Me: Hello again loyal readers and welcome to another chapter of Falling Chrysanthemum. Firstly, thanks to those who reviewed and secondly, I have decided to write out chapters in bulk at weekends and post them up regularly so if I get writers block again-I can still keep updated. Now, onto the story!

Disclaimer: SugiSuzume13 owns nothing in this fanfiction apart from her OC-Kiku Mitsu.

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"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with r," Kiku muttered boredly to herself "hm, I know, it's rain! Who would've thought that the area around the rain village would be so miserable!" Her exclamation was clearly sarcastic as she walked about a meter behind Zetsu. The plant man did't seem to be affected by the bad weather "I wonder why." She thought dryly as she stared up into the sky, successfully getting one of the icy drops in her eye and tripping over a rock.

A rip escaped into the air as the cloth covering her left knee tore against the rough path, a slight scratch appeared on her knee as she gave up walking normally. Shifting onto all fours she ran to catch up with her freaky looking kidnapper, if he could be called that. The weird looking part was true but she hadn't really tried to get away and no one would really care what happened to her. No one was there to save her so she would have to tackle the problem herself, just like she had always done.

Looking back on the night she was captured though, there wasn't much she could have done that she did, it was dark and she hadn't been very familiar with the area. If she would have fought the out-come would have remained as it happened, only she would have been in a lot more pain. Thus in hind-sight she had done well to not injure herself, especially after her tumble off of the cliff.

Admittedly it wasn't her smartest move but her instincts were telling her to get away, so she took the only option she had which also happened to be one of the most idiotic things she had ever done.

As the pair came over the ridge of the hill, with difficulty considering Kiku had slipped back down about five times and she now looked rather like a mud monster, the tall metal buildings of Amegakure came into view. It was foul, the construction of the village had been carried out using materials which clashed with the land-scaped. Tall plumes of smoke and polluting ash drifted into the evening sky, going straight into the clouds.

"No wonder the rain tastes so repulsive." She thought bitterly as she licked a murky drop from her lip. Her clothes were utterly drenched in the nasty liquid and smelt even worse than before, it was a mystery to her as to why anyone would want to live here.

Metal gates loomed up ahead, shut tight against intruders. Zetsu walked over to a man who was sat in small booth, a strange mask adorned his face but Kiku could see his black hair and hazel eyes clearly enough. He was bundled up in warm clothes and she looked at him enviously, though she was slightly taken aback by the lack of fear in his eyes as he discussed briefly with plant man before calling for the gates to be opened.

Standing up on two-legs she followed after the Akatsuki member and into the village, a slam resounded in the air for a few minutes after they were shut again.

Glancing around, she squinted her grey eyes and noticed that there were only a few people scurrying around as they went around their daily business. This wasn't strange to her seeing as the day was drawing to a close and she guessed if she came back at another time it would have been busier.

Ignoring the strange looks she recieved, she stuck to Zetsu's side, ignoring the mocking grin on his face at her fear. It was true, she was scared and it showed on her face. This place didn't feel right-she didn't like the buildings for a start as they stood like playground bullies, sneering down on her. She couldn't see many trees around and the only natural thing about this place was the muddy ground which soothed her feet. A stench hung in the air and it made her stomach lurch, the rancid meat she had smelt in the past was nothing compared to this.

"Kiku, this way!" The command, though soft sent shivers through her body, she nodded as she turned to see Zetsu she noticed him standing at a turning a meter behind her. Her thoughts had taken over her concentration and she hadn't noticed him taking the left hand turn down a back street. She lifted her foot to walk towards him before stamping it back down, dropping to all fours and running in a random direction.

She had seen her chance to run and she wasn't about to let it go and though it was small she honestly believed she had a chance. Her feet squelched in the mud with each step she took and she nearly slipped on more than one occasion as she turned corners.

Her sense of smell provided her no information about where Zetsu was as the villages own scent was almost overpowering. Yet she had bigger problems to think about that she didn't even know about.

The night before her persuer had contacted the leader of his organization and informed him of when Kiku and himself would be arriving in the village. He had also voiced his concern about the strange kill running and his desire for backup waiting at a certain shop in the village. Unfortunately for the sixteen year old, she had just sped past that shop, her luck had run out.

Standing outside the shop was an Akatsuki member who had ditched the uniform to suit his goal and as soon as Kiku sped past he tackled her to the ground. Standing up he bound her hands with chakra, smirking triumphantly the whole time. After brushing a hand through his scruffy red hair he dragged his captive back to Zetsu, ignoring her kicking and screaming.

When she spotted the plant man standing at the corner she had fled from, Kiku bit down hard on the strangers hand only to realize she was biting wood.

"Okay then, things just keep getting weirder and weirder." She grumbled under her breath as she braced herself for another slap. Instead however, she got a bite to her arm and stared as blood seeped from the wooden "What was that for!?" She protested.

"Just making the crime fit the punishment, though next time I'll just bite your whole arm off." Was her answer, she muttered something about her question being rhetorical and felt a tug on her hands and followed behind the Akatsuki members, feeling rather like a pet puppy.

"Who are you anyway?" She questioned as politely as she could only for her question to be completely ignored and for her two new worst enemies to start their own conversation up.

"I wasn't expecting Leader to send you of all people," Zetsu started "considering how impatient you are."

"It was either this or putting up with the brats constant whinging about Tobi, though it seems Deidara will have someone to call brat now too." Red haired and wooden guy replied calmly.

Kiku didn't miss what he meant and glared daggers at the back of his neck whilst wondering how exactly beavers could chew wood. She had decided to keep her mouth shut for now as it would only get her into more trouble than she was already in and by trying to escape twice now she really hadn't done herself any favours.

She was watching her feet for some time before she bumped into the back of beaver snack and looked up. A three story building stood before them and it fitted into the surroundings perfectly yet the door and windows stood out, they were barred off. This place looked abandoned and then she watched as Zetsu walked straight into the wall, made a door opening motion and vanished.

Pinnochio walked forward too and before she knew it she was standing inside a dimly lit room. The floor was covered in rough brown carpet and the walls were painted white and that was just about the only normal thing about it besides the stair case on the left hand side which led downwards. A long tunnel sat in front of the pair and another to their right, looking around Kiku noticed three things, one was that Zetsu was no where too be seen, the second thing was that her arm was starting to scab and the third thing was she was never going to remember her way around this place.

The stair cases strange direction gave her the idea that this was the Akatsuki base and that the main part of the base was probably set in an under-groud cave which had been modified for the organisation's purpose. The outside was simply a genjutsu to make the building look like any other building and she suspected the two tunnels lead to dead-ends.

A pull on the chakra strings forced her to head down the stairs and as she concentrated on not falling she shed a single tear, she may have just seen the real world for the last time in a long time. She got the feeling she would be kept in this place for many months, if she didn't die first.