Warning: Needles and stuff ahead. If you really hate needles then skip out the second paragraph (it's needle-free after they start talking though).

Chapter Nineteen: Snake-scum.
Kisame kneaded his fists into his mattress, glaring at it frustratedly. What the hell was wrong with that girl? All he was doing was trying to help and what did he get for it? That's right. A kick in the face. He rubbed his nose and listened to the sound of pitter-patter footsteps darting through the halls outside. Chikakon. He mindlessly thought. The little fox often went dashing through the base and it wasn't uncommon to hear Hidan yelling and cursing after it. This time though, the pitter-patter stopped, only to be replaced by snuffling and scratching at his door. Kisame glowered at it. He wasn't in the mood for games. "Go away." He growled out. Chikakon barked and continued scratching the door. "Stop that!" It didn't stop. Cursing, Kisame stood up and threw the door open. "What do you want?" He seethed. The little fox bit his cloak and started dragging him out into the hall. Kisame pulled his cloak back. "I'm not playing." He said firmly, turning back to his room. Chikakon barked and bit his cloak again, dragging him back out. This time when Kisame yanked his cloak free, the fox set off barking and yapping in an unholy racket. "What do you want?!" Kisame near enough yelled. Chikakon jumped on the spot, then ran off down the corridor, still barking. Despite wanting to go back into his room and mull over Natsuki's twisted logic and irrational fears, Kisame huffed and jogged after the little fox. After all, it wasn't often that Chikakon was this insistent.

Natsuki hissed as another needle pierced through her skin. She bucked and writhed, setting off an explosion of pain up her calf. The whites of her eyes showed boldly in the darkness. Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead. Every time she moved, she could feel the needles push through her veins and scrape the skin. She tried to glare at the silver-haired man as he inserted another needle into her. This time her hand. He cast her a mocking smirk and turned away to his 'toys' as he called them; brutal objects of experimental torture. "W- what," Her voice came in hissing, gasping breaths. A mild panic had begun to overcome her system, "What are you d- doing to me?"
"Just a few tests." His voice was just as slick and ridiculing as she remembered it. Her chest heaved and stomach fluttered anxiously. She drew in another deep breath through quivering lips and blinked. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple. Fear had settled in beside the panic long ago. It sent her heart beating like a drum in her chest. She gulped in another breath. "What for?" The words weren't as clear as she had wanted them to be. The man smirked and picked up a scalpel. The blade flashed wickedly in the candlelight, its gleaming edge accentuated by the thick shadows surrounding it. "Now I already know that you've combined chakra with that little fox of yours," Natsuki yanked on the straps around her wrists; her tail thrashed as he lightly touched the tips of the hairs. "But let's see how."

Deidara was still grumbling under his breath when night fell. Sasori and Itachi were by far the worst people to travel with ever. Stoic, aloof, both with a superiority complex, Deidara didn't know how long he could last. The wind whipping in his face as they flew over the trees didn't help much either. His cheeks had long since gone numb, he was tired from the previous mission he and Danna had taken and hell, he didn't want to be going out looking for that stupid, stuck-up blue-haired girl! Sure she was fun to tease, but that was it! Besides, he had plenty of other people he could tease in the Akatsuki, so it wasn't like he was short of entertainment or anything. She was useless! They didn't even need a weapons repairer. Leader-sama never ordered her to make any new weapons and it wasn't like the rest of the Akatsuki couldn't mend their own goddamn arsenal. Deidara snorted in disgust and crossed his arms. She was just a nuisance. The only reason he was flying the bastard Uchiha and Danna out to wherever the hell Natsuki had been bloody kidnapped was because the two of them - as much as he loathed to admit it, even in his head - were of 'higher standing'. E.g: They could boss Deidara around if they so pleased. He growled and dug his heel into the clay neck of his bird. Why was Danna so attached to her anyways? He almost growled at the thought of her being closer to his Danna than he was- A cold hand landed on his shoulder and he almost jumped at the contact. "Land now Deidara. Itachi says he's found the end of the trail."
"Where-" Deidara started, curious as to what could possibly be down in the thick of the forests. Sasori's grip tightened on Deidara's shoulder and the puppet master snarled. "Another one of the snake-scum's bases."

"She was my mummy..."
"He was my daddy..."
"Where's my daddy? Where's my sister?"
"Hey, have you seen my brother? He didn't come home last night..."

"You killed them, didn't you?"

"You killed my mummy."
"You killed my daddy."
"Why'd you do it? Why'd you kill my sister?"
"What did my brother ever do to hurt you?"

Natsuki gasped. Her eyes flew open and she cringed. The sharp throb of pain kept her from thinking of those voices - the voices that had been eating at her sleep since she had murdered all of those innocent people with Kakuzu and Hidan. She tried to lift her arm, but it wouldn't. All she could feel from it was a heavy weight, like all of the muscles were too weak to lift even a leaf, or maybe removed. Cold seeped down her back at the possibility. Her eyes strained to find where the pain was coming from, her vision wavering as she tried to look over her shoulder and down her spine. She soon gave up and let her head fall to the cool surface she was lying on. She tried to wiggle her toes, move her legs and see if they were working. She gasped and bit her tongue so hard that she tasted the iron tang of blood. Dammit. Her ears pricked to the sound of a door opening and she tried to look back over her shoulder. "Hmmm... Kabuto has left you in quite the state..." The voice, sibilant and harbouring a filthy, dark tone, sent the hairs on the back of Natsuki's neck and the ones on her tail to raising. Subconsciously, she knew that this was the Snake-scum. The one the Akatsuki seemed to war with almost constantly. She pressed her forehead into the metal table. This was bad. "I'm curious," The snake-scum pressed cool, unwanted fingers between her shoulder blades as if to keep her pinned. "What does the Akatsuki want with a simpleton like you, hmm? How does one such as yourself," His nails dug into her skin and she forced the hiss that came forth to stay back. "Join chakra with a fox? One that isn't even a kitsune for that matter."
"How do you know about Chikakon?" Natsuki managed to bite out. She hoped her voice didn't betray her discomfort. The chuckle, the one of an amused snake, made her doubt her success. "Research, girl, research. It's shown me that you and that fox have practically melded together, you must know why, so tell me." The fingers left her skin and she could almost breathe a sigh of relief. "How the hell should I know?" She couldn't show weakness. She couldn't show weakness. She could not show weakness, even if she was taking her last, dying breath. Her jaw was suddenly gripped by those same, icy fingers and she jerked, her leg screaming out as the severed tendons jolted. Her cry gurgled forth. Finally, she saw his face, who this Snake-scum was and there was no doubt about it. From the sudden, thrusting palpitation of her heart to the way every nerve and muscle in her body froze, there was no doubt about it.

He terrified her.

"Shit." Kisame's hand raised up halfway to his grip his head, but then his arm fell and he turned, stalking a few steps away. Chikakon shuffled his feet in the ashen ground, the remnants of Natsuki's battle. He whined and flicked his ears. "- all my fault." Kisame muttered, turning and striding back, then away, then back again. "Fuck."

Sasori, Deidara and Itachi shuffled through the undergrowth. Sasori pushed a branch aside, eyeing the vine-coated lair. The stones were crumbling on the outside and leaves from last Autumn lay scattered all about it, but he was sure the inside structure would still be sturdy. He shifted in his crouch, strategies running through his head. With the base sturdy, that at least minimised the chances of the roof collapsing on them if Deidara used his bombs, but it also meant that purposefully demolishing the base would be harder depending on its exact build. Sasori bit his thumb, a purposeful demolition would have made for an easy escape... Itachi fell into a crouch beside him,
"What are you thinking?" He murmured, peering through the bushes. Sasori remained silent for a minute, then slowly:
"I've got the escape worked out. Now we just need the rest." Itachi nodded,
"That entrance seems to be the only way in, there's sure to be traps laid out or at least some sensors." Sasori hmphed in agreement and they retreated further back to where Deidara sat at the base of a tree.

"Our only options are a direct assault on the Snake-scum's lair, a stealth operation where we try and slip under the radar, or a diversion in order to sneak in." Itachi listed. Deidara huffed and looked away. What was the point? The girl was useless and he, for one, was not about to risk his life for her. Besides, that snake bastard freaked him out. No way he'd go near him by his own volition.
"After we're in, we'll trace Natsuki's chakra to her whereabouts, grab her and run. Deidara," Deidara sent a glare towards his Danna. Why did he, an unfeeling puppet, feel the need to rescue that girl? It didn't make sense-
"Deidara, pay attention." Sasori bit. Deidara forced himself to focus. "Once we've got Natsuki, it'll be up to you to destroy the base. We're counting on you." Deidara turned away with a frown. He hated it when his Danna said things like that; he could never turn him down.
"And if it's a trap set up for us?" Deidara asked, looking at the Uchiha and Sasori pointedly, "You geniuses thought of that?"
"If it's a trap, we fight our way out of it." Itachi said.
"Ch." Deidara glared at a distant tree.
"Our best bet of getting in is for Deidara to create a diversion." Sasori pointed at a rocky overhang protruding from a nearby cliff. "Think you can blow that up and get it to head towards the Snake-scum's lair?" Deidara's chest swelled,
"Of course I can! My art's the best, after all." Sasori's eye twitched and he muttered a biting retort, not wanting to get into an arguement now. He looked at the lair. They had work to do after all.

He wasn't going fast enough, he knew that and yet he couldn't change it. He was going as fast as he could and yet- Kisame growled and shoved his growing doubt down. Now wasn't the time to be falling into despair. He had to help Natsuki. That was the only thing he should be focusing on right now! He thrust himself forwards with a burst of chakra. Chikakon, who had somehow increased in size by six feet, kept up with the missing nin easily. His sensitive nose and the fact that he'd spent more time around Natsuki than anybody else meant that Chikakon could pick up the girl's trail more clearly than Kisame could. He bit his lip. They had to hurry.

The explosion scattered birds and wildlife all around and the ground shook as the rock shelf thundered down the cliffside in a cloud of dust and dirt. It tore up trees in its path and collided with an ear-splitting crash with Orochimaru's lair. Sasori and Itachi couldn't tell if any traps had been triggered by the commotion, but at least their diversion worked. Hordes of Kabuto's experiments scrambled out of the partially-collapsed base like ants escaping the nest to attack the enemy. Deidara, flying just above the canopy, released three smaller clay creations, detonating them and causing more chaos. Enraged by the damage and most likely fueled by Orochimaru's command, the mutated, mangled experiments set off in pursuit of the retreating bomber. That left the perfect opening for Itachi and Sasori to infiltrate the lair and go in search of Natsuki.

Despite the attack, the halls were quiet. Itachi and Sasori had dispatched clones to scout the immediate vicinity and check the rubbled for any signs of life. It had been a risky gamble, destroying part of the lair, but they had pinned their hopes on Natsuki being kept deeper in. So far, their assumption had been correct. They moved further down the halls, containing their chakra as much as possible. When they came to a fork in the corridor they sent a couple of their clones down one path and took the other. Their progress was gruelingly slow and the pressure of trying to stay undetectable was almost crushing, the urge to release their chakra and storm the base almost unbearable. Itachi was glad of one thing at least; Kisame wasn't there. He wasn't the sort for reconnaissance missions to begin with and with Natsuki's life most certainly on the line... Itachi stopped that line of thought in its tracks. Kisame didn't even know Natsuki had been taken so there was no point thinking about an impossible scenario. Instead of wasting his concentration, he turned it towards finding Natsuki. He hoped she was still alive.

Sasori stopped suddenly. Itachi came to a halt and looked back at him questioningly.
"My clone has picked something up." Sasori mumbled. Itachi nodded, more alert now, and they both sprinted off in the direction of Sasori's clone.

Kabuto pushed his glasses back up his nose. They reflected the candlelight and obscured the view of his eyes. Orochimaru sneered at his report and rested his chin on the top of his fist.
"So it was a diversion, hmmm." It wasn't a question but a mere statement of the facts. A contemplative gesture. "And how far away is our blue skinned friend?" Kabuto leafed through his notes,
"If he retains the same speed, two minutes." The almost imperceptible furrowing of Orochimaru's slim eyebrows caused Kabuto to stiffen a little. Orochimaru smirked at the reaction and stood abruptly.
"Then that gives us just enough time to prepare a little tea party for our guests. Have you gotten everything we needed from the girl?"
"Yes Lord Orochimaru." The corner of the sannin's lips drew up in a fiendish grin.
"Excellent. Go fetch her, we don't want to lose the advantage to those two rats scurrying the halls."

Chikakon could smell her now more strongly than before. Natsuki was close. He sped up, pouncing across the forest floor. Above him in the thick branches of the trees, he could hear the fish man's leaps quicken in response. Kisame gripped the hilt of Samehada.
I'm coming Natsuki.

Sasori kicked the door off its hinges and it smashed against the wall opposite. He and Itachi rushed in bearing kunai and shuriken. Their eyes scanned the room only to find darkness and an empty gurney. The leather straps had been cut - an act of obvious haste - and vials of suspicious liquids, needles and various saws and scalpels lay scattered across the floor. Some vials had shattered and oozed strange substances, some of which bubbled and fizzed on the floor, releasing a pungent smell. Itachi turned to Sasori,
"She was here until a short while ago." The puppet master nodded in agreement.
"It seems they tortured her." He fingered the edge of one of the nastier-looking saws. It was designed to hack through bone and he almost grimaced at the thought. Itachi gripped his kunai and swiftly exited the room.
"Have a clone collect those vials, we're going after Natsuki. Now." Sasori stood from his crouch and instructed his clone, which stood outside of the room, to collect everything within the room, store it in scrolls, and return to the Akatsuki base with them for analysis. The clone set to work immediately and Sasori dashed off after Itachi. They didn't have much time left- A loud rumbling shook the base like an earthquake had suddenly hit and Sasori had to dodge falling debris as the ceiling began to cave in.
Shit. Brat, did you start destroying the base already?

Kisame growled out a string of curses as Kabuto stood unscathed before him. The dust and dirt swirled around his legs.
"My my, you're just as fiery as the fox girl." He mused, adjusting his glasses in a mockingly casual manner.
"Where's Natsuki?!" Kisame yelled. Chikakon roared beside him, crouching low.
"And so demanding too. You really are perfect for each other." He dodged another deadly blow from Samehada but Chikakon cut off his escape and snapped at his head, crushing the skull like it was nothing in his massive jaws. There was a sudden poof though and a splintered log was all that was left. Kabuto reappeared behind Kisame, aiming a scalpel between his ribs. Kisame turned just in time, almost catching the little bastard with the width of Samehada.
"What do you know about it anything?!" Kisame brought down Samehada again and it smashed into the ground causing it to shake. Kabuto flipped a safe distance away and slipped under the pouncing claws of Chikakon.
"A lot actually. Though the girl never actually said it, no matter how much I sliced her open... I had to do all the digging myself, how tedious-" He grunted as he was cut short by another swing of Samehada. This one was more difficult to dodge, but he still managed it. This was too easy. He had assumed Hoshigaki would fly into a blind fit of rage, but he hadn't thought it would render him such an easy target. He could almost laugh at the prospect. If it turned out like this for the other two, they could take out three Akatsuki in one day. And to top it all off, they would have enough information from the girl to create a new hybrid experiment.

His thoughts had left him open though and before he knew it he was on his back, a large blue hand constricting his air flow. He choked and quickly formed a substitution jutsu. His form poofed into a pile of rubble and Kisame cursed, looking around for the real Kabuto. He spotted him leaping over a rise in the debris and dashed after him. Chikakon followed with a guttural growl.

Natsuki swallowed back the tears in her eyes. She couldn't cry. She had to be brave, she had to believe everything was going to be alright. She had to. She swallowed again; she'd given up on trying to hide the fact that she was in pain. The, the snake had seen through her guise anyway. There was no point pretending to be stronger than she was. She just had to try and keep her hopes up.
He won't let me die. Natsuki told herself. He would never let me die. She had to believe that. Kisame would come for her, she had to believe he would otherwise... She wouldn't let herself think about that possibility. Orochimaru smirked at her from his perch on one of the arena's balconies. One of the viewing platforms. She tried to look at all of the cages lining the walls. Some still had the mutated, tortured remains of past experiments in them. Many were empty. She couldn't help it as the feeling of dread sank into her. She knew what was going to happen. Orochimaru had told her, just to torment her some more before he ended it all. It was all just a trap laid out for them. As soon as the Akatsuki set foot in this arena... Natsuki turned her cheek to the ground as she felt the wet tracks of tears across her frigid skin. She trembled.

They were going to die.

Eheh. Sorry? If it helps any, chapter 20 is partially written already so... I'll try not to disappear for so long again?

Anyway, remember that competition I was holding? You know, the one where you have to find a song best suited to that chapter etc. and if you won I'd write something for you? Well, it's still up and running!

Okay, Guest, you won for Chapter 18!
That means no more entries for chapter 18, only entries for chapter 19 will be taken now.

Guest if you want to request something different from what you asked for before, then just let me know otherwise I'll write about Kisame and Natsuki dancing. Also, thank-you so much for support and all the lovely reviews!

ForASunset'sRise, you were in very close competition, but thanks for entering! I've written your request already and I'll post it with the others once I've got five.

Everyone else, thanks for reading and I hope you're still enjoying Weapons Dealer and that you haven't forgotten about it (though I've only got myself to blame if you have).
If you need more detailed rules for the song competition, please look at the A/N in chapter 17! Or was it 16?