Well I'm very excited to say that this chapter is number twenty in this story! I checked out the bar graph thingy to see how many views this story has gotten and I was happy to see that it had over a thousand views! It's been my most viewed story ever so I have to say thank you all for that! I like that I have five reviews from that many views hahaha but whatever I'm just happy this written text gets so much attention. Once again I thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"In my hand is the cure to this poison. I'd say you have about an hour to talk; so if you don't want to die a slow and painful death you'll start talking…now."*

Shin didn't flinch; he was many things but he was no coward.

"You'll get nothing out of me."

The two men in the shadows watched him carefully from their positions.

"So be it; I have some bounties to collect."

With that one of the men left the room, leaving the one with the vial.

"Is intelligence really worth your life? Think about how overrated loyalty really is. Konoha would never send any after you; you'll just be kept an undercover mistake while they create a lie to shadow who you are."

"My life belongs to Konoha; I will never betray it."

"Pitiful fool; scream if you change your mind. I'd say you have just minutes before its incurable."

The man with the vial then left the room; leaving Shin to hang among his chains; he would not give in to this…even at the cost of his own life.*

"Ami Kurokawa."*

"Why were you two in this location?"

"Shin and I had been on a long term mission to Takigakure and were on our way back. We took one final campout when we heard a great explosion and went to investigate what was going on."

Ami was cautious to make her story seem as believable as possible, even giving up Shin's name as a sign to Itachi that she was telling the truth.

"What was your objective in Takigakure?"

"That's classified information."

"Hn."

Ami drew a breath as she knew that wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"Konoha sent us to locate anything we could find in regards to the village, whether it be their jinchuriki or hero water; we were unsuccessful in finding any of it."

Itachi eyed her carefully.

"So what was your real mission?"

"I told you that's what it was!"

Suddenly Ami found herself staring into Itachi's crimson eyes.

She then couldn't stop thinking about Tsunade's assignment to her; who she was and information regarding the village as well as Kakashi-sama.

That was when Ami realized that Itachi had successfully made her think those thoughts.

"Y-you…you bastard!"

Itachi leaned back and turned away from Ami, as if to think about the information he had processed.

Ami couldn't believe that she had let herself look at Itachi…she knew how dangerous those eyes of his were.

"Your interrogation is complete. You will be taken back to your cell and likely executed. Enjoy your final moments of life while they last."

Ami couldn't believe what had happened. She had failed everybody…herself, Konoha, and Shin; as Itachi blindfolded her, she refused to walk. Ami was devastated internally; she hadn't even been tortured and she felt like everything she trained for…everything her whole life had been dedicated too had been vanquished.

Itachi picked her up and he walked for an abundance of time.

Eventually Itachi stopped walking as Ami heard other voices.

"Did you get it out of her Itachi? This one was too stubborn and will die painfully slow from poison."

Ami felt panic surge through her body. Shin had not talked and had been poisoned and even knowing he was going to die he still kept his loyalty.

"Hn."

Another voice then spoke.

"Just let the two rot together in there."

Sure enough she was dropped and her blindfold removed as the door was sealed shut.

Ami looked at Shin who was chained to the wall in remorse.

"Are you okay Ami? They didn't get any information from me…how about you?"

Ami looked at Shin with a teary expression.*

Kisame grunted in amusement as they began to walk back to base.*

"You know kid; tomorrow you're going to be fighting Itachi. A lot of the guys are going to be watching from the sidelines; everyone's curious as to why Pein kept you alive and to why Itachi vouched for you. You better not disappoint everyone, maybe even our guests will be alive to see it hahaha."

Frederick laughed at Kisame and began thinking of the last part of the sentence.

"I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve Kisame; don't you worry about how I handle myself on the battlefield…and what guests are you talking about?"

Kisame laughed at Frederick words; he enjoyed the kid's presence that was for sure. He was very curious to see how things would pan out over the next few days.

"Just some prisoners…nothing special."

Frederick made a mental note on the subject.

Finally they arrived to the hideout; as they approached the main meeting room they began to hear the voices of what was seemingly an active meeting.

Itachi was the first they heard speaking.

"Konoha is after Frederick; there is no denying such a fact; however I do not believe that moving him to Amegakure will aid in his development. Such a move will delay his advancements and he could truly be a vital member of akatsuki as a wildcard factor."

The next voice they heard was feminine; belonging to the beautiful and powerful Konan.

"Amegakure in under our full control; it is our main base of operations besides the fact that we use this base for the sealing of jinchuriki. We would be able to watch and monitor him quickly without any external interference."

Itachi spoke again.

"When we first received this boy he was nothing else than a mere peasant. Look at how drastic he has developed in just two days of training from me and Kisame. If you come and watch our duel tomorrow you shall see just how vital it is that he remains in this land."

Hidan's chatty voice was the next heard.

"You're practically the same age as him dipshit; doesn't that make you a boy too?"

Frederick knew that Hidan would have received a crimson glare for that comment.

Pein's voice was the next one heard.

"They are arriving now; we shall reconvene on this matter after tomorrow's duel."

Frederick began running down the hall; he knew that Kisame was giving him a strange glance but Frederick had heard something he needed to confirm.

"Konoha is after Frederick."

What did that mean? It couldn't have meant that Jiraiya and Naruto had went searching for him…could it…could they be the prisoners?

As he burst into the room he felt every eye from every member was on him.

Frederick looked around the room.

Hidan looked bored, Kakuzu was not present; nor was Zetsu. Deidara and Sasori both looked bored almost, Itachi had an intense look on his face as both Konan's and Pein's faces were indifferent.

"The room across mine is locked; what's in there and why is it locked?"

Pein studied him.

"That room was created for storage of some very dangerous poisons handcrafted by Sasori-san."

"Like Sasori-dana needs to waste any more time on his crappy art."

Sasori glared at Deidara for his word choice.

"You have prisoners; as an honorary member of akatsuki I request to see them."

Pein raised his eyebrows at the comment, looking suspiciously at the now entering Kisame who was avoiding eye contact with Pein.

Konan looked troubled as she watched the situation. Itachi looked overall pained.

"An honorary member is granted protection from outsiders; they have no right to become a part of situations that do not pertain to them."

"But this involves me; those you captured from Konoha only came here because Konoha has interest in me."

Pein paused as Konan began to speak.

"Letting you see the ones that wished to capture you would be counterproductive."

Frederick knew that Konan was right in this manner but he couldn't believe it; it would be his fault that these ninja died. The way Konan talked about them made him feel as if they weren't Naruto and Jiraiya, but it still wouldn't be right for these ninja to die.

Frederick walked over to the fridge and took out some water and a rice ball. He ate and drank quickly as all eyes were still on him.

"I am eligible to make my own decisions. Akatsuki is made up of some of the strongest criminals in the world. Do you really believe that I can spoil your plans so easily? I trust that you all had them blindfolded for most of the time they were here. Even if I saw them and they escaped; they wouldn't know anything else other than what Konoha already knows."

Pein looked at Frederick suspiciously.

"And what exactly does Konoha already know and better yet how do you know it?"

"I read the bingo book of the great ninja Jiraiya before I was captured. Konoha only knows that Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are a part of Akatsuki."

The room was silent as no one spoke.

"I'm going to go see these so called prisoners."

Pein called out after him.

"Frederick! Akatsuki has given you hospitality and a place to live; are you truly going to betray that just to see some prisoners?"

"You've already interrogated them, and considering your reputation; killing two additional anbu will only make matters worse. If we clear their minds of this event and release them, then akatsuki will still be in the clear from the world."

Pein didn't know how to reply to this; Konan on the other hand, did.

"How are you going to erase their memories? Are you saying you're able to delete someone's memories?"

Frederick nodded at Konan.

"I've created a justu that allows for me to cloud someone's memories. They will not be able to remember what I cloud; however there is a singular cure to their memory; it is seeing the person that casted the justu on them."

Frederick paused.

"The technique is not strong enough to cloud up too many memories; at most a day but for this situation…it is enough."

The tension in the room was incredibly thick; so much so that perhaps even Samahada would not be able to cut it.

Hidan even kept his mouth shut; it was extremely surprising that he had managed to do that.

Konan looked to Pein.

"I am fine with that…Leader-sama?"

Pein grumbled… "Very well then…Itachi and Kisame will follow you during your…task.

"Thank you Leader-sama."

Frederick bowed respectfully as he walked down his hallway; Kisame followed him as did Itachi. Deidara then stood up and followed them as well.

"Deidara…where are you going?"

"I wanna see this justu!"

Sasori laughed at him as he stood up and walked alongside Deidara as well.

Hidan walked out of the room claiming he had to go perform some sacrifices which in turn left Konan and Pein in the room alone.

"That child…has guts."

Konan giggled at the expression.

"We will see what he truly has tomorrow."

Pein nodded.

As Frederick walked down the corridor he finally reached the door in where the so called prisoners were being held.

Itachi opened the door to the room.

"I'm not going to perform the justu right away…I need to talk to these two first. Itachi can come in but I'd prefer if the rest of you wait outside for now."

Kisame nodded as Deidara looked at Sasori.

"Sasori-dana does not like to be kept waiting…take your time!"

Sasori glared at Deidara as the door closed behind Itachi.

Ami looked up at the two new visitors to enter her room.

Ami was broken…she had confessed to Shin everything about how she had been mentally penetrated by Itachi.

Shin looked at the two figures that had entered the room. Shin was having trouble looking at them; the poison had infiltrated his body and was burning out every part of him…he could barely focus, let alone talk.

Frederick studied the faces of the too. The boy he recognized from the anime…he couldn't quite place a finger on it but he looked familiar. When Frederick looked at the girl his heart skipped a beat. She…she looked so much like Sophie. She had long brown hair and unusual blue eyes… Frederick felt like he was looking at the narutoverse version of Sophie.*

Alright I'll end this chapter here because the next part will lead into the next chapter anyway so yeah. Review to celebrate twenty chapters! J