A/N: Hello again fellow fan fictioners!

There is quite a bit more interaction with the Akatsuki in this chapter, and I've employed my boyfriend as my beta so hopefully I won't be skipping into random first person phases anymore.

Hope you enjoy! :)


It was a long night. Akira lay there that night staring at her bland, stone ceiling, her ears alert and attentive to every cough, every footstep and every tick of her little desk clock. If the Akatsuki had wanted to harm her, she was pretty sure they could have managed it by now.

It took her an eternity to finally drift into an uncomfortable slumber, and she woke up a couple of times to doors shutting and voices outside her room.

When morning arrived at last, she was woken by a loud string of curse words and a harsh, ear-piercing scraping noise like a knife on a china plate. Startled, she sprung up and headed towards the door, briefly noticing that she had slept in her clothes from the day before.

'What the fuck did you think was gonna happen?! You fucking bombed my door off!' Akira popped her head around the doorframe to see the one they called Hidan screeching at a very irritate looking Deidara.

'Well if Sasori could just let go of that stupid illusion of his… that art is supposed to be 'everlasting' and all that crap, it never would have happened!' The blonde snarled, reaching into his ninja pouch and clutching one of his kunai, just in case.

'Well go show off your shitty explosions by someone else's door,' Hidan scraped his weapon threateningly against the floor, repeating the hideous noise that Akira had heard earlier.

They were both so absorbed in their argument that neither had noticed the small green-haired girl watching with amusement.

'Pathetic, isn't it?' Akira jumped as Sasori, who had been standing further down the hall, materialized out of the shadows.

'Umm… What are they fighting about?'

'Deidara is always trying to prove to me that his idea of 'art' is superior to mine. The idiot got carried away and let off a few explosions right outside Hidan's room,' He pointed to a large, gaping hole in the wall, just down from where they were standing. 'That was Hidan's doorway,'

She couldn't help but chuckle. 'Guess it's gonna be a little drafty for him the next few nights then?'

Sasori glanced at her, surprised by how relaxed she appeared.

'Hey! New girl!' They both looked back to Hidan and Deidara, who had decided to turn their attention on them. Hidan was grinning suspiciously. 'Fancy a spar?'

************ A few minutes later ***********

Hidan, Deidara and Sasori led her to a small outdoor training area, surrounded by a thick circle of foliage. Hidan positioned himself on the far side of the ring, his right hand clutching his oversized, three-pronged weapon that rested on his back.

'I'm not sure this is a good idea…' Sasori muttered, and then added, 'Try not to kill her, Hidan,'

'Pffft, she's in the Akatsuki now, if she's gonna stay here I can't go easy on her!' Hidan scowled. Akira resisted the urge to remind them that 'she' was still here, but they seemed to be enjoying hating each other too much for her to have the heart to interrupt.

Sasori raised an eyebrow and turned to Deidara. 'Maybe you should take her on first. I really don't feel like explaining to Pein why his latest investment has been a failure,'

'What are you trying to say, yeah? That I'm not as strong as him?!'

A loud, taunting laugh bellowed across the training ring from Hidan's direction. Deidara clenched his fists and glowered at Sasori. 'Fine. Let's see what she can do, yeah.'

Moving to stand at the opposite end of the ring from where Hidan and Deidara were switching places, Akira reached into her pocket and clamped her hand around a thin, wooden object.

When they were both in place, Sasori announced for them to start. 'Let's try and keep this clean… Begin!'

Nobody moved.

Deidara was shuffling in his ninja pouch and clenching and unclenching his free hand, while Akira was watching him carefully with her hand still frozen in her pocket.

'Someone fucking do something!' Hidan growled, getting agitated from the lack of action.

Akira snapped her hand out revealing a worn, wooden whistle, which she gently brought to her lips and closed her eyes. A soft, tranquil melody floated into their ears, and were all suddenly aware of a misty haze descending on the training ring.

'Crap!' Deidara growled, he had waited too long. He initiated his attack and flung his arms forward, releasing his closed palms. What looked like six tiny, clay spiders scurried across the ground circling out to surround his green-haired opponent, who only increased the pitch slightly to her lullaby. He made a hand sign for his creations to detonate, but it was too little too late.

Disappointment and annoyance flashed through Deidara's eyes as he realised the match was already over. A brief flicker of surprise ran through Sasori as he too understood the situation. Deidara was paralysed.

Akira opened her eyes and the music ended, a smile playing across her lips.

'What the fuck just happened?' Hidan was becoming more frustrated by the second. He wasn't one for being kept out of the loop, and the others all seemed to understand what was going on.

'It's her Kekkei Genkai.' They all flinched as Itachi emerged from the doorway and Deidara mumbled something distasteful unfathomable through gritted teeth. 'She uses music to instigate a Genjutsu similar to that of the Mangekyō Sharingan. She paralysed him by fooling the part of the brain that controls your movements into thinking it was frozen.'

'Ha, it takes a weak brain to be controlled so easily!' The grey haired male sneered, receiving Deidara's best bring-it-on scowl in return.

Akira released her Genjutsu and headed for the door, pleased that she hadn't given them a bad first impression of her ability. She left the four of them squabbling childishly amongst themselves and wandered back into the base to find the kitchen, suddenly feeling rather peckish. It wasn't too difficult for her to find, and she soon set about rummaging in the cupboards. She decided on a simple bacon sandwich, and while it sizzled under the grill, Akira drifted into the living room.

Kisame was sitting on one of the couches, leaning forward over a giant bandaged sword.

He looked up when she entered and grinned. 'You know, Deidara will be sulking for weeks now, right?'

She blinked at him, confused. 'How do you know about that already?'

'I saw the whole thing. Itachi and I heard that knucklehead, Hidan swearing his head off about something and were curious as to what was going on this time…'

'Oh, is he always like that?' Akira grimaced. She didn't know how someone could hold such a foul vocabulary and utilize such words in pretty much every sentence.

'Mostly, but I think the excitement of somebody new here probably has him all riled up for a fight. You'll get used to him,' He winked and stood up to leave. 'But seriously, you might wanna apologise to Deidara. It'll be more hassle than it's worth to leave it at that. He'll be fuming with himself too, especially since he already knew your ability! See you later, Greeny!'

It took her a second to realise what he meant by that, but when she turned to question him further he had already gone.


A/N: Thanks for reading! Please R&R 3