A week has passed since I woke up and its been hell. After looking in a mirror, I discovered that even my hair had been burnt off. I'm still upset about the news even though Karin managed to temporarily fix it by pulling my bangs back to hide the shriveled hair. I haven't been thrilled about this but there was nothing else that I could do.

Sasuke had led us to a secret Uchiha hideout where the cat inhabitants made us new clothes and gave us weapons. The cats weren't too keen on me being there since I apparently smell like a snake but Sasuke vouched for me. Along with a new outfit, I was also able to get a new sword and some supplies to create a new puppet to replace what I lost in the blast. As of now, we've been following Sasuke to another Uchiha hideout where he will fight Itachi. I was in the middle as we ran with Sasuke in front but I quickened my pace ignoring the protests my body was telling me.

"So Sasuke, since I trained you before, I think it's time you repaid me." I said which caught his attention. I could see his eyes dart towards me then back to the forest before us.

"What do you mean?"

"Help me control the curse mark. You had help with yours and I have no one, I can't control it."

"Tsk, we'll see." He replied not taking his eyes off the forest.

It was silent for the rest of our journey until Karin spoke up. "A humongous chakra! And it's fast! In coming!" She announced with slight panic in her voice.

As we continued, we finally exited the forest finding Kisame waiting ahead blocking our path. "Only Sasuke may go beyond this point, Itachi's orders," he said as he stood up from his crouching position, "the rest of you are welcome to wait here."

"All right, we were only traveling as a platoon to prevent interference for my showdown. This will do." Sasuke replied.

"No, you can't Sasuke! Let's take him down and go in together." Karin protested.

"This is his fight Karin, not ours." I spoke up. "He's been planning on fighting him alone from the beginning. He only recruited us to fight off the Leaf and other Akatsuki members."

"I have no intention to fight except for maybe the Himura." Kisame said eying me showing his sharp teeth as he smiled.

"Stay put, this is my vendetta." Sasuke ordered before running ahead.

Kisame's eyes never left mine. "It looks like you want a rematch Kisame," I said with a smirk.

"I can't resist, my Samehada is itching for your chakra." He said as he gripped the hilt of his sword. "I'd love to see how much you've improved after all this time," Kisame finished pulling his sword from his back pointing it towards me.

Right away he came at me with his sword slashing down aiming for my shoulder. I lunged to my left to dodge but he had a clone waiting for me. I dove to the ground going under his legs pouring chakra into my hand then used it to activate my summoning tattoos. I had shuriken between each finger pouring chakra into them causing them to glow blue. Kisame jumped back creating some distance which works perfectly for me. I threw all four of them towards Kisame. As they soared through the air, the chakra around them started to expand making them bigger and bigger as they got closer to him.

"Water style: Exploding water colliding wave!" Kisame said as he looked at the ground suddenly spewing water from his mouth while weaving more signs. "Water style: Five feeding sharks!"

The water stopped my shuriken, so I sent chakra to my feet jumping into the air landing on the water's surface. I searched the water for the five sharks seeing they were surrounding me ready to attack. I jumped away as two attempted to bite me but the other three already knew where I was going to land and swam there. One jumped out of the water towards me but I managed to round house kick it away back into the water.

Once I made contact with the water, another got my left leg dragging me into the water attempting to drown me. I knew fighting would be useless so I turned around as my chakra flowed to my fist then punched the shark as hard as I could making it disappear. The rest of them swam towards me with great speed so I created clones to distract them as I swam further down reaching the bottom.

"Earth Release: Great Moving Earth Core," I thought then my hands made contact with the ground making it start to shake.

Once I held up my arms slightly, the ground collapsed causing the water to rush into the cracks slowly draining it. I was swept away by the current starting to move in a circle viciously. I was running out of breath making me instinctively gasped for air receiving water instead. Once the water was drained, I barely had time to cough out the water. Kisame was ready to slash me with his sword once more just missing my left arm. His sword was able to absorb my chakra which was almost all of it besides what I've stored in my necklace.

I jumped to the side avoiding another attack as pain shot up my left leg from the shark bite. Suddenly, I felt a chakra that seemed familiar but it was hard to determine who it was. Thanks to my eyes, I got my answer but was still puzzled by the chakra. I jumped pretty far from Kisame when I saw a familiar figure appear in the distance.

"Sorry to leave so soon Kisame but I have more important matters to attend to." I said as I turned my back to him.

I looked over at Karin who had a worried expression, but I gave her a nod followed by a small smile reassuring her that I would take care of it.

"Hey Ko!" Suigetsu shouted once I started to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"Obviously Sasuke doesn't need us so I'm out of here, finish up my fight. I know you've been itching to fight a legendary swordsmen." I replied then made a hand sign then scattered into snakes slithering away from them.

When I appeared in the forest, I couldn't help but gasp at Kabuto's appearance. If it weren't for the glasses, I wouldn't have known it was him. He looked more like a white snake than a person.

"What's wrong Ko?" Kabuto questioned with a wicked smile.

"What did you do to yourself?!" I shouted still bewildered by his appearance but started to feel angry. "You were experimenting, weren't you?" I growled clenching my fists.

"Of course I did, with Lord Orochimaru's DNA, I'll be unstoppable." He chuckled which made me sick.

I wasn't much for a sensor type like Karin but even I could tell his chakra is darker than before. Just thinking of him dissecting Father's dead body made my blood boil, just because of his selfishness.

"You disturbed his body for your own personal gain?" I growled clenching my jaw as my body started to shake. "How is that showing your loyalty? You continue his work, not experiment on him! Why are you even here?!"

"It's a form of flattery Ko, I wanted to be just like him and now I'm even better." He replied making me clench my fists even further drawing blood. "I need your help Ko, a war is coming and I need your skills."

"No, I refuse. I don't want to be the bad guy anymore." I responded which made him chuckle again.

"You'll always be the bad guy Ko, just because of who your Father is. Everyone will only see him in you, they'll only remember the things he's done when they look at you. Look at the Jinchuuriki, they haven't done anything but because of the beast inside them, they're hated. You've already committed crimes, so I don't think you'd be welcomed anywhere."

"Get to the point. I know you're trying to manipulate me." I snapped getting impatient, my wound throbbing didn't help either.

"Heh fine. I need an army so I'm using the reanimation jutsu. I know Lord Orochimaru taught it to you and it would be less of a hassle if you helped."

"Why would he need an army? He must be working with someone. He wouldn't start a war by himself." I thought.

"I'm not stupid Kabuto, you need many sacrifices to have an army of the undead. There aren't enough to start a war."

"That's where you're wrong Ko, my new friends already have many sacrifices lined up."

"You have friends?" I chuckled. "Looking like that? They must not be good ones then."

My comment must've angered him just from his facial expression I could tell. He was about to lunge towards me, but I held out my arm pushing him back. He only slid back a few feet only to advance towards me once more. I went to dodge but soon enough, snakes came from the trees heading towards me.

"Have your experiments warped your mind? Snakes obey me not you." I said as I held out my arm making the snakes go up my blue sleeve. He only smirked which confused me but soon saw the snakes starting to coil around me restricting my movements. "What the hell?" I questioned as the snakes coiled around my torso.

"Still naive Ko, didn't Lord Orochimaru tell you about Ryuchi cave?"

I tilted my head in confusion at the name. I don't recall Father ever talking about it before. "Ryuchi cave?" I questioned him.

"Yes, it's where you are trained by snake masters to obtain senjutsu and master sage mode." He explained which confused me even more. I've never heard of any of this before making me wonder why Father never mentioned it.

"Sage mode? Orochimaru never mentioned it."

"Maybe because he thought you couldn't do learn it. He tried to achieve it but the masters said he didn't have the chakra for it. I'm curious to see if you do. Since I've almost mastered it, I command snakes now."

I was about to reply but I felt a too familiar chakra suddenly emerge getting stronger by the second. I could feel my heart constrict at this cruel joke; it couldn't be true but it was hard to mistaken Father's chakra. I started to focus on Sasuke's fight seeing Itachi with a chakra cloak surrounding him. Sasuke was on the ground panting as Itachi drew closer and Father's chakra grew stronger. I focused back on the snakes constricting me then focused what was left of my chakra.

"I'm so sorry for this guys," I whispered to the innocent snakes.

"What are you muttering about?" Kabuto questioned but soon jumped back as I ignited in flames.

The snakes screamed for a second until they were vaporized by the heat then I made hand signs touching my necklace to release more chakra. I weaved more seals teleporting away from my former comrade. I focused on Father's chakra and appeared close to Sasuke watching as his shoulder started to morph then snakes shot out from it. I jumped back to avoid getting hit by the many that came out which formed into an eight headed snake. I jumped to higher ground to get a better view of the battle then my heart started to beat even faster with anticipation.

Finally, from the middle snake's mouth, Father started to emerge. My eyes widened with surprise not believing what I saw. I didn't want to believe it but this was actually happening, he was alive. I couldn't hold back my smile as I watched him exchanged words with Itachi but when his eyes landed on me, I could've sworn time stopped. I didn't realize how much I've missed him until now and it felt so good to have him back once more.

I sighed in relief feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. Everything can go back to normal. We can be together again and I'll make sure to cherish every moment I have with him, even if they're bad. I can grab him and we could just run, like we always did when found out. I don't care how he treats me, as long as I can stand by his right side again, I'll be happy.

My happiness was short lived when I could see Itachi's cloaked warrior creating a sword which I could tell made Father panic. He regurgitated his own sword in attempt to defend himself but my eyes told me differently. I could see once again the numbers above his head depleting once more making my heart drop to the earth's core. My eyes flickered from Father to Itachi's sword seeing he was about to strike him as he was wide open.

"No, I can't let him die on me again." I thought to myself feeling panic overwhelm me. "I just got him back." I couldn't go through this again, he just came back. I can do something this time, I can save him!

I was getting ready to jump to his aid ignoring my wounded leg but his body started to extend towards me knowing an attack was coming. I held out my arm hoping he'd reach me in time desperate to grab his arm as he reached out to me. Time slowed as Itachi's sword cut him in half transversely then proceeded to absorb him.

"No!" I screeched as I jumped towards Father wanting to help.

"Stop Ko," Father ordered making me maneuver my body to do a backflip returning to my original spot. I was surprised to hear his voice which I've wanted to hear all this time.

"Why?" I almost whispered as he started to move further from me moving closer to Itachi's sword.

He didn't answer my question making me think he didn't hear me but he unhinged his jaw gripping the hilt of his sword with his tongue. He grasped it throwing it towards me but I couldn't even look at it for I was too busy watching Father die before me once more. We never broke eye contact as the rest of him was absorbed and I had to stand there helplessly. I fell to my knees once he was gone trying to hold back the tears. Now was not the time to mourn but I couldn't hold them back anymore.

"Why was I so helpless?! I couldn't save him again!" I thought as I slammed my fists to the ground in anger. "He just came back only to be ripped from me once again."

Unfortunately, my mourning was cut short when a plant like figure emerged from the ground behind me. I quickly got to my feet jumping away to face him. The thing looked like a Venus flytrap with a man's body inside who was half black and white.

"My my, I hope you weren't planning on interfering, were you?" He asked showing his sharp teeth making me take a step back.

"No, I was just leaving." I replied quickly grabbing Father's sword, Kusanagi, sprinting away from the battle. I stopped to take out a scroll and sealed Father's sword inside it for safekeeping.

As I looked around, Kabuto was nowhere to be found but up ahead I did see familiar Leaf ninja. "They just don't give up do they?" I said as I started to heal my wound but quickly shot up when I saw Tobi appear in front of them.

I ran towards them ignoring my leg's protest as they started to fight; I was honestly worried about them; they don't know what they're up against. They fought him with everything they had but I knew Tobi would just disappear from them. He survived Shino's attack then disappeared from them only to reappear on the giant tree behind them. Once I got there, I immediately aimed a kick towards Tobi seeing he was already disappearing to avoid it. As I went through him, I put chakra towards my feet and stuck to the side of the tree trunk as he reappeared.

"K-Ko? What is she d-doing here?" I heard Hinata gasp which caught everyone's attention making them look my way.

"Ah I see you're finally here Ko, I was wondering what was taking you so long. Was your reunion with your father bittersweet?" Tobi greeted with his deeper voice.

"You shut up Tobi, why are you here?" I questioned not bothering to hide my shattering tone as the plant monster appeared on the other side of Tobi.

"It's over, Sasuke won and Itachi is dead." He announced making the Leaf gasp. "Sasuke collapsed a second later though, what do you say? He's probably fading fast."

"Just as I predicted," Tobi chuckled.

"Hey Aloe Vera! Where is Sasuke!?" Naruto shouted pointing up at us.

I ignored his outburst and met Kakashi's eyes which were focused on me. I broke eye contact turning my attention to Tobi. I knew attacking him was pointless, but I could buy some time and draw his attention away from the Leaf. I lunged towards him again, wielding a kunai, attempting to strike but he only dodged which I saw through. As he dodged, I swung my good leg at him able to make contact making me smirk. He only slid back a few feet but disappeared then reappeared directly behind me. I dropped to the height of his legs swinging my right leg under him as he fully reappeared but he was able to catch himself.

"You guys get Sasuke, I'll hold him off." I told the Leaf as I dodged Tobi's punch. "He's hurt badly."

"Hm that's exactly why I'm here Ko," Tobi said as he sent a punch towards my stomach which I blocked with my arms.

He grabbed my arm easily lifting me up and threw me towards the ground with great force creating a crater. The wind was knocked out of me causing me to cough up blood.

"Ko!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards the crater looking down at me with worry. I gave him a thumbs up as I continued to cough but felt a sharp pain on my side. When I looked down I saw that I had landed on my kunai. "Look out!" Naruto shouted making me look up seeing Tobi appearing in front of me. He grabbed my neck throwing me out of the crater but I managed to land on my feet. "You bastard!" Naruto shouted as he tried to attack Tobi with his rasengan but he only went through him.

Just as I got to my feet, Tobi was behind me once again holding a kunai up to my neck. I looked at the Leaf seeing their mixed expressions. The former team seven looked concerned as they stared at me but everyone else only watched Tobi not caring about my safety but I couldn't blame them.

"Let her go," Kakashi demanded as he got into a fighting stance.

"I don't think so," Tobi said then looked down at me. "I need this girl." He finished then looked at Kakashi which made him gasp.

"Sharingan?" He gasped making everyone else turn their attention to him shocked at Kakashi's discovery. "Who the hell is he?!"

"Get out of here guys, you're no match for him!" I shouted before making a single hand sign dispersing into snakes getting out of his grasp. I reappeared in front of the Leaf looking over my shoulder to face them. "Sasuke is ten kilometers from here hurry!" I told them then focused back on Tobi.

"You are a slippery one Ko, you're making this harder than it has to be." Tobi commented as he got into an offensive position.

"Be careful," Kakashi said before leading everyone towards Sasuke. I only nodded in response then dashed towards Tobi.

He was going to the left to dodge my kick so I made hand signs just before he dodged and held out my arm. Snakes flew from my sleeve attacking him in close range making him grunt in annoyance. Just as the snakes got to him, they went right through.

"This is more annoying than I thought." Tobi commented as he jumped back creating some distance.

I ran towards him hoping to land a hit but he held up his arm slowly bringing it down which confused me but it was too late. When I got close, I saw he made a portal which I directly went into. I fell to the ground hearing his laughter from the real world making me spin around seeing it closing rapidly.

"I'll be with you in a moment," he said just as the portal closed.

"Dammit!" I exclaimed in anger.

I was fooled by this man and now he captured me. As I looked around, I saw nothing but darkness, no way out. I let out an angry cried slamming my fists to the ground. He had me and now I'd have to listen to his orders. Once again, I'm on the wrong side.