Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The world should end.

Notes:

1) Yeah, this is a note...um...hi.

2) Okay! Got it! I'm actually working on Chapter 11, but I'm a little stuck...so...it might take a while for the chapters to come out.

3) Oh, and I've also been really busy lately, so...that could also be a problem.

4) Anyone who has read or watched far enough in Naruto knows who Orochimaru's "guest" is. XD

5) Eek, I'm sorry you guys! I didn't realize that my the marks I was using for breaks in here weren't showing up! I'm going back and adding them, so hopfully it won't be as confusing...XD

Chapter 7

After what's-his-name was forced from the room, I sat in there in shock. How had that happened…? Why me?

"If I had been born male, none of this would have happened," I whispered.

"If you had been born male, you probably wouldn't be here," I heard a voice say from across the room, as he stepped through the door. He shut it gently, and walked over to me, and sat next to me on the bed.

"If you were a guy, you wouldn't have met or gone with Itachi when he came here," Sasori said slowly. "Then you would be back home, which probably wouldn't have been so bad, right?"

I shook my head, "Being home would have unbearable…" I said, my quivering, "I would have missed Itachi too much."

"Even if you were a guy!"

"I still would have felt like there was something missing in my heart."

"When you came back from that first mission you ever had, and you said you visited Konoha, and you mentioned that incident with you Uncle, do you think…that if you hadn't come with Itachi, you could be happy right now?" Sasori questioned slowly. He had no idea would could come out of a question like this.

"When….when Itachi asked me to come with him…he had already killed my parents and Ryuu…"

"You still went with him after he did something like that!" he yelled.

I looked away, "He said that if I didn't come with him, he was going to kill me as well…"

"So you didn't go with him for love?"

"No, I did. I could have easily fought back, and escaped to live with one of my other family members…but Itachi meant so much more to me. If I had stayed with my family….I would have been miserable," I mumbled. A tear strolled down my cheek.

Sasori hugged me, gently, "It's okay you know," he whispered, "We're here for you, we've all been through terrible things too. Unless you haven't notice, the only times we act like we do, is when we're around each other. These are the personalities we had before those bad things happened. We can only open up and be like this around each other. When on missions, that's our real personalities…"

"I've noticed," I replied, whipping a tear out of my eye, "I've noticed, that I'm like that too."

"See, we're all the same, you've got nothing to worry about," Sasori said smiling.

Deidara opened the door, and peaked inside, "Seeing that Sasori isn't dead, that must mean it's safe to come in, hmm."

Deidara threw the door open, and trudged in, Zetsu followed him reluctantly. "Are you feeling better, Kirei-chan, hmm?" he asked, also sitting next to me.

I nodded slowly, I guess I felt a little better…

My eyes followed Sasori's hand as he placed it on my forehead. "You still have a bit of a fever…I don't think it's too high though."

Deidara did the same, "Yeah, you do, hmm…"

"That's what I just said," Sasori said seriously. "Anyways, we'll leave tomorrow morning."

"That's good to hear," I said reluctantly. I looked at them all. They were all smiling so brightly, I couldn't figure out why…I had been sick, and caused them so much trouble, wasted so much of their time…how could they be smiling so warmly?

"I…I'm really sorry about this," I told them softly.

They replied in confusion with replies like, "Why are you sorry?" and "You were sick, what could you do about that?"

I looked down, "I've caused you so much trouble, how can you be smiling?"

Itachi lifted up my chin, "We're smiling because we're happy that you're okay, and that your not hurt." Everyone else nodded.

"Get some sleep, hmm? We have a journey ahead of us tomorrow morning," Deidara said, waving as he left the room.

Sasori smiled at me, "Get better, really."

"You better not slow us down tomorrow," Zetsu said.

"And You better hope I'm not hungry…" he also said.

"Zetsu…" Sasori said slowly, "Let's go." He pushed him toward the door.

I glanced around the room, "Where's Itachi…?"

They all looked at each other uncomfortably, and Sasori finally answered, "He's taking care of some…erhm…business."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

Sasori glanced at Deidara and whispered "That guy is really in for it…"

"Hey!" I screamed, "What did you say? Hey!"

They had left me alone…to sleep…again. Sleeping was really starting to irritate me.

> >

Shaking….so much shaking…

"Kirei…" Shake "Kirei?"

"Hmmmm….?"

"Kirei get up,"

"nnnn…"

Push. "I said, GET UP!" I hit the floor with a loud thump. Well, a painful thump too…but that was beside the point.

I jumped up to face the accused pusher. It was none other than Itachi. "That wasn't nice," I said to him coolly.

He shrugged, "You're obviously feeling better, since your out of bed and all. I guess you'll be able to walk by yourself today and all…"

I suddenly felt weak in the knees…maybe it was standing up to fast. I rushed to the bathroom, and puked in the toilet. I sunk to the ground slowly…why was I so sick…? I hardly ever got sick.

Itachi rushed into the bathroom behind me a few seconds later, and hugged me tightly, whispering "I'll be okay," softly into my ear.

We continued our mission, and I continued to ride on Itachi's back. Which wasn't so bad, I still got to talk and everything. But, everything swirling around me made me tired nonetheless, and I fell asleep frequently. I hate sleeping. I've learned that from this trip.

> >

"One of us with have to stay here with her!"

"Geez, she's such a burden…"

"Shut up hmm!"

"I'll stay…"

I opened one of my eyes slowly, the group was huddled a few feet away from me…

"No, Itachi," Sasori said, softly. "We need you for this."

"We need all of us, especially Kirei, hmm," Deidara whispered.

"Alright then," Sasori said. "Regretfully, we'll leave her here by herself. We'll wake her up, and if someone comes and bothers her, she can fight for a little while. This will take us no time, flat."

They inched over to me, and I sat up slowly.

"Kirei," Sasori started.

"I already heard," I said. My voice held a candid tone.

They nodded.

"We know that you'll be just fine, hmm," Deidara said standing up.

"We'll be back soon," Zetsu added.

Kisame smiled at me as he stepped back for Itachi.

Itachi hugged me, "Stay safe, I'll be back as soon as possible."

Sasori hugged me as well, and then…they left.

> >

I had only been sitting there for about three minutes, when I heard someone walking toward me. I got up abruptly, ignoring the pain, and climbed into the nearest tree.

I heard laughter.

"It's no use," a familiar voice said. "I know you know I'm here, and I know you're there, so come out before I force you to."

I found myself thrown to the ground out the tree. I faced…none other than the bastard that had betrayed the whole Akatsuki Organization. Orochimaru. He had been an upper member. The only one that I had known. I used to think that he was actually nice, and had thought of him as my friend. Now, I could say that I purely detested him.

"If it isn't dear, sweet, Kirei. She is too sick to help out her group at the moment, so they left her behind. How have you been the past few years, Kirei-chan?" he asked me.

"Don't talk to yourself like you're the only one here. And I wasn't left behind, do you hear me!" I yelled, charging toward him.

I felt a sharp pain throughout my body. He hadn't moved, like he had expected this.

"You didn't answer my last question, you know."

"I don't intent to."

"How about your sickness lately. What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know…" I answered honestly.

"I do. Come with me, we can fix you up."

"Like hell I would ever go with you!" I said, running toward him again, my kunai raised.

He shook his head, "You of all people should know that head-on attack won't work on me. Plus, you won't get very far with that pain you have there…"

I fell to the ground. I needed them. Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, Kisame, and Zetsu. I needed them right now…but all I really was a burden wasn't I? They even said so…

"What good would staying here do for you, Kirei?"

"I am not going with you."

He smiled slightly, "Yes, that it what you seem to think. Kamizurui, come. After this you are free to go."

The lady nodded, and I saw her perform some hand seals, and whisper something under her breathe. I heard buzzing, felt stinging. Bugs. The Kamizurui Clan. Controllers of bugs. Just like the Aburame Clan…

Everything went black.

> >

They tore through the forest, back to where Kirei was. Sasori noticed the look of worry in Itachi's eyes. So, he made sure everyone kept up with him.

He couldn't say that he was so sure that she was safe either. Maybe, leaving her by herself hadn't been such a good idea after all?

The found their belongings, and instantly, Itachi began looking for Kirei.

They couldn't find her.

The only thing they could make out was a struggle. There were running, sliding, and falling marks on the ground around them.

Itachi shook his head, he denied what he knew was obviously true. "She's just sleeping someplace, and she can't hear us. I'm sure she's fine. She has to be around here somewhere…"

Kisame finally put his hand on his partner's shoulder, and said softly, "She isn't here, Itachi."

They made camp, and as they sat around a fire, none of them said anything. They were all silent. None of them were in the mood to talk…

Sasori finally broke the silence, "We have a second objective to our mission. To find Kirei. I'm sure Leader would want us to. He doesn't want our secrets and such out in the open."

"Leader doesn't give a actually give a damn what happens to Kirei. Or to any of us for that matter," Itachi said bluntly. "He just doesn't want our plans and information to be let out," he added angrily.

> >

I opened my eyes slowly. I was dizzy…and I ached…and this light was extremely bright.

"So, how are you feeling, Kirei-chan?" a man who wore glasses and had white hair asked me. He didn't look much older than me…if he even was.

"W-who…?" I asked, my mouth stumbling over the words.

Where was Itachi? My eyes widened. Itachi…

"W-where's Itachi!" I yelled, sitting up.

The guy jumped, "Geez, settle down," he said urgently. "Itachi…? Do you mean Uchiha Itachi?" he asked.

"God damn it! Yes! Who the hell do you think I am talking about!" I asked frustrated.

"Ah, that's right, you were with Akatsuki. Moeru Kirei. You and Uchiha Itachi joined Akatsuki together, didn't you?"

"All right, now, who the hell are you?" I said irritably.

"I'm Kabuto. Orochimaru said to tell you 'Welcome to the Hidden Sound Village.'"

"Why would I care what he has to say?" I asked, sitting up once more. I got out of the bed like thing, and Kabuto pushed me back down.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked me.

"I'm going back to the Akatsuki Base, now get off of me!" I pushed his hands away from me.

I pushed me back down into the bed, enforcing more strength than I thought he had. He pushed points on my body, making it so I couldn't move.

I should have known. A Med Nin.

He walked over to a box sitting on the wall, and he pushed a few buttons on it, and then spoke into it. "Orochimaru-sama, Moeru Kirei-san has awoken."

A few moments later, a door opened. I could sit up again, so I did. Unfortunately, it was Orochimaru who walked in. I could barely tell it was him…he looked so different.

"Good morning Kirei. Have you had a nice few days rest? I didn't expect that poison to knock you out that long."

"Whatever. Can I go now? I can't see how you could possibly see how you could need a weak Kunochi like me around. Let me leave," I growled.

"No, I need you. You will help a certain friend of mine."

"No, I won't."

"You will, if you don't want to die. Let me remind you, if you die, you won't ever see Uchiha Itachi again."

"Yeah, but then I'll have to fight against him, and there is no way in hell I would ever do that."

"Nasty mouth you have there, though not as bad as Tayuya," Kabuto said disgustedly. "You are speaking to Orochimaru-sama, hold you tongue."

"Fine. I'm not promising anything though," I said.

Orochimaru smiled slightly, "I guess, we'll need some convincing. Kabuto, bring the girl from her cell."

"I could truly care less who you do or don't bring from a dungeon to greet me," I hissed at him.

"For some reason, I think that this will matter to you."

A few moments later, Kabuto lead a girl with her legs and arms chained up. He lead her with a chained brace around her neck.

She almost looked familiar.

She looked at me, her face was dirt stained, bloody. Her clothes and hair were in the same condition. She looked like she hadn't seen the light of day in weeks.

Her eyes were glossed over.

She glanced at me, and her eyes widened. "Kirei-chan…."

Her voice…

"Why are you here…?" she asked me.

"K-Kikyo?"