"Jiraiya, that was not smart."

Tsunade walked down the hallway to her office, Jiraiya in tow. The female sannin was referring to the incident with Pein when she scolded Jiraiya. Tsunade obviously didn't want the liability of Pein, and thought that Jiraiya was a fool to try to bring him back alive. He had gotten himself injured in the process, but Jiraiya claimed that Pein appeared to be holding back. Tsunade sighed and opened the door to her office, and a squealing Tonton flew out of the room like the devil was chasing him. Tsunade sighed and left the pig to his devices. The cat always returned to the milk bowl, so to speak. Tsunade stepped into her office, Jiraiya not far behind.

"Look," he said, "I got you a lovely bargaining tool, and a nice piece of ass. What else do you want?"

Tsunade gave Jiraiya an impressive sock to the jaw. "Pervert!" she hissed, sitting down behind her desk. "I am not interested in his sex, even if he has a pretty face. What I am interested of his, though, is his organization. What are we going to do to keep them off us?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Tsunade, we have a kunai to Pein's throat. They don't want anything to happen to him, so if we say stop, they'll stop. They want their leader alive, and they won't risk it to get him out."

Tsunade sat down behind her desk, pulling out a file folder. She dropped this on the desk, then glanced up at Jiraiya expectantly. Jiraiya picked up the folder, opened it, and began reading. Finally, he began sifting through the papers in it, and Tsunade waited for his reaction.

Jiraiya stared.

"I don't get it."

Tsunade shrugged. "Well, get it, because it's what happened."

"Itachi…of them all…"

"The one who we all thought was a traitor is actually the one who was fighting for the village. The Uchiha, planning a revolt…is Itachi still alive?"

"Madara saw to it that he lived," Tsunade said, folding her hands and bracing her elbows on her desk. "But he'll be out of commission for a while. That's why it's so vital to Akatsuki that Pein live and come back to them-without a leader, they're all probably just going to scatter and die out. We have total and complete control over them. We'd best use it."

"Not total," Jiraiya said, shaking his head and dropping the folder back down to the desk in front of Tsunade. "If we kill him, it could go one of two ways: either they attack us and try to exact revenge for killing their leader, or they disperse for lack of organization. And we have no idea which they'll choose. I suspect leadership has fallen to Konan, as she was second in command, but it could also be Madara stepping up."

Tsunade shook her head. "Is he even associated with Akatsuki?" she asked. "For all we know, he could be dead."

"He's not. I just told you, he saved Itachi."

"He could have easily gone after that."

Jiraiya exhaled slowly and sat down across from Tsunade. "Look," he said. "Those plans are very well-thought out, but maybe we're taking a risk here. I also don't know why I could capture Pein so easily-I mean, it wasn't easy, but it should have been a lot harder than it was."

Tsunade nodded once. "Well, we should tell Ibiki to see if he can get it out of him. And that medic…we could have her play good-cop-bad-cop with Ibiki. If she can befriend him, convince him that she isn't out to get him, he might open up to her a bit. And we can play it both ways. Meanwhile, we can dangle him in front of Akatsuki, wave him under their nose, and based on their reaction, we can either cut his leash or pull it tight. Or, if we choose, strangle him. We need to take the initiative to maintain control. The Akatsuki aren't going to sit still for very long."

"I'll inform Ibiki and the girl of our plans. Otoha, right?"

"Yes."

Jiraiya nodded and stood up. "Tsunade, make contact with the Akatsuki. See what you can get from them, and I'll start work on Pein. I'll talk to you in a few hours."

OOOOOOOOO

"You are Pein, correct?"

"…yes."

"And you are originally from…?"

"Ame."

"Were you born there?"

"No."

The sharp crack of a whip brought down upon a bared back harshly shattered the silence. "Is that a lie?"

"It is when you make it."

Ibiki grit his teeth in anger. Pein had already angered him to the point that his entire back was criss-crossed with whip lashes, and several brands littered his hips. And throughout the entire process, Pein had yet to tell Ibiki something he didn't know-or react at all to the pain, for that matter.

"Are you ever going to give me a straight answer?!"

"If I decide to. Which, going at this rate, won't happen very quickly."

Ibiki sighed and gave the chains a cursory glance. He would need them for this. He had considered using a method of persuasion on Pein that he hadn't ever tried before, but it was dangerous and could possibly cause a panicked reaction. Ibiki had considered cutting of Pein's airways somehow, threatening his life until he gave a sign he wanted to answer. He could either hold a damp cloth over his face, or constrict his throat. But there was always the possibility that Pein would take the opportunity to get out a jam and kill himself, or that Ibiki would accidently kill him looking for an answer. Well, save it for when he was softened up a little. It might work better then.

Pein glanced at Ibiki. "Done so quickly? My, I would have thought you had a few more questions for me…"

"Shut up," Ibiki grunted, and the whip coiled around Pein's ribcage again. "I don't take crap from anyone, let alone an insignificant weakling like you."

Pein couldn't help the mocking laughter that rang out in the stone, sound-proofed room. "Me? Weak? Your village absolutely walked into my trap. You have no idea at all what you're dealing with."

Ibiki smirked. "We'll see about that."

Hot iron bars.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Otoha!"

Jiraiya caught up to the young medic at last after running through the hospital's hallways for almost an hour. "Look, you're supposed to heal Pein, right?" A nod of affirmation. "Okay, well, Tsunade wants you to do something for her."

Otoha turned around, eyeing Jiraiya. "What?" she asked warily.

"Tsunade wants us to go with the good-cop-bad-cop routine. You be incredibly nice to Pein, and Ibiki will be incredibly nasty with him, and we think you'll be able to get a result that way. With Ibiki constantly wearing Pein down, he'll want someone to talk to. You are that person. Just be nice, heal him up, maybe slip him a bit of extra food, and he'll love you. Then, start asking questions. Just innocent ones at first, like, where were you born? Then, get more and more personal, and soon he'll tell you everything!"

Otoha sighed. "I'll do my best," she said tiredly, "but don't hold it against me if he won't talk."

"Oh, not at all," Jiraiya said. "He's not the kind of person I expect a good result from. But even the smallest bit helps."

Otoha nodded. "Well, I was just on my way over there now, so I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you, Jiraiya-sama." Otoha then turned and walked away, exiting the hospital through the back doors and taking the short cut over to the prisons. Pein was probably in horrible shape…

Otoha was right.

She didn't know it when she entered the underground building, but she knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Otoha wasn't happy when she saw that the door was still closed, and the smell of blood and burning flesh was overpowering. The girl turned away with a moan, disgusted, and set down her bag of medical supplies to cover her face with her sleeve. The smell was awful! Only the first day, and Ibiki wasn't going easy!

The door to the room opened, and Otoha was hit in the face with the smell of rotting meat and fresh blood. "Ugh!" she cried, turning away. "Ibiki!"

"He's from Ame," he muttered. "Rain. He doesn't like electricity." Otoha could see Ibiki didn't have much blood on him, which wasn't a good sign. He had just mentioned-Otoha shook her head. If Pein was this badly injured, she needed to help him. Slowly lowering her hand from her face, Otoha picked up her things and entered the room.

Pein was kneeling on the floor, arms chained above his head. His neck had a thick collar wrapped around it, and from what Otoha could see, it was tight. Too tight. His head down, and his mouth was hanging open in an attempt to breathe deeply and get his heart rate under control. Blood trickled down his entire body, which was covered with burns and whips lashes. But…there was no exposed flesh. No blood from the burns…electrical burns. Otoha grit her teeth and shook her head. She couldn't afford to chicken out now! Her village was relying on her to help Pein, strange as it sounded. Otoha approached Pein, who merely glanced up and then let his head hang again. Otoha could see that even his wrists were bleeding, chafed and torn from the heavy shackles around his wrists. His ankles, too, had thick chains wrapped around them, holding his lower legs to the floor. Otoha released the chains holding up Pein's arms, transferring them to chains that allow him a bit of movement. Otoha noticed that Pein seemed to fall an inch of two when she released the chains-most of his weight had been strung up on those chains. She quickly checked his shoulders: both arms, dislocated. She unlocked his legs from their chains, and let Pein sit a bit more comfortably, leaning back against the wall. His hands were still restrained, but this way, he wouldn't be suffering just sitting there.

"Oh, my…this isn't pretty."

Pein glared, but said nothing. Otoha sighed and got to work, green chakra flaring up around her hands. Otoha healed the worst of the cuts and burns first, making sure that Pein wouldn't suffer too much before she had to put his shoulders back in place. Once the wounds were closed, for the most part, she let her chakra diffuse and reached up to grip Pein's upper arm in one hand, and his shoulder in the other. "I'm going to put this back in the socket now," she warned, waiting for Pein's consent before moving the arm. Pein nodded to her, then let his head fall back against the wall. Otoha's lips pursed in concentration, and then she gave one mighty thrust. Pein's arms slid back fluidly into the socket, and Otoha breathed a sigh of relief. "You okay?" she asked, gently checking his arms for torn ligaments. Ibiki usually tried not to tear anything when he was torturing his victims, to make it easier for the medics, but if he wasn't holding back, he wouldn't care.

"Somewhat."

The first word he had spoken to her, and it wasn't menacing. Otoha was encouraged. "Can I put your other arm back now?"

Pein nodded. Oh, a man of little word. Otoha could live with that. Oh, no wait-she couldn't. Tsunade wanted her to try to find something out from him…Otoha moved to Pein's other side, kneeling next to him on the hard concrete of the cell's floor. She carefully maneuvered Pein's arm back into the socket, then continued healing the rest of his wounds. She healed the burns first-they were everywhere. Electrical burns on his arms, legs, torso, and back, and brands on his thighs and hips. Otoha knew how painful these were-Ibiki had purposely marked Pein as his property, like a common animal. Pein was bound to be furious if those stayed. Otoha then moved on to the whip lashes that covered Pein's back and legs. Otoha felt her heart leap into her mouth-the only time Ibiki whipped someone's legs was if they tried to run.

"You broke out and tried to run?"

Pein glanced at her, then nodded. Otoha sighed and healed the stinging wounds, then reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of pills. "Come here," she whispered, shaking one out of the bottle. "This will kill the pain. I'm not supposed to give you this, but…" Otoha shrugged. "Actually, I don't know why I'm giving this to you. Here, just take it."

Pein turned his head. "Thanks, but I'm not interested."

"It's not poison, you know," Otoha sighed. "I don't want you to feel so bad all the time."

"I'd be cheating my people."

"So…you have an immense loyalty to these people."

Pein glared at her, but nodded. Otoha sighed and sat down cross-legged, digging around in her bag again. "Well, the least I can offer you is something to eat," she said, pulling out an apple. "Interested yet?"

Pein eyed the food warily, but eagerly at the same time. Otoha almost smirked in victory-eating out of her hand already? Finally, Pein nodded, and Otoha handed him the apple. The chains she had allowed him gave him just enough room to reach his mouth, and Pein ate quickly. Otoha stood up, gathering her supplies, and made it look like she was getting ready to leave. Pein, however, just focused on his food. Otoha waited until she knew his back was turned and his guard was down to pull out a syringe filled with clear liquid. She hated this part of her job-she hated it. Drugging the prisoners was always the worst, because this liquid would only force them to talk by amplifying pain. Otoha bit her lip and inserted a needle, then crept closer to Pein. He didn't move-did he know what she was about to do-?

An apple core hit her in the face.

Otoha glared at Pein, but took his arm in a firm grip and injected the liquid. "Come on," she said. "That only activates tomorrow morning." Otoha put the needle in a plastic bag labeled BIO HAZARD and put this in her backpack. The empty syringe went in as well, and Otoha stepped out of the room. She turned around, softly closed the door, and locked it, mind swirling with anxiety. What was going to happen now? She was having a hard time being nice to Pein, but that was what her village wanted…

Pein had three tongue piercings.

A/N: : ) Heavily pierced men are sexy. Review, please? This will be getting more graphic, so don't be disappointed. Next chapter, I believe, we will be getting nasty. And bondage galore! Yays!! : )