantage of t-the situation a-and finish him." Kokuri squeaked, and Hidan turned around.

Sasori spun Hidan right back, "Cool it. Taking yer anger out on him won't help us."

A string of foul-mouthed curses left Hidan's mouth as he shrugged Sasori off and kicked the front doors open. Kakuzu handed Kokuri a bill, thanking him for the information as Sasori and Hidan reached the car.

Sasori started it up and Hidan got into the passenger seat before he slammed his fist down on the dashboard, "Fuck!"

"What's yer problem?" Sasori questioned, turning to him, "So what if the kid ain't here? That ain't an excuse to act like yer acting."

Hidan scowled and slumped down in his seat like a child, "I was supposed to be at the bank doing crowd control, then two days ago I got the memo I would be playing chauffeur. It pissed me off, but I figured it would be a quick job and I'd have time to do some other shit. Now we're playing manhunt? This is fucked."

"Shame. I find this entertaining." Kakuzu said as he got into the backseat, "Suigetsu and Jūgo, hm? If it weren't for the fact that they messed up Pain's plans, I'd have advocated for them to get promoted. They did what some people have wanted to do for years."

Sasori put the car in reverse and backed out of Shojoji's residence before pulling onto the main road, "I'll say. Killing him's one thing but cutting his dick off? No wonder they're under Orochimaru; that's torture if I ever heard of it."

Hidan couldn't help but snicker, "I wonder how it looked."

"Shaving already draws more blood than you'd expect." Kakuzu shook his head, "Complete severance? If I'd known it was going to happen, I probably would've put money on him dying from blood loss."

"Well whatever our thoughts, Boss ain't gonna be happy that they did that to him." Sasori checked his rearview mirror as he turned, "He's a piece of shit but we were supposed to have the kid before the bank assault started."

"Speaking of which." Sasori fiddled with the radio knobs as he drove, searching for a particular station.

"…heavily armed. Reports are that at least 35 civilians are still inside the bank. Shots were fired but no deaths have been confirmed. We're going to Wagatsuma Junko who is live at the scene. Wagatsuma-san?"

"Like I said." Hidan's face had returned to its scowl, "This is fucked."

"We just have to find the kid." Sasori sped through a yellow light, "And find him fast."

|Sasuke|

"Shit." Kie cursed under his breath, turning away from the body, "There weren't supposed to be any casualties."

"Don't listen to him. I owe you my life." Deidara patted my back as he moved past me, and I slowly nodded as I stared at the lifeless man before me.

'It wasn't my fault.' I reasoned, 'We said nobody should move. He tried to play the hero and paid the price.'

"But if he's playing the hero then who's the villain?" I murmured to myself, looking back at the crowd.

They collectively flinched and I tried not to shake my head. I put my gun back on safety and returned to my spot beside Gekkō.

"Although it wasn't in the plan, it was bound to happen. Good crowd control always comes at a cost." Gekkō tried to cheer me up.

'What's wrong with me?' I asked myself, 'I'm not playing the soft-hearted gentleman, I'm supposed to be the cold-blooded killer.'

"He knew better than to try that with us around." I responded before addressing the crowd, "And let this be a lesson to all of you! Act up, you die! Sit tight and you'll make it out of here to see another day!"

"Mommy…" A little girl by the front whined and her mother hugged her tight.

"Shush, we'll be okay." She looked back up at me fearfully and I nodded, "We'll be okay…"

"Oi, Gekkō." Deidara came to us, "How long before your boy gets the job done?"

Gekkō checked his watch, "Huh, we should've heard something by no—"

The ground rumbled beneath us and some of the civilians cried out in fear. Deidara yelled for everyone to shut up and they quickly quieted down.

"Boss. Boss, you there?" Gekkō's walkie-talkie buzzed and he removed it from his hip.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm guessing that little earthquake we just felt was you?" Gekkō answered.

Ryōgi laughed on the other end, "Yep. This bomb can pack a punch; you need to get down here and see for yourself."

"Alright, be right down." Gekkō switched the walkie-talkie off, "Deidara, let's go. Toshiaki, you guys can handle the hostages, right?"

Kie waved them off, "We've got it."

Deidara grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to the side, "Don't let your guard down with those two. I told you before Boss doesn't trust them."

Before I could ask why they were so dangerous Gekkō walked by and Deidara left me to follow after him.

Daibutsu and Kie had split up to walk around so I took a seat facing the hostages and reflected on how we'd gotten to this stage.

"Everybody ready?" Deidara asked, and we nodded before pulling down our owl masks.

We hopped out of the black van and Gekkō's men opened up the back doors, handing us our stuff. The Howa 89, a lightweight assault rifle with minimum recoil was the gun we'd be using. Besides a bulletproof vest and black leather gloves, that was all we had.

"The less, the better." Gekkō assured us.

We entered the bank guns blazing, literally. Since they'd kept an eye on the bank's security rotations, we quickly incapacitated the officers with some shots to the legs and got behind the front desk. Unfortunately, one of the tellers had already pushed the panic button.

A few brave civilians had managed to run out before we secured the exits. When we had barricaded the doors, Gekkō, Kie, Daibutsu, and I stayed up while Ryōgi took Gekkō's two other men to the vault underground.

It made sense, after all, no matter how many times you transferred it, paper money left a trail. But jewels? They could be melted down, taken overseas, traded…there would be no telling where the money from them had come and gone.

While we were standing around, I had a noticed a man sitting in between booths had been watching Deidara. Something in my gut told me to keep any eye on him, and my gut turned out to be right. Deidara tripped over another civilian's foot and the man quickly reached under the booth to bring out a pistol. My hands moved faster than my brain could process what was going on and before I knew it, I had shot him.

"Please, please no…" A man begging brought me out of my thoughts, and I stood up.

Around the corner, Daibutsu was lifting a man to his feet while Kie kept his rifle trained on him. I watched in silence.

"If you don't want to die, shut up and move." Kie said in a low voice before he looked up.

Our eyes met and he nodded as if there had been an agreement between us. The man got up tearfully and moved towards the back with them. I stood guard in the front, walking in between civilians and inspecting them carefully.

As I did, my thoughts drifted to Kie and Daibutsu. Deidara had mentioned twice that Pain didn't trust them, but for what reason? It suddenly occurred to me that they may have had some deep secret, some hidden intel on Pain that prevented them from being brought into the fold, but also made it so that they couldn't leave.

Whatever it was, I never got the chance to learn it, at least not from them.

It had been some time since they'd gone into the back with the man, so I decided to follow in their footsteps and head there as well. What I found shocked me.

The exit we had barricaded was ajar, and Daibutsu and Kie were nowhere to be seen. I quickly took my walkie-talkie from my belt to inform Deidara of their treachery.

"Put it down." I heard the click of a gun behind me and turned around.

Kie was aiming the rifle at me with his finger lightly resting on the trigger. He nodded his head at the shelf, and I set the walkie-talkie down.

"Ah, what'd you have to go and do that for?" Kie sighed, "Even if you're playing a part, don't you think you went a little too far? Hm, Sasuke-kun?"

Adrenaline prevented me from freezing, and I quickly rejected his suspicions, "Who?"

"Don't play dumb." Kie started to lower the gun, "Inspector Uchiha Sasuke, right? The Six sent you to take Akatsuki down from the inside."

"What are yo—"

"Oh, for Buddha's sake." Kie threw up a hand, "Who do you think the informant is?"

I recalled Izumi going over the mission with me and her mentioning that an informant would help us make contact. This had to be true, the details matched too well. And if it was a lie and Kie had just miraculously put it together, I still had to know how.

"It was you?" I asked in surprise.

Kie lifted up his mask, smiling, "Of course. Now come on, *KAT will be here soon and even though they're gonna try to bring them in, the others won't go down without a fight. Don't end up in a body bag."

"But Misaki?" I thought of Karin, "I can't leave her."

"I sent Daibutsu before me to get her ready. We'll head back to the castle and pick them up before anyone knows what's going on, now come!" Kie yelled.

Just as I was about to go to him, a bullet whizzed past my ear and hit him square in the forehead. It happened in slow motion and when I finally processed what had happened, I turned and saw Gekkō lowering his rifle. Two bulging black duffle bags were on his shoulders.

Had he heard much? From the expression on his face, he didn't let on that he'd learned anything surprising.

Making their way toward us was an injured Deidara holding his side while one of Gekkō's men kept him on his feet. They too had duffle bags, although Gekkō's side guy was holding Deidara's as well.

"What happened?" I asked as I went to relieve Gekkō's man of Deidara. Ryōgi and the other guy were nowhere to be found.

"Another…entrance." Deidara wheezed, "Police…swarmed us…got…Ryōgi."

Gekkō stepped over Kie's dead body and tapped his foot impatiently, "Come on, come on…where the fuck is he?"

"Who?" I asked, wondering if there had been someone else involved in the job who I did not know.

A black Honda Civic practically drove up to the door. Rolling down the windows, Zetsu quickly swallowed whatever he had been eating.

Gekkō got into the passenger seat and his man opened the back door, allowing me to settle Deidara first before climbing inside. Zetsu put the car in reverse and sped down a narrow alleyway. How he didn't scratch the car, I don't know.

"Where the fuck were you?" Gekkō cursed, stuffing his duffle bags under his legs and stretching his shoulders.

"Amaguriama." Zetsu admitted shamelessly, "They were having a dango sale, I had to get it!"

Deidara laughed a bit before wincing and I looked back at Zetsu, "Step on it."

"Sheesh, tough crowd today." Zetsu remarked before turning back onto the road and pressing down the pedal.

I thought about what Kie had said and wondered if Daibutsu had made it back yet. Kie was dead now, that route was no longer an option.

'Please Kami, don't let her know.'

|Sarada|

"I wanna sell it too." Tentō whined as he held his hands behind his head.

Kakō sneered, "What are you, 14? You want the Feds to add child labor to our list of charges?"

Tentō scowled, "They wouldn't know."

"Of course they would." Mitsuki laughed, "You're easygoing with chubby cheeks, no one would feel right taking anything from you."

Tentō puffed his cheeks out in annoyance and I tried to encourage him, "Just think of yourself as our broker. You know we sell it; refer people to us and you get a cut."

He waved his hand, "Forget the money, I've got more than enough. This is an opportunity to try something new. When's the next time I'm gonna be able to sell drugs?"

"Can't believe this kid." Kakō shook his head, "I prayed to Kami every morning before I boiled my bath water that we'd win the lotto."

"You didn't have hot water?" I asked, interested in Kakō's story.

"No." Kakō grimaced, "No hot water, barely enough money to keep the lights on…those were tough times. Once Kū got us off the ground, we swore we'd never go back."

"Hm." I nodded in understanding, and Kakō grabbed Tentō's head and shook it playfully.

"That's why I'm pissed seeing your rich ass try to get into this shit. This isn't a game, this is a source of income, shitty brat."

Tentō shook Kakō off before smiling lightly, "I could still help."

"Grow some chest hair then talk to me." Kakō shoved him and we all laughed.

As we crossed the street and stepped onto Iburi Place, Mitsuki broke off from us to stop at a corner store. We told him we could wait but he told us to go on ahead, that he would catch up. I gave him a quick kiss, to which Kakō groaned at, and told him to grab me a Coke.

Ever since my fight with Inojin had occurred, we'd gotten much closer. I'd practically been living at his house and thankfully the "Akuta," as Kū had told me to call them, weren't around too often. I'd shared my ideas with Kū somedays after and as expected, he'd told me not to worry about selling it. Since then, the siblings had been with their endeavors.

Mitsuki still expressed his disapproval at my involvement but when I reminded him that the more time I spent with him, the less time I could dedicate to the business, he brightened up. However, there were some drawbacks.

For one, I had missed about four days of school in a row. Chōchō informed that Inojin and Boruto had also been absent, and while I understood Inojin not being there, I wondered about Boruto. Before I could ask about it, Sumire snatched the phone out of Chōchō's hands and proceeded to lecture me about the importance of education and being present.

I had promised her I would be right back on schedule next week, yet it was Monday afternoon and here I was skipping again.

"Fuck school." Kū had told me on Friday, "Biggest scam this nation ever tried to shove down our throats. Scores? Report cards? None of those pay bills."

"Don't listen to him, Sarada." Mitsuki called from the kitchen, "School can do a lot for you."

"You tell me," Kū pointed a finger as he took a bite of his sandwich, "You tell me one core class that's useful to everyday life, I'll give you five grand right now."

The core classes in school were English, Math, Kanji, and Science. I tried to make an argument for Kanji, but he waved his hand.

"Everybody knows how to read and write. You really think a class that teaches you the three different ways to spell sunflower is gonna make you a millionaire in the future?"

I had no response for that, but before Kū could continue his point, Sekiei came in and told Kū he was ready. The two of them left and as Kū walked out of the door, he patted my head.

"If there's one thing you should focus on, it's money, y'hear? Money."

Aside from that little discussion, I hadn't seen Mama at all these past few days, and I wasn't bothered by it. If anything, I was actually glad that she hadn't called to ask about me. Finally, she had dropped the caring mother act and shown her true colors, and that was alright with me. Now she could live her life and leave me to live mine.

"Madoka Tentō." An unfamiliar voice jolted my head up, "That's you, isn't it?"

I looked up and found a black Toyota Camry blocking the crosswalk. The passenger window was rolled down and a middle-aged man with slicked back grey hair was grinning maniacally. As ordinary people walked around it, they gave him dirty looks. He opened the door and got out, walking up to Tentō.

"That's you, isn't it?" He repeated, bending down to look Tentō in the eyes.

"That's me." Tentō nodded, "We got a problem?"

I wanted to smack him in the back of his head for acting tough but thankfully, Kakō was here to back him up.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Kakō stepped forward.

The man straightened up and stood eye to eye with Kakō, "Not at all. His dad sent us to get him, so let's get going Tentō."

"I've never seen you in my life." Tentō remarked, "I'm not going."

"This is why I hate kids." The man sighed before grabbing Tentō's arm, "They're always making shit difficult."

"You deaf, old man?" Kakō shook Tentō free and pushed him back, "The kid said he doesn't wanna go, you think you're just gonna take him while I'm here?"

"…Did he just call me old man?" The man looked back at the car.

In the driver's seat was a tan man with long hair. He nodded while snickering and the grey-haired man let go of Tentō's arm.

Looking around, his eyes landed on alley to the left of us and he motioned for us to follow him before telling his partner to bring the car around.

I tried to tell Kakō that there was no point in fighting him, we could just continue on our way, but if there was one thing I'd learned as I spent more time with him, it was that Kakō loved a fight. Tentō didn't help either, as I could tell he was excited to finally see some action.

With a bad feeling, I followed them into the alley.

Kakō asked Tentō to hold his sweater, at which the grey-haired man smirked, seeing as he was wearing a parka and didn't take it off.

"I'll make it easier on ya." The man spread his arms, "You get three hits, free of charge."

Kakō's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out the man's game.

"What's the matter?" The man tilted his head, "If you don't take 'em you won't win."

At that, Kakō's pride flared and he raised his arms in a fighting stance, "Don't need it."

The man grinned widely, "I like your attitude kid. Make this fun for me."

|10 Minutes Later|

"Ora, ora." The man said as he rolled Kakō over with his foot, "Is this what kids do nowadays? Talk big but can't back it up? Tch, I wouldn't have wasted my time if I knew you were this weak."

'Police. I have to call the police.' I thought to myself as I slowly crept my hand into my purse, 'No, they'll make things worse, so who…?'

I had been fairly confident that Kakō would win. After all, the man was clearly in his mid-stages of life, and he didn't look overtly fit or even in shape, at least not with the coat on. But looks proved to be deceiving, especially in his case.

Kakō swung and the man returned the hits with equal force. After the first two attempts, Kakō was already winded from the man's returns. He aimed for vital spots, the ribs, the stomach, the chin…Kakō didn't stand a chance.

Sometime during the fight, the scarred man had happened to get out of the car and creep up behind us. He clamped a white cloth over Tentō's face and I could do nothing but stand and watch as Tentō went limp in a matter of seconds.

By the time I had looked back over to Kakō, he was on the floor, unresponsive, with the other man still beating him.

"Enough, Hidan." The scarred-man told his partner, "You wanna kill the kid?"

"Old man." He spat as he raised his head, "Fucking kidding me? I'm the one he calls old man when Frankenstein's standing right behind me?"

The scarred man clicked his tongue, "He wasn't entirely wrong. If you were in your prime, you would've mopped the floor with him, but he managed to get two hits in."

"Tch." Hidan touched under his right eye where Kakō had landed a punch, "Was he right-handed or left-handed?"

"Righty, why?"

Hidan stretched out Kakō's right arm and lifted his foot, "This should humble him."

"Stop!" I yelled as Hidan was about bring down his foot.

He turned his purple eyes on me and I shivered, at which his partner behind me roared with laughter, "Ah, you really did it with that one Hidan, you're so ugly the girl had a heart attack."

Hidan scowled before setting his foot down gently, "Kakuzu, you're not too old to get beat up."

"Baka, why'd you have to say my name?" His partner shook his head, stepping to him, "Now we have to bring her with us."

"Says who?" Hidan kept his eyes trained on mine, "We only need him."

"What, you gonna kill her? You already fucked up but putting your hands on the guy, you kill her and I'll be the one to blame. Forget it, we're taking her."

"Just a quick snap of the neck would—"

"No. Stop trying to kill every chance you get, you're gonna end up in jail that way."

"You like money, I like killing. You don't hear me complaining about…"

While the two of them argued, I slowly stepped back, and my eyes darted from the unconscious Kakō to the unconscious Tentō. I felt bad but there was no way I could take either of them with me and still escape.

'If I can just get out of here—'

"Whoa, you managed to get pretty far!" Kakuzu called out, "See Hidan? While we're bickering, she almost got the drop on us."

Hidan walked over to me and grabbed my arm, "Fine, let's take 'em both. Play nice girl. Don't give me a reason to hurt you like I hurt your friend."

I looked at Kakō, sprawled out by the dumpster, blood oozing out of a wound from…somewhere. I couldn't even tell where it was, that was how badly he had been beaten. Then there was Tentō, who had been knocked out from the beginning, as Hidan had grabbed him into the alleyway and smothered him with a handkerchief.

"Come on!" Hidan dragged me behind him, nodding to Kakuzu, "We're done here, right? Fuck, this whole job was fucked from the beginning."

"Pain will figure it out." Kakuzu agreed, referencing some other person, "I just hope the others aren't running into any similar mishaps. It's already a tough enough mission as it is."

Kakuzu opened the back door and set Tentō down inside before beckoning for me to join. I looked down the street one last time, hoping that by some miracle Mitsuki would come this way and I would at least be able to call out his name.

"Take your time." Hidan jolted me out of my thoughts, and I lowered my head and got in the car, giving up on any miraculous interventions, "Kids these days."

As Hidan got into the passenger seat, Kakuzu came around and got in the back with me and Tentō. It was then that I realized there was a third person involved.

In the driver's seat was a red-haired young-looking man who met my eyes in the rearview mirror as he started the car.

"Ya checked her or are we getting busted before we get there?" The man asked with a heavy accent.

"Oh!" Kakuzu looked at me, "I checked the boy, all Hidan's talk of murder made me forget her. Phone?"

I froze and Hidan turned around to look at me, "Don't make me search you."

The thought of him touching me was enough to get my gears going again, and I handed my phone to Kakuzu.

"Thank you." He turned it over, inspecting it, "It's really pretty. Such a shame."

He tossed it out of the window before the red-haired man put the car into drive and pulled out onto the street. I kept my eyes glued to it as we drove away.

'There goes my one chance.'

"Ya were really gonna kill a little girl?" The red-haired man shook his head at Hidan.

"You two are the biggest hypocrites I've ever met. If it was…" I stopped listening to their conversation as my phone went out of sight.

Sitting back, I twiddled my fingers and wondered where we were going.

|Karin|

"When I was younger, I foolishly believed that if you did the right thing to others, they would do the right thing to you. When I was a teenager…" Konan handed me a mug of tea, "I thought that as long as I was good, good would come to me. But now I know that good only comes to those who take it."

I drank some of the tea, "Not…necessarily."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow as she lifted her own mug to her lips, "Take Toshiaki-kun for example. He's good to you, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you had to have taken him from someone else."

"I would never—"

"I don't mean in an underhanded way like cheating." She raised a hand, cutting me off, "But Toshiaki-kun must've had someone before you that also liked him. By marrying him, you took away her good and made it your own."

I set down my mug, "I guess."

She rubbed my arm, "Sorry, I'm not trying to upset you. Toshiaki-kun has a strong conviction, I've come to understand that."

Question marks floated into my head but before I could ask her to elaborate, there was a knock at the door. Konan rolled her eyes before calling for the person to come in. The door opened and Pain stepped inside.

"We need to talk." His violet eyes held a scary message behind them, directly contrasting the small smile that danced on his lips, "Forgive me for interrupting, Misaki."

"No, no." I stood up, looking back at Konan before I made my way towards the door, "Not at all. We'll speak later Joō-sama?"

"Yes." She nodded as Pain stepped aside to let me leave, "I'll find you."

I didn't even get a chance to give her one last look, as Pain shut the door on em the second I stepped out. Part of me wanted to stand by it and listen in, but that would be the most juvenile way to gain information ever. Sighing, I stepped back from the door and turned around, bumping into someone.

"Sorry." I apologized as I looked up at the person, "I didn't see you there…"

The first thing I recognized about the man were his large ears. Sweat made his bald head shine under the light , and served to make me more concerned about the stressed out expression on his face.

"Um, you're Daibutsu-san, right?" I recalled him from Sasuke's explanation, "Can I help you with something?"

He nodded his head quickly as his chest moved in and out due to his laborious breathing, and he grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall. As he kicked open the door to the stairwell, I yanked my hand free.

"Where are we going?" I demanded to know.

He waved his hands frantically and continued down the steps. To say I was suspicious of him would be an understatement, but at the same time something about his desperation made me follow after him. What was he trying to say?

He opened the door to the main floor and as I realized we were going towards the front door. I walked into him as he stopped in his tracks, eyes widening at what was in front of him but before I could look to see what had stopped him, I found myself being shoved into a nearby closet.

My instincts kicked in and I immediately tried to fight him off but he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close. I started to scream but he quickly clamped his hand down on my mouth and although I bit it, he hissed but didn't let go of me.

I felt vomit rise in my throat as I gave up.

He hit the light switch with his elbow and lifted my chin so that I would see him. I shut my eyes and he shook me lightly, as if he wanted me to look.

'So that's his game.' I thought weakly, 'He wants to see the pain.'

I looked up at him with the resolve to stare him in the eyes as he did whatever he did, but instead saw that he was holding a finger to his mouth, and he looked a thousand times more fearful than I felt. It was as if he had seen his worst nightmare.

He let go of me and lowered his hand from my mouth, pleading with his for me to be silent, and I nodded my head, wiping my tears.

"Somebody!" I heard Sasuke yell, his voice almost desperate, "Get me a stretcher for Kami's sake!"

There were other voices speaking as well but sine they weren't as loud as he was, I couldn't make out what they were saying. The words setup

I thought about reaching for the doorknob but a quick glance at Daibutsu told me that would be impossible.

"Weren't you supposed to be at the bank with him?" I asked, "Why's are you here? What's going on out there?"

"…Sasuke." Daibutsu said, and I froze.

"What…did you say?" I blinked to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

"Uchiha…Sasuke." His voice was very deep but the way he paused and held his throat after speaking made me think it caused him a lot of pain, "Undercover. You…too."

"W-What?" I laughed weakly and he shook his head.

"Ally…I…help." He rubbed his throat, and an idea came to mind.

I took out my phone and opened up the Notes app before handing it to him, "Type, that way you don't have to speak."

He nodded thankfully and tapped away. After a few seconds, he held the phone up to me.

"I know you two are undercover. Kie and I are the informants that helped you get in. I was supposed to get you and wait for Sasuke and Kie to pick us up, but you weren't in your room and I had to search for you. Now they're back."

"We can still leave." I responded after I had finished reading, "Let me go out there and get him."

Daibutsu quickly shook his head and typed his thoughts, "No, it's too late. I didn't hear Kie with them which means they know about me. There's no way all three of us will get out of here alive if we leave now."

"So what should we do?" I crossed my arms.

He smiled lightly as he typed back and I felt uneasy about what he was going to say. It was the kind of smile terminally ill people had, as if they knew their time was up. He held the phone back up to me and I read.

"Daibutsu-san, no." It was my turn to shake my head, "Fine, we won't leave. There's no reason for you to—"

I cut myself off as he went back to typing.

"I was born strange. When I was a kid nobody would talk to me, so when I met Kie, someone who understood me from the start, I was happy. If he's not here, there's no place for me."

"Daibutsu-san…"

"Trust me Misaki. Now before we do this, there are things you have to know about Pain. There's a reason why he's the way he is."

I nodded, "My real name is Karin, by the way."

He smiled genuinely before he began typing Pain's life story. When he handed it to me to read, I couldn't help but raise a hand to my mouth as I went down the paragraph.

"This…this is…"

"…Pain." Daibutsu nodded.

"So," I put my phone in my back pocket, "How are we gonna do this?"

He turned me around and put me in a headlock, albeit a weak one, and kicked the janitor door open. I pretended to struggle against him but when his grip tightened, I actually put effort into shaking him off.

Again, his monstrous strength proved to be unbreakable, but I didn't have to keep up the charade for long. Gekkō, Zetsu, and Sasori were the only ones on the floor, but that was enough for me.

"Misaki-chan!" Zetsu called my name while Gekkō lifted his hand to his waist.

Daibutsu slightly twisted my head and Gekkō stopped moving, clicking his tongue as his hand fell back to his side.

"Take it easy." Sasori raised his hands as he spoke to Daibutsu, "No need to hurt her."

"Haven't you betrayed us already?" Gekkō asked as he scowled, "What else do you want?"

While Daibutsu slowly talked to them, my hand was creeping up his right leg. Like we had planned, I would take his knife from his belt loop and stab him in the leg. Then when he let me go, I would run over to Zetsu and Gekkō to avoid any suspicion.

'But it's not gonna go like that.' I thought to myself as my hand passed his pocket.

Leaving him like that would only get him killed. If I could stab him, then somehow get the knife to his throat instead, I would be able to keep them from killing him.

'Now if I can just get the kni—'

There was a loud bang like a gun had been fired and Daibutsu's grip slackened. He fell forward and almost took me down with him, but I managed to slip out of his arms before he hit the ground. I touched the side of my head as something ran down the side and looked back to see blood on my fingers, but I knew it wasn't mine.

"Nice shot, Toshiaki." Gekkō grinned, and I turned around.

Sasuke reholstered the smoking pistol and quickly walked over to me, touching my arms, "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

I wanted to shake him off and scream at him. How could he just kill with no hesitation? Didn't he know about the plan? But I knew Gekkō and Zetsu were watching us, so I simply shook my head and thanked him.

"The beast wanted to snap her neck." Zetsu said as he kicked Daibutsu's lifeless body, "Bad enough he betrayed us. He was going to be selfish and take her with him."

"Never." Sasuke's nostrils flared as he rubbed his eyes, "Talk about timing though. I come back from making sure Deidara's settled in the sickbay, only to find my wife being held hostage."

Gekkō whistled as he stretched his arms, "I was ready to take him on but he stopped me. Might've been a good thing though, they were close as hell, I couldn't have taken the shot. How were you able to? She's your wife, I thought you'd have been more hesitant."

Sasuke put his arm around my waist and pulled me close, resting his chin on top of my head, "You think I would hurt my woman?"

I faked a laugh and squeezed his hand while the three of them chatted, but I wanted nothing more than to be separated and far away from him.

'Murderer.' I thought as I watched him talk to them with ease, 'You're not even fazed by it.'

Thankfully, Sasuke let me go, telling us that he needed to report to Pain the events that had occurred in the bank. Sasori responded by saying he could tell him later on at the Gedo meeting.

"No." Sasuke insisted, shaking his head, "There're somethings I wanna run by him before hand, some theories of mine…"

"Don't tell him I was buying dango when you guys needed me." Zetsu begged.

Sasori laughed at this and Sasuke waved his hand before leaving us. Once he was out of sight, I felt my legs start to shake.

"Misaki-san?" Sasori said as he grabbed my arm, "Daijōbu?"

"Of course not." Gekkō took my other arm, "You were being brave for him, ne? That Toshiaki…what woman gets held hostage and doesn't feel anything. It makes sense to be scared but he's dead now." Gekkō finished that off with a kick to Daibutsu's stomach and I clenched my teeth to keep from shoving him.

'You're wrong.' I said to myself as they helped me to the dining hall, 'It's not Daibutsu I was afraid of. I was hoping Suigetsu had gotten the details wrong, but Sasuke is a comfortable killer.'

"Where should we take her? The sickbay's occupied at the moment." Sasori informed them.

"Occupied how?" Zetsu asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"The kid we got from our job." Sasori sighed, "We were supposed to get him from Shojoji, who's in the hospital…Long story short, we had to find the kid on our own and we had to use chloroform on him."

Sasori had taken me from Gekkō completely at this point, carrying me on his back like a dad would his child.

Gekkō scratched his beard, "That's just one kid though. And he's out cold so what's stopping her?"

"It ain't just one, those two fucked up and said each other's names in front of one of his friends. We had to bring her too." Sasori pinched the bridge of his nose, "She's been silent the entire time, it's weirder than rain in Suna."

Zetsu laughed, "I wanna meet this girl now."

"Hello? Misaki-san?" Gekkō brought their attention back to me and I felt like smiling.

Everything I had heard just now had gone in one ear and out the other, I was still stuck on Sasuke's senseless killing, and it didn't help that Daibutsu's body was still on the floor.

"Screw it, where's yer room?" Sasori asked me and I told him it was on the third floor, "Then let's go."

He stepped into the elevator with me and the last thing I saw was Zetsu rolling Daibutsu over with his foot.

'Sasuke-kun…' I thought to myself, 'I'll never forgive you.'

|3rd Person|

"Thank you for holding onto this piece of cloth for so long." Orochimaru bowed slightly as Benga shut the car door.

"Yes, well," Benga smirked as he lifted up the briefcase Orochimaru had given him, "For ten million ryo you can rest assured I took very good care of him, er, it."

"Heh." Orochimaru laughed as he put the car in drive, "I trust you'll take care of any others should they happen to get lost in here again."

Benga looked back at Hōzuki Castle and grinned, "Of course!"

Once they were beyond the main gate, Orochimaru looked at the backseat.

"You can take that nonsense off." Slowly the figure in the white sheet sat up and pulled the sheet off.

A brown man with dark blue hair rubbed his wrists as he looked at his arms, "…Can't believe it."

At this, Orochimaru quietly laughed, "Never thought you'd be unchained, ne? Come on Kisame, you know better than to think Pain would let you rot in a cell."

"It feels so unreal I could just cry." Kisame flashed a wide toothed grin, "Shed tears of blood."

A notification popped up on Orochimaru's phone and he tilted his head, "I don't know about tears, but it looks like you'll be shedding blood real soon. Get changed, there should be some clothes in the trunk."

Kisame reached into the back and pulled on the black tank top and grey shorts that had been left for him, "Much better! Can I surf before we head back?"

"No." Orochimaru quickly denied him.

"Come on O-chan." Kisame poked his shoulder, "Just 5 minutes on the water, that's all I need."

"You can't." Orochimaru said more firmly, "It's only a matter of time till they put out an APB and there's no covering those tattoos." He nodded his head at Kisame's arms.

Kisame sighed, "It's a family thing, what can I say?"

"You don't have to say anything." Orochimaru chuckled, "Report back to Pain first, find out what he needs from you. You know the drill, you get it done, you have time to yourself."

Kisame sat back and rested his arms behind his head before yawning, "And how goes the science experiment?"

"Watch it." Orochimaru warned him.

"Warui, warui." Kisame apologized, "But has any progress been made?"

"Soon." Orochimaru nodded as he kept his eyes on the road, "We're right there, Kisame. Just a few more things and we will change the world."

"Yeah, yeah." Kisame waved his hand.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue, "You act disinterested, but I know you care. Do you know what it'll mean if we bring back someone who died 22 years ago? I could bring back my parents. You could bring back your sister—"

"Alright." Kisame interrupted, "I get it so…enough."

"Sorry, but all these years weren't for nothing." Orochimaru assured him, "You'll see."