mmk, should be getting more chapters up shortly, rating may also change within the next few chapters

Sounds erupted throughout the base: screams, clashing of weapons, bodies hitting the floor. Drii's job was to hide Kili away and remain there with her. Itachi said so, and he gets what he wants regardless. But what could she do when the enemies were closing in on their hiding spot? She pushed Kili away into a small crawl space and told her not to move, then placed a box in front of the opening. It was too early for this in Drii's mind. Who would want to be up to raise an attack against Akatsuki of all people at two in the morning? An explosive tag uncovered their hiding place, and the force of it shook the dust from the rafters much like a dog with its prey. Drii's eyes faded into violet: now she could predict her enemies' movements before they even happened.

"Leave. There is nothing here for you."

"The vampire comes with us."

"Not happening. Leave; immediately."

A knife was slashed through her side and she didn't know why she didn't see it. Perhaps she had mistakenly fallen into a genjutsu. She cursed herself for making such a genin mistake. This was not expected of an ANBU captain like herself. What would everyone else say? What would Itachi say? 'He'd most likely point out my weakness and make me feel worse about it,' she thought bitterly. Her psychic abilities were failing her now and she had to rely on every ounce of training she had ever received. Suddenly she heard Sasori's voice by the stairs. Floods of memories came back of all the nights she'd spent trying to master the puppeting technique. She used it now and turned one of them against his teammates. Pulling Kili out, she rushed for another hidden shelter in the mansion, stepping in the way of any attacks against Kili. She knew that it didn't matter how close the two had become, Itachi would attack her viciously for every scuff of dirt on the girl's skin. Reaching the other safe haven, she and Kili hid within it.

"Drii-san, your wounds are—"

"They're fine for the moment," Drii snapped. 'They're all I have to show that I protected Kili with my life. If Itachi doesn't think I put my all into this, I'm dead.'

Suddenly she felt another presence in the space. It was all too soon that she and Kili were wrapped up in some strange jutsu. The man controlling the jutsu stepped into the light leaking in from the hall.

"Release her! Take me," Drii said.

"So brave, but you aren't the one we're after," he replied.

"Too bad! If a life is going to be taken, it'll be mine and she will be released you little shit!"

For the remark she received a punch to the face. It would be nothing compared to what Itachi would do to her. The man clenched her jaw in his hand and examined her face.

"Ah, you have your mother's eyes. It would be such a shame to see them clouded up from death's cold hand," he mused.

Without warning, he pressed massive amounts of chakra into the bindings and it sent shocks of electricity and pain through every part of Drii's body. Holding in a scream, Drii felt blood rushing into her mouth from biting her tongue. Opening her eyes through every jolt of pain sent to her brain, she could do nothing but watch as the man drove a knife through Kili, who was helpless to do anything with the seal on her back. Using her last bit of chakra, Drii sent out one of her phoenixes to ward off the man, and the other to revive Kili so that the seal could be removed. Falling from their binds, Kili stared at her hands in shock. Crawling over to Drii, she shook her carefully, praying that she was alright. The man had fled for fear of being killed by the angered firebirds. Now both of them had landed near Drii's body as Isis took over.

"This girl...she's a fool," she spat. Standing up, she clenched her fists to check how well her body worked. "Now all of them...they shall all die."

"Wh-What are you saying? Who is going to be killed?" Kili asked in fright.

"Any being that has put harm onto this girl's shoulders. They will all die," Isis replied before walking out into the hallway. Before the opening to the space had shut, Kili could see her obliterating any person foolish enough to get in her way. Now she was left in darkness.

After eliminating anyone upstairs who crossed her path, she went downstairs to where all the present Akatsuki were fighting the few that remained. Holding out her left hand, Isis sent a shockwave of magic to the enemies, therefore turning their insides to mush. Dropping to the ground, the Akatsuki were glad for the rest.

"Get up you weaklings!" Isis snapped, fuming.

"Where is Kili?" Itachi said somewhat harshly.

"She is upstairs, unharmed," Isis said curtly.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Hidan asked sarcastically.

"Worthless cretins like you who do nothing but throw the child around when she does nothing but help!" Isis practically screamed.

"It's not our fault the little wench asks for it," Hidan scoffed.

It reached a point where one could feel the anger resonating off of the angered goddess. She made to lunge at Hidan, but was stopped by Sasori.

"Isis-hime, please disregard him. He's a worthless bag of hot air who only seeks attention. He doesn't know his place," It was an attempt to calm her; everyone just hoped that it worked.

Seemingly out of energy, Isis held out her right hand this time and summoned each of the three phoenixes to her. She turned on her heels and walked toward the stairs, where Itachi was just coming down with Kili right behind him. Upon seeing the Uchiha, Isis felt all energy drain from her and collapsed to the floor, unable to continue controlling her body. Her appearance disappeared and made way for Drii's: cut up, bruised, and showing every detail of her struggle to make sure Kili didn't get a scratch. Instantly, the phoenixes blended their way into her skin, the markings once again appearing on her back, shoulder and now her left forearm. It was at this time that Kisame and Deidara showed up pulling a pink-haired nin behind them. She was pitching a fit and fighting against them tooth and nail. Once the phoenixes had healed enough of her body to enable her to do so, Drii opened her eyes and sat up, shoving off any help that was offered to her. Once she was on her feet, she looked over to the loud-mouthed leaf ninja.

"Just shut up, you little bitch! No one gives a shit about what you have to say! So maybe if you just shut your damn mouth and deal with the fact that life just fucked you over, things might improve for you," Drii said harshly.

Anyone who knew her well enough knew that Drii didn't normally talk like that. It took so much to make her angry, and so much more to make her curse aloud. He knew this, yet Sasori had the nagging feeling that she was talking more to herself than to Sakura. With her thoughts hanging in the air, Drii briskly walked passed Itachi up to her room, where she shut the door and laid down on her bed. Itachi took hold of Kili's arm and disappeared with her to his room.

"She really did try..." Kili said gently.

"I know she did. In the ANBU she was often called on for escort missions because of how well she protected people," he let out an inaudible sigh. "If I knew how to repay her for all she's done, I would."

"Itachi-san, why would you choose me over her?" Kili asked innocently.

To say the least, this threw the Uchiha off guard. He thought hard on it, but still couldn't think of a reason for it. He wasn't even sure if he ever did or still does feel any emotion to Drii other than gratitude and slight compassion.

"I don't love her," he started.

"That is a lie," Kili said. She began to brush dust off of a picture sitting on the dresser. In the photo were a much younger Itachi and Drii. Kili remembered it was the day that they both made ANBU captain. Neither of them was smiling, but Drii's eyes made it seem as though she were. The corner of her mouth seemed to be pulled up in a semi-smile but if you looked at her face in general, it was as serious as the Uchiha standing next to her.

"I have never loved her," Itachi continued.

"You are very good at telling lies, Itachi," Kili replied.

"Do you not want me to love you?" Itachi quipped.

"That's not my goal. I'm simply curious. It's alright if you love her," Kili said, rearranging miscellaneous objects on the desk. Once she turned around she felt Itachi's lips on hers and knew that she'd gotten under his skin yet again. Shortly after pulling away they heard Drii's door open and close softly. Glancing at the clock they noted that it was only 4 am now. They heard her footsteps hitting the floor and head toward the stairs. Through the open window, they heard the back door open and close, just as softly as her bedroom door. She walked down to the dock and sat on the edge, letting her feet dangle over the water.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Itachi said.

"Don't be rash," Kili replied. "She's very fragile at the moment."

Itachi nodded and joined Drii on the dock. Upon hearing his footsteps, Drii told him to go back inside and sleep. She would never look at him though. She kept her eyes glued forward or away from him if he tried to get her attention.

"I need to talk to you," he finally said.

"What did I do wrong this time?" she snapped back.

"Why do you say that?"

"I say that because I'm never good enough. So obviously me giving up my life this time to protect Kili wasn't good enough either."

"That isn't what I'm here for."

"Oh, you're actually going to kill me this time? Thanks for that; being tortured any number of times gives someone a death wish after a while."

"I'm not going to do that either," Itachi said, feeling deep inside an emotion similar to sadness and hurt; something he hadn't felt in a while.

"Then what are you going to do? The last time I protected Kili it obviously wasn't up to your standards because you locked me in the Mongekkyou. I apparently did something wrong that time by letting her be attacked and get a broken arm while I just let the enemies flood onto us, right? I wasn't fighting at all; I just sat back and let them attack her, right? Forget the sleeping gas, I asked for that so I wouldn't have to fight. And so for all that I did wrong or even right, I deserved the Mongekkyou. Is that the impression you were giving me?"

She was looking at him directly now. Her eyes were flooding with tears but none ever spilled over. But through all the sadness on her face, she was smiling. In his mind, she was strong for that. Through no matter how much sadness she could ever be in, she would smile. He could feel his chest tightening up, and it hurt so much more because he could do nothing to stop it like he normally could.

"Why are you being--" he was cut off.

"Because I want to know what I should expect this time! I'm so anxious to hear what punishment I get now because she lost a strand of hair or she got dirt on her skin. Do it, Itachi! Lock me in the Mongekkyou again! Use Amaterasu on me! Oh wait; you're going for a new approach aren't you? You're going to let me go mad waiting for you to torture me, aren't you? Very clever; I give you praise for that. But tell me: what should I have done differently? What golden standard am I not hitting that I deserve this? Were my years in ANBU as an escort not enough? Was all my training for nothing?"

That sad, twisted smile never wore off. Her sarcasm had cut through him like a knife lit on fire, then followed by the sharpest fragments of ice. In short, he would admit that he was surprised he hadn't started bleeding from just her words.

"You know where to find me, Uchiha. I'm leaving," she said gravely.

"Where will you go?" he managed to choke.

"Home; believe it or not it's better there," she said before storming off, actually leaving the Akatsuki base.

He wasn't sure if she was leaving for good, or just taking a break from the new hell that had been created for her, but he knew he couldn't show how this had affected him. He returned to his stoic demeanor and went indoors. He went to go check on their new captive who had been locked up in the basement. She was fast asleep, indifferent to the chakra bonds that held her to the wall.

He came back upstairs and saw that Sasori was now roaming about the base.

"Where did Drii run off to?" He asked somewhat casually.

"Home," Itachi said, then walked up the stairs.

Running through the cool mid-morning air, Drii could not help but to feel sadness welling up inside her. Had she really just been someone weak that would never amount to anything in his eyes? She didn't know why she cared. If he didn't care for her, it didn't matter. One person didn't care, so what? And now she had gone and blown up in his face, something she had sworn never to do. A new presence had come to her attention, and it was slightly unfamiliar. The being came into her line of vision and stopped her.

"Tobi, what are you doing out here?" she said impatiently.

Removing his mask, he showed his face and no longer registered in her eyes and 'Tobi' but as Madara.

"I should ask you the same, Drii."

"Madara? But how?"

"A secret you may learn in time. Why aren't you inside with the others?"

"I'm done with them for the moment. I need a break. But what about you?"

He stepped over to her and gently traced the line of her jaw. "Simply retrieving a lost soul who can't find her place," he said with a smirk. She knew it was wrong to be with him, but with one kiss from this man the thought left her mind.