Hi, all! I've been kind of busy with my Harry Potter fic (The Faulty Time-Turner). But now I'm back! And my friend, xXTooMuchFreeTimeXx, will be back by next week (she's on holiday - Germany).

But, for now, let the story... BEGIN! (Or continue).

There was a loud bang, and Emiko spun around and got into a defensive stance. She may not be a taijutsu expert, but martial arts was a massive help right now. Kiba spun around, picking Akamuru up, whilst Aiko... sat up.

There was another loud bang, and this time, in the midst of all the smoke, a figure appeared. Blonde, with a long bang covering his left eye and shocking blue eyes...

"Deidara..." Kiba whispered.

The so-called 'Deidara' grinned. Emiko tensed. She wasn't going to strike without warning - for all she knew, he could be an ally - but something told her that she needed to be on her guard around this man.

There was a thump behind her. Aiko squeaked, surprised. Emiko spun around, only to see Kiba lying on the floor unconscious. A red-haired, expressionless man stared down at him. Deidara jumped over and crouched down to examine Kiba.

"Knock-out gas..." Emiko muttered. She noticed Aiko sneaking behind the two now that both were finally facing away from her. Emiko attempted to distract the two men away from her. She adopted her innocent look, large eyes, slightly open mouth and all.

"What have you done to him...?" she whispered, head lowered and her golden hair flying in the wind. A tear fell to the ground and she looked up. Her eyes were wide, and filled with bitter (but fake) tears, and she had an look etched on her innocent face.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't cry! We're here to recruit you to the Akatsuki!" Deidara looked a little panicky. Sasori didn't look too bothered.

"You've killed him!" she howled, falling to the floor, covering her face as tears ran steadily down her cheeks.

BAM!

Aiko punched the red-haired man (he seemed like the most dangerous opponent), then turned to Deidara and kicked him... in the balls.

"Owww..." he moaned as he dropped to the floor. Aiko didn't even have time to turn when Sasori practically shoved a phial up her nose... And she fell to the ground too, unconscious.

Sasori turned to Emiko.

"Your friend," he began, still expressionless. "You care for her, correct?"

"No shit, Sherlock."

"She is one of the few that you would actually fight for?"

"I'm astounded by your intelligence."

"So, if I promised to spare her life, you would come quietly?"

"No."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "So you would let her die?"

"What's the point in letting you kill me if you're then going to kill her anyway? And even if you did spare her, she'd probably be beaten to death by her haters. So either way. she'll die, if I leave her to herself."

Sasori stared at her for a while, and she stared back steadily. Then, suddenly, he sighed.

"Looks like I'm going to have to force her," he muttered to himself, and threw a dusty powder into the air around her. She held her breath for half-a-minute, by which her eyes were bulging alarmingly. She swayed, and gasped for air suddenly. She immediately regretted it.

'I shouldn't have done that,' she thought ruefully.

And she felt into a deep sleep.

Aiko was trying to find Emiko.

Most people dismissed her as the annoying weirdo, the loud one with absolutely no brains. She was intelligent. She just hid it so that one day, when people under-estimated her, it'd be their downfall, their mistake. After all, you're more likely to be overlooked if you are classed under 'Brainless Retard'.

She was quiet, too. She had snuck into most of the rooms without disturbing anyone, but she had yet to find Emiko.

Another room, splattered with blood and human bit

s. Aiko hoped it wasn't Emiko.

Another empty room. Bare of any furniture. Another, with the bare necessities. Another, decorated with... pink paint and rainbow-coloured unicorns? She closed the door.

Another room - last in the corridor. The chances of Emiko being in that one was very low. She opened the door, and winced when it creaked slightly. And there, lying on a bed that looked as hard as stone, was Emiko, unharmed. Checking around for traps, she sneaked in. Almost immediately, there was a brief, wailing alarm, and a figure materialized out of nowhere. He had stitches all over his body, and bright green eyes. He had a mask in one hand, and several notes in the other. He raised an eyebrow.

"Did you seriously think that our rooms aren't protected?" he asked. Aiko cursed.

"The gummy bears told me that it would be safe," Aiko shrugged. "I don't think I'll trust them next time."

The man stared at her coolly.

"Anyway, introductions! I'm Aiko Yamaharu!" She held out a hand. "Who are you?"

"...Kakuzu."

He ignored her out-stretched hand.

"Hi!"

Kakuzu looked at her one more time. "I don't like you," he stated matter-of-factly. Aiko's smile dropped slightly.

"Why?!"

"I don't think I'll be able to make a lot of money from selling you."

Aiko pouted.

"Get back to your room before Leader-sama finds you're missing."

Aiko hesitated. "Okay."

Leader-sama was pacing in his room. These two girls, Ayame and Yamaharu, had a ridiculous amount of chakra. Untrained, true, but still a very large amount. When was the last time he'd seen such a large amount of chakra? Answer was, he'd never seen such a large amount. Should he let them (cough-force-cough) join the Akatsuki?

But they were Oh-My-God-So annoying. They'd probably be killed within the first hour of them staying at the base. Whether it was Hidan who sacrificed them to 'Jashin-sama' or Deidara who bombed them, they'd probably die.

An idea sprang to his head. He could leave them with Konan in one part of the base, and tell her to subtly train them to get used to the members, and also how to control their chakra! Talk about killing two birds with one kunai!

Leader-sama rubbed his hands gleefully. He needed to talk to Konan.

Emiko was lying in the room, bored out of her brains. Contrary to popular belief (or Kakuzu's belief anyway), she had been awake when Aiko had attempted to sneak into her room.

She needed to get out.

Fast.

Sitting up, she went through all the possible ways she could get out of there. Looking around the room, she noted that the room had the are necessities: a bed, a chair, a door and... nothing else. The room was a dull grey colour, with blood painting the walls. There wasn't even a window. Emiko scowled. This was getting harder and harder.

Somebody knocked on the door. Emiko got to feet, curious to see who respected her privacy enough to actually knock on the door.

The door slowly swung open to reveal a blue-haired girl who peered around the door. She wrinkled her nose at the state of the room.

"They're making her in this room?" she muttered to herself distastefully, as she put hers hands on her hips and looked around. "They sure know how to comfort a girl."

"Who are you?" Emiko asked shyly, hands behind her back. This girl seemed to be someone who would fall for her Puppy Eyes Princess Pout.

Konan froze, and suddenly glomped her, .

"OH MY GOD! SO CUTE! SO CUTE! SO CUTE! MY NAME'S KONAN AND YOU'RE SO CUTE!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU CRAZY WOMAN!"

And Emiko pushed her so quick she ended up on the floor, kicked her head, leaving her unconscious, kicked her again, and punched her, sending her flying across the room. Just before she fell, her large blanket of paper caught her.

Emiko glared at her.

"Maybe I went too far..." Emiko wondered aloud. "...Nah."

And she lay back on the bed.

Aiko knew one thing.

The room Emiko was in.

It was obvious. The security in that room was slightly less than the one in the next corridor. That meant they wanted her to think they were bluffing, to think that they were drawing her attention away from that room.

But she knew that they only wanted her to think that they were bluffing.

Now that she had the location, she needed a plan. They'd been stuck in here for approximately three hours. They needed to get out. And soon.

And suddenly, an illuminated light bulb appeared over her head as an ingenious idea occurred to her. She snatched the bulb from over her head and hid it behind her back, not wanting anyone to see that she had a plan.

"What the hell is she doing?" she heard a voice mutter. She recognized it as Deidara's.

"Quiet, brat."

And that was Sasori.

Aiko slumped. She was being watched. Her plan was going to fail. Unless...

So what's Aiko's big plan to get them out of there? LEAVE GUESSES IN YOUR REVIEWS! :D I was playing draughts (or checkers) whilst writing this, so I was feeling particularly strategic. :D I was like 'play a game, write 100 words, play a game, write 100 words'. Also, I'm a beginner when it comes to draughts and chess, so tips and tricks are also welcome in your reviews. :D

I tried to make it longer, but let's admit it: an extra 700 words isn't much. And I spent so long writing... DX

I changed Aiko to a genius... Mostly because someone said she was annoying, and I kinda agreed. :D

Q1) What do you think of Emiko beating Konan up? Unrealistic? Bitchy?

Q2) What do you think of Aiko being a genius, only hiding her abilities? Understandable? Unacceptable? Unbelievable?

So... Review!