Chapter 21

(Bailey's POV)

I began to pack up my room. I held my emotions down. Crying would get me nowhere. I left the bag on the bed as I loaded up my weapon pouch and strapped my katana on my back. I activated my Byakugan one last time to see the army of Mist ninja over the horizon. They'd be here in a half hour tops. In two minutes, Ao should be able to see them.

I grabbed my bag off the bed and opened the door, and ran face to face with Mitchell. I stopped short, my eyes wide with shock. "Bailey, where are you going?" he said suspiciously. He backed me into a corner.

"The army is over the horizon. After this, I have to go," I told him, and I got closer to him. Sweat formed on his forehead, and he backed up nervously. Just then, the siren calling us to arms rang over the intercom.

"Well, it seems your right," he said then took off down the stairs outside my room. I followed him, matching his pace. He grabbed his mask off his belt and covered his face, giving me a smirk before doing so.

His team was waiting outside. We rushed past them and they came up behind us, matching the pace. "Tai-chou, what plan are we taking for this battle," Dog called from the lead of his troops.

"Let's go with Free Duce," Mitchell called over his shoulder. His team got into pairs and split up. Mitchell and I were left alone as we rushed into the battle.

He was going to continue forward, but I grabbed the back of his armor and pulled him behind the nearest tree. He was about to protest when I put a finger over my lips. "We will come in from behind. I got your back; you get mine," I said to him in a whisper. He nodded.

I handed him a scroll. "What's this?" he asked putting it in his kunai pouch.

"If anything were to separate us during this, open the scroll and everything should be cleared up," I told him. We quieted as the army began to run past the tree. Thousands of them rushed past us. We stayed put, Mitchell watching our backs and me watching our front.

The last man trickled past. I nodded to Mitchell, and we made our way out of our hiding spot and to the enemy lines. I activated my ByakuSharingan to keep an eye on our backs while we attacked.

We both drew our swords and charged into the rear of the troops. I was the first of us to make a kill. Coming up behind an enemy, I hopped up on his back and slit his throat. Mitchell flew past me stabbing through another of them. I was getting my knife out of the back of another guy when I saw someone come up behind Mitchell. "Mitchell!" I yelled at him.

He looked up from his fight. There was no way he could save himself from the danger that awaited him. I was about to cast Amaterasu at him, when Mitchell knelt down, flipped the man, and stabbed him. I was forced to send the Amaterasu at the man coming up behind me.

"Yes?" he asked coming up beside me. I half-heartedly glared at him. I could feel the smile behind his mask.

"Show off…" I muttered as he grabbed my arm and swung me around. My leg connected with the man's face. He let go and I landed on the guy's chest. I slit his throat for good measures.

Slowly, we began to be surrounded by them. We were being outmatched. A punch connected with my nose, breaking it. A sweeping kick to the back of my legs had me on my back with the breath knocked out of me. The enemy overcame us.

Suddenly, they began to back up and focus their attention elsewhere. I saw a giant sword sweep through the crowd. I knew immediately who it was. A grand fireball engulfed them. Yep, it is definitely Itachi and Kisame. I got back up onto my feet to start fighting again.

Itachi came up to me. "You two have excellent teamwork. Leader told me to tell you-"

(Mitchell's POV)

I saw Itachi and Kisame enter the battlefield. A smirk adorned her face when Itachi came up to her. He's probably giving her orders from that god-forsaken leader of theirs. I enclosed a wall of earth around a few of the men.

Bailey rushed to my side to defend my back from the on slot of enemies that were sneaking up on my back. "Listen, Mitchell…" she started but stopped to kick a man in the face. "Our leader is offering you an opportunity to join Akatsuki as my partner. He wants the strongest teams."

I was beyond shocked. She slashed a guy's chest and kicked him out of the way. "What?" I barely muttered in disbelief.

"Do you want to join or not? We don't have much time," she yelled over the screams of the fallen.

"N-no! Never! I'm not going to turn my back on my team, on my village!" I yelled at her.

She turned away from me. I barely heard her whisper, "I'm sorry." She disappeared from my view. I activated my Senkengan. If she were to get near me, I'd know. The armies were thinning and there wasn't enough for everyone to have a single enemy.

The last enemy fell before my eyes, and I deactivated my Senkengan. Suddenly, I felt a sharp stinging through my chest. I uncontrollably coughed up blood as my lungs were filling with it. I looked down to see the tip of a blade covered in what I think was my blood.

I felt even more pain as it was pulled from me. I flopped over onto the ground. I rolled over onto my back to put pressure on the bigger wound. Faintly, as I was losing consciousness, I saw Bailey stand over me. I could've sworn I felt something wet hit my cheek.

"I'm sorry…" I said as everything faded to black.

(Bailey's POV)

The tears whipped my face as I raced ahead of Kisame and Itachi. I hadn't been home in over a month and to go back in the mood I'm in, it isn't going be very pleasant for anyone there. "Bailey, would you slow down!" Kisame yelled as he was lagging behind.

I stopped, breathed in a deep breath, and continued on at a slower pace. I wasn't in a good mood in the first place, the fact that they were whispering to each other behind my back on the way there, wasn't improving my mood.

The base came into view. They opened the door to it, and immediately I stomped in. I heard Pein laughing as Zetsu told him what happened, and I purposely flared my chakra. He's going to know that I'm in a bad mood, and god dammit he'd better fear it. He of all people should know that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"You better be happy," I hissed to him as I dropped the mission report on the floor in front of him. "Did I prove my worth to you, now?" I snapped at him and stomped away. As I was leaving, I noticed that most of the Akatsuki were in the room. Everyone was except Tobi, Sasori, and Deidara.

"Oi, Pain in the ass, what'd you do," I heard Hidan say.

I slammed my door shut behind me. I threw my bag on my bed, pulled out a CD, grabbed my player, and headed for the training grounds. Since, most of my CDs where fast paced, it would help me calm my anger.

I hit play on the player and began my intense workout.

(Pein's POV)

"Oi, Pain in the ass, what did you do?" Hidan asked. I stammered, trying to find what to say.

"He sent her to help an ally. He noticed her friend was there and told her to get close to him. He then gave her the order to kill him," Itachi said as he pushed himself up off the wall from where he had put himself when he came in.

"I-I-" I stammered again. My mind was fried. I was the leader for my sake; I should be able to stand up to my subordinates.

The group went silent and began shaking their heads at me. "That's just cruel," Kakuzu said. He was sadistic and he though I was cruel? That was not right.

"I'll go talk to her," I said getting up from my seat on the couch. I saw Itachi breath a sigh of relief as I exited the living room and down the hallway to our large training room. I knocked but didn't get a response, so I opened the door. A wave of music greeted me.

"What do you want?" she barked at me over the music.

"May I join you?" I asked avoiding the subject. I'd be hurting my pride to apologize. She reluctantly nodded. "Let's spar then, purely Taijutsu." She set herself up for the fight and I blocked off part of my chakra so I wouldn't be able to hurt her in anyway.

At the change of the song, she charged at me low to the ground. She was using her height to her advantage. I brought my hand down to grab ahold of her arm or her shirt. Before I could, she spun on her heal, and what I thought would be a punch was an actually a kick up from the ground.

The kick hit me straight in the jaw. I wasn't expecting it, so I couldn't block it. I stumbled back, but she was relentless. She showed me no pity. As soon as she was up, she threw three quick jabs into my stomach and sweeping kick, throwing me to the ground. I had no time to react or defend.

Finally, she relented, taking a step back from my beaten body. I hadn't noticed it until now, but the song had calmed down to that of a piano and a violin. I remained where I was on the ground. Softly, I heard her sigh and slowly her voice floated in with the music. It was like the calm of the storm.

As she sang, I gently and gingerly sat up and stumbled over to the bench. I grabbed a towel and dapped at my wounds. The song came to an end. She stopped the music and came and sat by me. She dabbed at the sweat on the back of her neck.

"I apologize for making you do that. We may be an evil organization but to ask something like that of you is just me being a bully," I said. She looked over in shock. A smirk replaced it a few seconds after it.

"Is the big bad leader apologizing?" she asked in shock and said jokingly.

"Don't get used to it," I replied. She laughed.

"Apology excepted. And I'm sorry for beating you up like that," she replied looking down at her hands. "I was just so angry."

"I understand," I replied. A silence engulfed us before I finally asked, "Will you be okay? Itachi told me that you went through with the order."

She paused, thinking over her response. "I tried not to hit anything vital. Still, if he survives, he'll hate me for the rest of his life." I could feel her try to hold back the tears. I hadn't only see her cry in fright and in pain never in sorrow.

My guy and fatherly instinct kicked in as I slid over near her and wrapped my arm around her. I could feel this organization crumbling at that moment. "I'm really sorry."

"I just realized my feelings for him and now its ruined. It's my fault, not yours. I could have easily not done it, but I did. My life really sucks," she told me cuddling into my chest. Yep, I'd gone soft just for a young girl. I wrapped my arm around her.

"If he doesn't forgive you for that, then he's not the right guy. Besides, any guy would be lucky to be with you. You just need to find the one who isn't afraid of facing us for you," I told her.

She laughed and hugged me. "Thank you, Pein. It must've taken a lot to lower yourself to this level. I'm fine now so you can go back to being that all mighty and unforgiving leader we all know," she told me. I couldn't resist kissing her head before leaving her. I really hoped she was all right.

I went back into the living room to see all the guys giving me googley eyes. "Hello Papa Pein," Hidan teased. I used my technique to push him across the room.

"Another comment about me going soft, and you will not be able to leave your bed for a month," I threatened. Everyone made a zipping motion over there mouths. Kisame smiled, clamped his hands over his mouth and left the room. He was still within earshot when I heard him burst out laughing.

Deidara entered the room with his son Riku in his arms. The kid had a tuft of orange hair on his head and his blue eyes were open in curiosity. "What's going on here? I thought I heard something about Pein-sama going soft," he asked.

I bit my tongue. I cannot hurt a mother and his child. I left the room. I cannot take anymore of this. I will not be made fun of by my own subordinates in my own organization. I'm the leader, god dammit.

I hope you liked it. I wrote this from 1pm to 12:03am. I had sudden inspiration this morning. I just really needed to get it down on paper and out there for people to read it.

~Ja Mata Ne