'Sup! :D

Moonlttiger – Yes! Shika finally grew a pair! XD I tend to go in whichever direction the story flows :3 though I have an idea of something I want to happen in this chapter, so I'll be working my way towards that B3

MidnightheartXxX – She hasn't forgotten that whole half-demon scenario – it does eventually come back to bite her (in this chapter, even). And you're very welcome! :D I know personally that I hate it when I really get into a story and then find the author hasn't updated in like 6 months or something :/ I'm determined not to let that same thing happen here! X3

**Chapter 18**

Nine figures crouched on the roof of a small warehouse, silhouetted against the rising sun. They each regarded the landscape scattered before them. The orange-tinted sunlight was just starting to paint everything in light, erasing the shadows and the Creatures that hid in them.

The leader of the group sighed, running a hand through his oddly-spiked black hair.

"Alright," he muttered to the rest of his companions, his expression settling into one of determination and concentration. "Time to move."

They stopped a few blocks away from their destination, preparing themselves for what could possibly a deadly confrontation with the enemy. The group divided itself in two – one half would be directly facing off with the enemy, and the other would be waiting in the wings, ready to spring to attack should the need arise.

The others continued on their way, but two stayed behind for a moment.

"Promise me you'll be careful," Shikamaru said quietly, looking Shannon in the eyes.

"Only if you do," she replied, taking his hand in her own for a moment.

Shikamaru smiled. "You know I will."

With one last smile, they parted, Shikamaru joining Hinata, Sai, Ashley and Naruto and Shannon jogging to catch up with Lee, Sasuke and Sakura. There was no time for delay – the Akatsuki were waiting.

…

Sakura, Sasuke, Lee and Shannon walked into a large, dilapidated parking lot, surrounded by the smoldering remains of factories and the crumbled wreckage of a highway overpass. Their bodies were rigid with tension, senses highly alerted to every sight, sound and smell. The enemy could be anywhere.

Shannon ignored the nervous butterflies flitting around in her stomach. Her plan would work, she was sure of it. If it didn't…they would all be doomed. The group of four stopped in the middle of the parking lot, searching for any sign of the Akatsuki. As far as they could tell, not a soul was present besides themselves. Frowning, Shannon was just about to voice her doubts when a cold voice cut her off. The mere sound of it gave her the chills.

"I was starting to think you would never arrive."

They slowly turned to face the wreckage of an auto dealership. There, perched on its slanting tin roof, stood the leader of the Akatsuki, his black and red cloak whipping in the wind. Pein.

Upon seeing the orange-haired leader, the group began to spot all the other assorted members of the criminal organization. It seemed as though they had simply melted out of the scenery – like deadly, multi-colored ghosts. Kisame squatted at a position slightly further up from Pein on the tin roof, his giant sword resting on his back. Itachi stood half-hidden in the shadows of the building underneath them, his Sharingan eyes burning bright. Shannon felt Sasuke stiffen next to her when he laid eyes on his older brother.

Konan stood a little ways behind Pein, her expression as stoic as his. The wind tousled the large paper flower in her azure hair. Sasori sat on a crumpled billboard, his expression blank and maybe even a little bored. Shannon noted that he had only two puppets with him – both charred and looking worse for wear. But she never let the notion that he may have more hidden somewhere out of sight slip from her mind.

Zetsu suddenly appeared from underneath a pile of rubble. Shannon shuddered – out of all the Akatsuki, he was probably the one that scared her the most. His leaf-like appendages shielded his bi-colored face from the harsh sunlight. The next she spotted was Deidara.

Shannon felt her teeth clench angrily. After what he had done to Shikamaru…he would be the first person she attacked. Shannon would have liked nothing better than to wipe that smug grin off his face. Maybe even rip his long hair out, too. That would make him scream.

She realized her 'other half' was taking over her thoughts, and quickly shoved it down. The time for violence would come later. And it would be on her own terms.

"Pfft, took you losers long enough," Hidan made his presence loudly known from his position atop another small building.

Shannon glared at him, seeing his cold smirk and arrogant posture. He thought they were here to surrender without a fight. Well, they wouldn't make it so easy. She assumed he had been sewn back together again by a medic nin, considering that the last time she had seen the silver-haired Akatsuki, he had been dumped into a sack in multiple pieces.

And behind the loud-mouthed man…Shannon's eyes narrowed and she had to fight down the shadows that threatened to break free just from looking at the vile creature.

"Kakuzu…" she growled under her breath, her fists clenched.

Her glare travelled down Kakuzu's extended arm to where his dark tendrils were wrapped around her mother's quivering form. Shannon forced herself to remain calm. She couldn't afford to blow it now. The time for action would come later – for now, she just had to play it cool. Shannon met her mother's eyes, willing her to understand that she was here to help.

Shannon and the rest of the group turned their attention back to Pein as he regarded them with his chilling Rinnegan eyes. The tense silence was abruptly shattered by a loud, child-like voice screeching from somewhere behind Sasori.

"See? Tobi told you girl-chan would come!"

The assembled ninja dead-panned as the energetic, orange-masked man came hurtling around the billboard and into view, waving his arms around like a lunatic.

"How he ever got into the Akatsuki, I'll never know," Sakura mumbled under her breath, her eye twitching.

Shannon and Lee both shook their heads in agreement. Shannon glanced over at Sasuke – he hadn't moved an inch. His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white, and his swirling red eyes hadn't left Itachi the entire time. She followed his line of sight and found Itachi's bright Sharingan gaze hadn't moved an inch from his younger brother's either. She could literally feel the tension between them, half expecting there to be bright sparks of lightning flashing in the space separating the brothers.

Shannon snapped her attention back to Pein. The pierced leader sighed and shook his head.

"Tobi…" he growled, "this is not the time for your shenanigans!"

"Eh…sorry, Leader-sama," Tobi apologized, hands raised in a defensive gesture. "Tobi will just stay with Zetsu-chan now…"

Before Pein could even glance his way again, Tobi shot behind the plant man, cowering in his shadow.

How anyone takes this organization seriously with him running amok in it, I don't know, Shannon thought, one brow arched in disbelief.

"Weren't there more of you before?" Kakuzu suddenly questioned, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Here we go…

"We were attacked by a gang of demons a few days ago," Sakura replied stiffly, her expression pained. "We lost a few people."

Shannon really had to hand it to the pink-haired kunoichi – she was one hell of an actress.

"Even the Power of Youth could not help them," Lee sighed, hanging his head forlornly. Shannon mentally slapped her forehead. Lee and his Power of Youth philosophy…at a time like this?

Kakuzu cast them a skeptical look. He shoved Josephine towards Hidan, stalking off of the roof. "Watch the woman. I'm going to make sure these fools aren't trying to trick us."

Shannon let out the breath she had been holding. So far, so good…now it was just up to Shikamaru and the others to make sure the rest of the plan went smoothly.

Hidan kept a tight hold on Josephine, making sure the terrified woman couldn't go anywhere. Shannon felt a stab of fear pierce through her stomach – she couldn't imagine what these monsters had been doing to her mother since they had captured her. And frankly, she didn't want to even imagine it.

All she wanted to do was get her mother back.

"So, the little half-demon everyone is so interested in is finally here to surrender," Pein said, his ringed eyes boring into Shannon.

She gritted her teeth and held her ground. She would not be intimidated by this man.

"What do you mean, half-demon?" she questioned, quirking an eyebrow. Pein was now the second one to mention it…the first time she had heard it had been from those demons…Shannon suppressed a shudder. You couldn't trust demons.

Pein gave a short, humorless laugh. "You mean you haven't noticed it yet? Or are you just playing dumb?"

Shannon bit her clenched her fists, biting her tongue. Beside her, Sakura and Lee did much the same thing. Sasuke was still in the middle of his staring death-match between him and his brother. Pein was trying to incite them, let them make the first move. But if their plan was to succeed, they couldn't do that.

"Those…shadow abilities of yours," the orange-haired Akatsuki continued, "The one's you used to subdue certain members of my organization." Hidan scowled as Pein shot him a dirty look. "Those powers are no normal gifts. You have no chakra, therefore it can't possibly be any form of kekkei genkai."

"I figured that much already," Shannon growled. "Tell me something I don't know."

Pein snorted, fixing her with an icy ringed stare. "Tell me something – did your mother ever mention anything about your father?"

Shannon's eyes narrowed to slits. Her mother had never mentioned anything about her 'father', and she hadn't wanted to know anything about him anyway. All she knew was that he had abandoned Josephine not long after she had given birth to Shannon, claiming to want no part in the raising of a child. Shannon didn't even know what the bastard looked like. She and Josephine had always managed just fine on their own.

"I'll take that as a no," the Akatsuki leader smirked. "Let me just tell you something, girl. We know a lot more about you than you realize."

Shannon's rage boiled just beneath the surface, barely restrained. Who were these people to bring up her past? They had nothing to do with it! If it was one thing she couldn't stand, it was people sticking their noses in where they shouldn't. Suddenly, she smirked. Two could play at that game…

"Well let me tell you, Pein," she ground out through clenched teeth, "I also know a lot more about you than you may be comfortable with."

She felt a surge of satisfaction after seeing his outraged look. Oh yes, she knew his name. She wouldn't tell him how, though. That was the fun part. She knew everything about each of these people – their strengths, their weaknesses, their history…all of it.

Pein's outraged look faded to a scowl. "That may be the case, but we know all we need to about you. Like the fact that your father was a demon."

"W-what?" Shannon's smirk faded. Her father? A demon?

"You heard me, little girl," the Akatsuki leader sniggered. The rest of the group joined in, their mocking laughter echoing off the ruined buildings. "A demon."

When Shannon still found herself unable to speak, he continued. "How else would you explain those abilities of yours? They were no freak occurrence – it's in your blood. Always has been."

Shannon found herself unable to move. She couldn't speak a word – only listen. It was as though the shock of the news had left her mind paralyzed. Her companions were equally as shocked – that much was apparent from their facial expressions. Pein laughed cruelly.

"You're telling me none of you figured it out? Even after we sent those demons to eliminate you?"

That statement touched a nerve.

"Y-you sent those demons?" Shannon's eyes narrowed as she lifted her gaze to the orange-haired Akatsuki leader. "The demons that nearly killed us?"

"Well I told them to leave you alive, obviously," Pein snickered, arms folded. Behind him, Kisame unhooked his sword and swung it over his shoulder. "You'd be no use to us dead."

"Those demons…nearly…killed my comrades," Shannon ground out slowly. She could feel the shadows flicker to life under her skin.

"And seeing as they failed to accomplish that, I guess we'll just have to finish the rest of them off ourselves," Pein replied, grinning evilly. "Though they did eliminate a good size of the threat for us, as it would appear."

Shannon started quivering, her fists clenched so tightly her nails began to draw blood from her palms. Her glare hardened, staring straight at the Akatsuki leader who smirked down at her so confidently.

"Shannon? Shannon, calm down!" Sakura hissed. But it was too late.

"What they've done…I can't just let it go," she growled back. Her shadows sprang to life, leaping out of her body and swirling around in a dark cloud of tendrils. "They almost killed you all…and they're going to try again."

"Are you crazy? You can't take all of them on by yourself!" Sakura protested.

Shannon's demeanor toned down somewhat. She relaxed her shoulders, her expression calm. Her eyes still held that raging fury, but this time, it was all her own. The shadows had nothing to do with the blinding anger that coursed through her veins as she looked at the group that had caused her and her comrades so much pain and suffering for the past few weeks. Her eyes flickered to her mother, still held tightly in Hidan's vice-like grip. She saw the fear in the older woman's eyes.

Whether it was directed at her or the Akatsuki, she couldn't tell. But it didn't matter anymore.

Something stuck out to Shannon, and she took a moment to re-evaluate the situation. Kakuzu still hadn't returned. That meant Naruto hadn't sent a shadow clone back. Something was wrong.

"You're right," she said, her voice deadly calm.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief before Shannon continued.

"We'll need backup. Go find the others."

Lee looked at her sharply. "We would still be outnumbered if Sakura went to go find the others. There would be no sense in attacking now."

"You forget, Lee," Shannon muttered, flexing her shadow appendages. "I don't need numbers to win."

"Well, well! Guess we get to see your little ability for ourselves then, don't we?" Pein laughed, looking down at her like some inferior being. "This should be interesting."

It was all Shannon could do to keep herself from skewering him right then and there. But she needed to get the others out of danger first.

"Lee, when I give the signal, get my mother," she said, her eyes never leaving Pein. "Sasuke, you'll help me."

"But…" the bushy-browed ninja started, but was swiftly cut off.

"Just do it!" Shannon snapped, turning her angry gaze on him. Lee flinched slightly – instead of their normal green, Shannon's eyes had done a deep red – like the color of blood.

She turned her head back to Pein, her mouth set in a grim line. The shadow tendrils grew in size until each of them was about ten feet long, snapping like whips.

"What are you waiting for?" Shannon's voice sent chills down Sakura's spine. "You should be running."

And then everything seemed to happen at once.

Shannon nodded to Sasuke, and he shot off towards Itachi, a chidori already powering up in his hands. Sakura bolted for the city line, searching for the others. Lee, using his incredible speed, took Hidan by surprise and sent him flying. He grabbed Josephine, slung her over his shoulder, and disappeared after Sakura.

Shannon, seeing the other Akatsuki members preparing to follow after them, snapped her shadow tendrils out, stopping them all in their tracks. The grim look on her face never wavered as she glared at Pein, unmoving on the tin roof.

"Call me a half-demon? Fine," she growled. "Pry into my personal life? That's pushing it a little. But come here, to my world, and endanger my family and friends?"

It was a clash of blood-red and silver, neither wavering, as she finished.

"That, I will not tolerate."

Yes, I know.

I'm terribly, utterly, maniacally….

EVIL.