A/N: Finally done with the revision and back to our regularly schedule programming. Didn't like how I had messed certain things up, but rather than just delete the work, I got rid of some chapters and started afresh. I would advise you to reread other chapters before reading this one, as some things might not make sense, but we're back in action baby!

Updates every week, for real this time!

Chapter 17. An Unfortunate Series of Events

"Things can always get worse."

|Sasuke|

When I opened the door, Deidara stood before me with his arms crossed and his habitual grin. He was wearing the attire assigned for our task: a black hoodie with black joggers, yet he had managed to make his outfit slightly cooler – what with the kanji on his sleeves.

"Art is an explosion." I read as I looked him over.

"It sure is." He replied with a smile, "The others are already downstairs but I gotta grab something. I'll come back and we can go down together, hm."

I nodded and went back into my room. Although I was sure I had everything I needed, a quick sweep wouldn't hurt, and as it turned out, I had forgotten my wedding ring. I grabbed it off the nightstand and noticed that Karin had left her room keys when she had gone out earlier this morning.

For a second, I considered calling her, wondering how she was planning on getting into the room once I left, but I quickly reminded myself that the odds of her picking up were low.

It had been a week since she'd gone on her errand with Suigetsu and Jūgo, and while I had respected her wishes to not bring up the subject of Shojoji, I couldn't help but worry as I noticed a change in her behavior. The light touches and informal hugs that I used to do without problem were now being met with shivers and shudders. Although she put on a brave face for company, I knew that she was no longer okay with my displays of affection.

I also knew that she had been steadily avoiding me. While I understood I might have crossed a line with my questioning, as the one who had reminded me of the mission being our priority, her actions were beginning 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, and I hadn't exactly practiced how to explain a negative shift in our relationship.

Movement behind me caught my attention, and I turned around to catch Karin grabbing a sweater from behind the door. When our eyes met, she nodded before looking away.

"Hey." She said as she pulled the sweater over her head, "Just came to get this."

I quickly stepped to her and grabbed her hand, "We need to talk."

"Toshiaki-kun—"

"We need to." I repeated before pulling her to the couch, "I need to apologize; I was out of line in the way I spoke to you that night. I hope you can forgive me."

"It's fine, really." She quickly assured me as she stood up and attempted to leave.

But I wasn't having it; I held onto her hand and ran my thumb over her knuckles before continuing to speak.

"No, it's not. You were hurt, and clearly dealing with something I can't even begin to understand, yet I ignored all that in order to try and force my own problem-solving method on you. Maybe these words aren't really doing anything but…I want to make it up to you. Please."

She bit her lip as if she was refraining from saying something, and I encouraged her to share her thoughts.

"Anything, anything at all. Just say the word and I'll do it."

She mumbled something and I leaned forward.

"What was th—?" I was cut off by her throwing her arms around me.

Frozen in place, it took my brain a few seconds to reboot, but once I was back online, I looked down and found her squeezing her eyes shut as she continued to hold me. I wrapped my arms around her to reciprocate the hug but hurriedly pulled my arms back once I felt her tremble.

"No, don't…" Karin begged, her voice muffled as she buried her face in my chest, "Hold me…"

I gently returned my hands and rubbed slow, small circles in her back. I continued to do so even after I heard her breath hitch, the telltale sign of someone on the brink of tears, and even after a small, pained whimper left her throat. Her arms tightened around me, and I returned the force, keeping silent the entire time.

Words would do me no good, I heard learned that last week. When it came to Karin, all I could do was abide by her commands and hope for the best.

Finally, Karin pulled back, slipping her arms out from under my own and returning them back to her side. With a finger, she quickly swiped at the tears that were running down her cheeks, and I felt the urge to hold her again. Before I could do so, there came a knock at the door.

"Toshiaki-san, you—?" Deidara cut himself off, "I really have the worst timing."

I turned to him, "Aa, you can say that again."

"Oops!" He laughed as he handed me a brown lunch bag, "Ready to go?"

I brought out an X9 Beretta and gave it a quick look over before looking up at him, "Ready as ever"

He smiled, "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. In the few seconds that I had engaged with Deidara, she had managed to hide all traces of her fragile mental state. Well, almost all. Her nose was slightly red, and the faintest hints of tears could be seen on her cheeks when the light hit them at a certain angle.

With my eyes, I asked her if she was alright, and watched in almost frustration as her guard went back up in her eyes.

"Be safe." She said before holding my head in between her hands and planting a light kiss on my lips.

I was glad she had done this in front of Deidara, as he would now be inclined to believe things were somewhat better between us, but there was something about the kiss, about the way she had lingered before letting go that made me think I was missing something.

"Don't worry, Misaki-san!" Deidara threw his arm over me, bringing me out of my musings, "I'll bring your husband back in one piece."

Karin nodded and I spared her one last look before following 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.

"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 held out a fist to Sasori who rolled his eyes and left him hanging.

"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, joining the conversation once his name was mentioned, "There's no way my old ass is toting any gun. You kids can do that."

"Ora 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.

"Oh shit…" 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 caught 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 one of her many skills was falsifying expressions. Before I could try and spot any chinks in her armor, Deidara pulled on my shoulder and forced me to turn back to the group.

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

Reluctantly, I agreed, and we all 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." That was the first thing I said to Suigetsu once he'd 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'd killed him, but Sasori told me they're going to get some kid from him right now."

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

I glanced at what I could see inside the room and hesitated. It wouldn't be odd to step inside, especially considering how we were on somewhat good terms with one another, but I had to remember that I was playing the part of someone's wife, and a married woman alone with an unmarried man could be perceived wrongly.

"Ora," He called, pulling me out of my thoughts as he turned around went back into his room, "It's not like I'm gonna bite."

Hearing those familiar words allowed me to shake away any doubts I may have had. I followed him into his room and shut the door behind me once I was inside. Suigetsu switched on his bedside lamp and searched for something in the drawer of his nightstand as I took a seat on his bed. As I looked around his room, I realized that Sasuke and I had been shown some favoritism; our room was almost two times the size of his.

With a subtle shake of my head, I switched my attention to Suigetsu and saw that his "pajamas" consisted of a white tank top and red boxers. It was so Suigetsu I would've laughed if I weren't so anxious. Instead, however, I found myself quietly sucking a sharp breath at the sight of his hard nether region making itself painfully obvious.

Before I could wonder whether or not to comment on it, Suigetsu sighed as he brought out his phone and shut his drawer.

"Alright so…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—"

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

We went silent for a moment before I asked the first thing that had popped into my head after learning the truth downstairs.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"I thought you didn't want me to." He 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—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, "I haven't been able to kill someone for the job. When we get those kinds of missions, Jūgo's the one who crosses 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.

He pursed his lips, "It would've been too merciful. I meant what I said about him not being able to hurt you or anyone else ever again. He's not dead but…"

He let his words fall into the air and their cryptic nature didn't escape me; I quickly asked him to clarify.

"It's nothing." Suigetsu said, looking off to the side, "Anything else?"

"Suigetsu—"

"It's nothing." He said again, this time a bit slower in order to convince me, "I guess that's it then?"

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

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

"Uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "You should probably ask him about this. I'm not in a 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.

"The word is that a guy named Jūzō showed his face at the boss's dinner. He used to be one of the Gedo and was the original owner of the ring Toshiaki-kun wears now. 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."

"And he still decided to come to the dinner?" I asked rhetorically and Suigetsu shrugged.

"Of course, the Gedo recognized him right away. They had him locked up somewhere and that's when the 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 mercilessly executing 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 a lie or exaggerated."

'It's not.' I thought to myself as I remembered Sasuke explaining why Pain hadn't been the one to bug our room.

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

"Buddha be merciful…" I murmured as I stood up from Suigetsu's bed.

"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 glanced back at him, "And by the way, you have a situation down there."

He looked down and a yelp escaped his mouth as I left the room. I made my way for the elevator and brought out my phone to call Konan. If I wanted to learn the truth about Sasuke, I was sure to get it from her.

Luck was on my side, as she picked up on the second ring, albeit sounding a bit tired.

"Misaki-san, what do I owe for this morning call?" She yawned, and there was a subtle clink in the background, as if she had set down a mug.

"Ohaiyo, Joō-sama." I tucked my phone between my head and my shoulder as I pressed the elevator button, "Are you free to talk about something?"

"That depends on what that something is." I could hear the smile dancing on her lips, "I'll be in the mess hall in five minutes, we can chat over breakfast."

"Arigato." I thanked her before she hung up.

'Sasuke-kun…' I thought to myself as I stepped into the elevator, 'Please let this be a lie.'

|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 the picture, 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 people were p-planning to take advantage of the situation and f-finish him." Kokuri squeaked, and Hidan turned around, his fist cocked and ready to let fly.

Sasori spun Hidan right back, "Cool it. Takin' 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 no excuse to act like yer actin'."

Hidan scowled and slumped down in his seat like a child, "I was supposed to be at the bank on crowd control duty, then the boss comes out of nowhere two days ago and tells me I'm playing chauffeur. It pissed me off, but I figured it would be a quick job that I'd get done and then 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. Killin' him woulda been one thing but cuttin' his dick off? No wonder they're under Orochimaru; that's torture if I ever heard of it."

Hidan couldn't help but snicker, his frustrated mood dissolving momentarily, "I wonder how it looked."

"You can cut yourself while shaving but…" Kakuzu shook his head, "Complete severance? I'm surprised he didn't die from blood loss."

"Well, the 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're supposed to have the kid before the bank assault started."

"Speakin' 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."

"It's Monday afternoon, if I were a teenage brat, where would I be?" Kakuzu wonder aloud.

Hidan snorted, "If it were you, you'd be in some salaryman's house, robbing him blind. If it were Scorpion, I don't know, he'd be fucking playing with muppets."

"Muppets, really?"

Kakuzu stifled a laugh.

"And if it were me…" Hidan grinned, "I'd be on the street, skipping with some friends."

|Sasuke|

"Shit." Kie cursed as he rose from the body, removing his hand from the man's pulse point, "There weren't supposed to be any casualties."

"He did what he had to do." Deidara snapped before patting my back, "You saved my life, hm. I owe you, hontōni."

All I could do was nod as I stared at the lifeless man before me. There were many thoughts running around my mind, but I shut my eyes and cleared my head of any distractions.

'You have a job to do.' I reminded myself and turned back to the crowd.

"Eh, it was bound to happen. Good crowd control always needs an example." Gekkō said as I returned to my spot beside him, "Clean shot though."

Tightening my grip on my gun, I addressed the crowd.

"We said nobody move, and he moved. If you play stupid games, you'll win stupid prizes. Let this be a lesson to all of you; act up and 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." The mother looked back up at me fearfully, "We'll be okay…"

I tried not to think of Sakura and Sarada as Deidara came over to us.

"Oi, G. How long before your boy gets the job done?"

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

The ground rumbled beneath us and some of the civilians cried out in fear, but Deidara quicky yelled for them to shut up and they quieted down as fast as they had flared up.

"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! You need to get down here and see what this bomb did."

"Alright, be right down." Gekkō switched the walkie-talkie off, "D, let's go. T, 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 as Gekkō walked by, "Don't let your guard down with those two. Like I said before, there's a reason Boss doesn't trust them."

With that warning, Deidara left me to follow after Gekkō. 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 point.

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

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. With knowledge of the bank's security rotations, we entered just as they were changing shifts, blindsiding, and quickly incapacitating them. Unfortunately, one of the tellers managed to push the panic button before we could secure behind the glass.

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

No matter how many times you transferred it, paper money would always leave 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, he was lying on the floor, blood pooling around the exit wound as the light left his eyes.

"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 was a silent 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 had occurred to me that they may have had some hidden intel on Pain that prevented him from killing them, but I couldn't begin to imagine what secret they must have known.

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 along with the hostage were nowhere to be seen. I quickly took my walkie-talkie from my belt to inform Deidara of their treachery when I heard the click of a gun.

"Put it down." I turned around to face Kie and found stared down his rifle as he aimed it at me, his finger lightly resting on the trigger. He nodded his head at the shelf, and I set the walkie-talkie down.

"Did you really need to kill that man?" Kie sighed, "Even if you're playing the part, don't you think you went a little too far, Sasuke-kun?"

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

"Don't play dumb." He continued, "Inspector Uchiha Sasuke, ne? 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 mole is? KPD knows about Akatsuki because of me."

I recalled Itachi and Shisui's mission briefings and how they had mentioned an informant and the two details we had gained from them. Quickly, my brain dug up what I had heard and confirmed that Kie was in fact telling the truth. But something rubbed me the wrong away about his approach. Even if he knew I was undercover, there was no way Itachi and Shisui would have given him my name. He had figured it out, somehow, and I would need to find out how before making any big decisions.

"It was you?" I asked in surprise, opting to go the friendly route for the time being.

Kie scoffed, slightly lowering his gun, "Of course. This is our chance to get out of here. I tipped the police off about the robbery, and I'm sure *KAT's gonna have the building surrounded soon; if we're out there when they show up, we can put them away. We can end this."

As nice as the plan sounded, I immediately thought of Karin and how his escape plans had conveniently failed to mention her, and I let him know as much, "I can't just leave Misaki-san."

Before he could respond, a bullet whizzed past my ear and hit him in the shoulder. He fell back in pain, and I watched in slow motion as he was riddled with bullets. When he finally collapsed, I processed what had happened and turned to find Gekkō lowering his rifle. The two bulging black duffle bags were on his shoulders almost made me miss the blood splatter on his clothing.

'How much did he hear?' I wondered as I eyed him expressionlessly.

From the look 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 what I presumed to be Deidara's share.

"What happened?" I questioned 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 knew…got Ryōgi."

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

"Who?" I asked, wondering if there had been someone else involved in the job that I had been unaware of.

My question was soon answered as a black Honda Civic practically drove up to the door. Rolling down the windows, Zetsu set his phone down, swallowed whatever he had been eating and grinned.

"You called?" The young man winked as he unlocked the doors.

Gekkō got into the passenger seat and his man opened the back door, allowing me to settle Deidara in before climbing inside. Once we were all inside, Zetsu put the car in reverse and backed away from the bank before speeding down a narrow alleyway. How he knew he would fit, I didn't know, but the car was silent until we were away from downtown Konoha and on the path to the freeway out of the city.

"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!"

Deidara laughed a bit before wincing, "And I bet you…ate all of them before coming to us, hm."

Zetsu sucked in a large breath as he exaggerated a gasp, "There's still one left. I saved it just for you!"

"Heh, arigato." Deidara shut his eyes and leaned his head back.

Although Zetsu was trying to keep the mood light, I immediately recognized the worry in his eyes as he glanced at Deidara through the rearview mirror. As Deidara shifted and clutched his side, Zetsu turned his attention back to the road and I felt the car speed up.

I helped Deidara apply pressure to his wound as I thought about Kie and his last words. Daibutsu was nowhere to be found as we had conversed which meant two things: he had either left and gone to the police's side in the time that he and Kie had moved that one hostage, or he was somewhere else, on the move and unaccounted for. That was what worried me.

Daibutsu and Kie were close, if Kie was an informant, it was safe to say Daibutsu was in on it, and right now he was the person within Akatsuki that knew my identity. It didn't help that Kie was now bleeding out on the bank floor, and there was no telling how Daibutsu would react to his partner's death.

'Karin, please be safe.'

*KAT stands for Konoha Assault Tactics, think of it as their version of SWAT

|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, "I don't want the money, I've got more than enough. This is a chance 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, "You know I used to pray that we'd win the lotto? That was every morning, right when I woke up, before I boiled my bath water for the day."

"You didn't have hot water?" I asked, interested in their family 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 put Tentō in a headlock before rubbing his head roughly with his fist.

"That's why I'm pissed seeing your rich ass try to get into this shit. This isn't a game, this is real life, 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, ignored Kakō's groan, and told him to grab me a Coke.

Ever since that situation with Inojin, we had 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 the distribution part of the job. Since then, the siblings had been busy with their endeavors, leaving me and Mitsuki alone to bond.

In our private time, Mitsuki strongly expressed his disapproval at my involvement, but I always managed to end his lectures early by reminding him that the more time I spent with him, the less time I could dedicate to the business. When that didn't work, a kiss was sure to shut him up, although recently he wasn't content to let me off with just a quick peck.

His kisses were deeper, more passionate and very reminiscent of the kind he'd given me the night of the party. However, it seemed as if Mitsuki had learned what I could and could not handle, as whenever that strange feeling began to pool in my stomach, he would end our make out sessions, allowing me to quietly sigh in relief. I really did enjoy the time I was spending at his place, but there were some drawbacks.

For one, I had missed about four days of school in a row. Chōchō had informed me that Inojin and Boruto had also been absent the same length as me, 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 hand 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 that pays 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."

I also hadn't seen Mama at all these past few days, and I wasn't surprised by it. If anything, I was glad that she hadn't called to ask about me. It seemed like she had finally dropped the caring mother act, which was fine by 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, right?"

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, right?" 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.

"Aa, is there a problem?" Kakō stepped forward.

The man straightened up and stood eye to eye with Kakō, "Nope. His dad sent us to get him, so let's get going Tentō."

"His dad sent you to get him but you're not sure what he looks like?" I questioned, drawing the man's attention, "That doesn't make any sense."

The four of us stood where we were and for a moment nobody moved.

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

"What's your problem, old man?" Kakō shook Tentō free and pushed him back, "You think you can just kidnap him right in front of us?"

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

It was then that I noticed a tan man with long hair in the driver's seat. He nodded while snickering and the grey-haired man ran a hand through his hair as he looked around. He turned to an alley to the left of us and 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, that the best course of action would really be to call the police, but if there was one thing I'd learned after spending 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 before lifting his fists, "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 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 managed 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. By the time I had looked back over to Kakō, he was on the floor, unresponsive, with the grey-haired 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 tilted his head, "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 by 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 over Kakuzu's shoulder. 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 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 pooling around him from a wound…somewhere. I couldn't even tell where it was, that was how badly he had been beaten.

"Come on!" Hidan dragged me behind him, nodding to Kakuzu, "We're done here, right? Finally, fuck. This shit was botched."

"There's definitely something going on." Kakuzu agreed as he adjusted his grip on Tentō, "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 snapped his fingers before looking 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.

"Arigato." 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."

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

Her statement reminded me of the truth I had learned from her earlier and I dropped my eyes to the ground, "I'm not so sure about that."

"Misaki-san…" She rubbed my arm endearingly, "You can't hold this against him, it's all in the job. And I know how N—how Pain is. Had Toshiaki-kun not killed Jūzō, I'm sure Pain wouldn't have been very happy."

There was a knock at the door and Konan offered me another light smile 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-san."

"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 me 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. Sighing, I stepped back from the door and turned around, bumping into someone.

"Gomen." 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 description of the people he had encountered, "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. Where was he trying to lead me?

He opened the door to the main floor, and I realized we were heading towards the main entrance. I walked into him as he stopped in his tracks, and stepped out to look at his face, his eyes widening at what was in front of him. Before I could turn to see what had frozen him, I found myself being shoved into a nearby closet.

My survival 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 was reminded of a previous situation. Daibutsu hit the light switch with his elbow and lifted my chin so that I was looking at 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 wanted, but instead saw that he was holding a finger to his mouth. Instead of a lecherous stare or mal-intended glare, the expression on his face was the definition of fear. 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. I recoiled as he reached his hand out to touch my face, but again, the fear on his face led me to believe that he did not intend to hurt me. Willing myself to stand still, I allowed him to touch my face, only to find him swiping his thumb across my cheeks as he wiped my tears.

"Ora!" I heard Sasuke yell, "We need medical assistance!"

There were other voices speaking as well but since they weren't as loud as he was, I couldn't make out what they were saying. All I managed to catch was the word setup but even that made no sense without any background information. 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 in a low voice, "Why 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 satisfyingly deep, and fitting for his build, although the way he paused and held his throat after speaking made me think it caused him a lot of pain, "Undercover. Both."

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

"Ally…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. But 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 would be the same as pulling the trigger. 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 brought my hand back down to find blood on my fingers.

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

Sasuke holstered his smoking pistol and quickly walked over to me, touching my arms, "Daijōbu? 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 threw my arms around him and forced a hug.

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

"Like I'd let that happen." Sasuke strongly remarked as he pulled back from my hug, lifting his hands to my cheeks.

Gekkō whistled as he stretched his arms, "I was ready to take him out but his giant arms were on her neck so I stopped. How the hell could you take that shot? They were practically side by side."

Sasuke turned to him as he ran his thumbs under my eyes, "You think I would hurt my woman?"

I smiled again and leaned into his touch, when really I wanted nothing more than to be far, 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 are somethings I need to 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 thought as they helped me stay on my feet, 'It's not Daibutsu I'm afraid of.'

Even though Konan had told me the unbridled truth, I held hope that somehow Sasuke had kept his hands clean. I entertained situations of Pain forcing Sasuke to pull the trigger or the gun going off by accident, but Sasuke's actions just now had ruined all of that. He was a cold-blooded killer, and judging by how quickly he had shot Daibutsu, taking a life didn't seem to faze him one bit.

"Where should we take her? The sickbay's occupied right now." Sasori informed us.

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

"The kid we got from our job." Sasori sighed, "We were supposed to get him from Shojoji but when we got to his manor, we found out he was in the hospital. Anywho, 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, 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 offered a light smile.

"Come on Scorpion, let's just take her there." Zetsu advised him, "She's dealing with some shit, and the only person who can help is in there too."

"Screw it." Sasori turned around and started for the infirmary, "But call somebody to get that corpse out of here. Last thing we need is for the lobby to smell like pennies and metal."

I turned around to catch Zetsu rolling Daibutsu over with his foot and bit my lower lip.

'Sasuke-kun, I will never forgive you.'