This is the Fifteenth chapter of Getting Freedom. Honestly I'm surprised I've made it this far. I also love my OCS in this for some reason. My favorite is actually Yukiko so you can expect maybe a short one-shot about her when I finish this up. Fair warning Sasuke Uchiha will be out of character. Not to hate on him but he's a bastard and if I put him in total character he'd try to kill Ruri right away. So yeah… I also don't like Karin at all, Sakura may have been clingy and useless but Karin just kinda creeps me out with her stalkerish ways.

Warning: This chapter will contain minor language

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto

OO00OO

Ruri had teleported about ten miles from Sasuke Uchiha and his traveling companions. She had no idea who they were but they had to be strong if they were with him. Ruri could hear Deidara trying to call her in for a conversation but decided to ignore it. This was her one chance to set the stage.

Ruri walked to the edge of the cliff she was on; there was no cover for her she realized. It was mostly a desert with a few rock formations. However the cliff was so high up Ruri couldn't make out any more details. She took a couple steps back.

Using a chakra propelled jump she leaped into the air. Ruri turned around as her Akatsuki hat flew off her head. No doubt that she'd be scolded about that later by Pein. After that she relaxed in the air taking in the feeling of weightlessness. It was like flying, she of course knew what that felt like. Her Akatsuki cloak fluttered in the wind making an obnoxious noise but Ruri felt so calm right now. When she was in the air it always felt like she was supposed to be there.

She flipped so that she was face down staring at the approaching ground. She pulled out some seeds and rocketed them to the ground while making hand signs. A thick vine grew and Ruri adjusted herself to stand almost in mid air. Bending her knees she landed on the vine and skillfully slid down it to the ground.

"Uchiha and lackeys had better be ready for this," she muttered. She took off at a brisk pace with the intensions of catching up to him.

OO00OO

"Say, aren't you tired?" Suigetsu asked in a bland tone. He took a sip from his water bottle hoping that it could give him some energy. "How about a short break?"

"You're already taking a break!" Karin snapped at him. "You are so hopeless! We've still got a long way to go until we get to the northern hideout." Karin froze. "Someone's coming, someone with an extremely high chakra level and fast."

"How far away?" Sasuke asked calmly. His posture was perfect as always, and the calm façade made women want to stop and swoon.

"Five miles," Karin answered. "No wait three. It's gone." It was impossible for a chakra signal to disappear completely unless the person was gone from this world.

"Do you think the person dropped dead trying to reach us?" Suigetsu joked.

Sasuke knew it was a joke, but he wouldn't put it past any of his teammates to do such a thing. Besides who else would want to see him. Itachi wouldn't come to him.

"That was a mean thing to say," a girl said. Sasuke looked behind him to see a girl. She was rather short with golden brown skin with dark brown curly hair, and piercing emerald eyes. The thing that stood out the most was the black cloak with red clouds wrapped around her body.

"How did you avoid my ability?" Karin asked before grinding her teeth.

"I'm not here to explain things to you. I'm here for Sasuke Uchiha." The girl turned to look at Sasuke smiling sweetly. "Okay so if I want something from somebody I'm supposed to gain their trust," she mused out loud. "My name is Ruri and I have come for Orochimaru's ring."

"You're the genjutsu girl," Sasuke said unemotionally. His ebony eyes meet her shiny emerald ones. He remembered the girl.

"Oh so you remember that time," Ruri said smiling. "Thanks for telling me about that stuff I would've failed my test at the academy if it wasn't for you. So about that ring…"

"Sasuke-Kun you know her?" Karin asked gripping his shoulder. Ruri's eye twitched a little, she just had to get in the way. Sasuke just glowered at Ruri.

"Hey period head," Ruri insulted. The girl glared and pushed up her glasses. "I don't think the Uchiha belongs to you. He belongs to Sakura Haruno, that girl who's really strong now, or at least stronger than you."

"Excuse me you wana be Akatsuki member," she sneered. "Sasuke-Kun is everyone's Sasuke-Kun. No need to be jealous."

"Way to turn him into a slut," Ruri retorted. "Anyway, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can hand over the ring or I can take it. It's your call Uchiha."

He still just stared at her. Ruri couldn't fathom why Naruto and Sakura found this guy so necessary in their lives. She was slightly annoyed she had wanted to be his friend build trust but he clearly didn't want that.

"So you're not going to talk to me?" Ruri questioned. It would be kind of fun to make an Uchiha lose his cool, Ruri thought a smirk coming onto her face. "Okay then I won't play nice, I'll be honest. Your skin isn't pale it's pasty. Your hair looks like a ducks ass." Ruri waited for a response, the only one she got was a chuckle from the shark like boy sitting down on rocks.

"You're a Hozuki, aren't you?" Ruri asked tilting her head to the side. He looked like his father if he really was one. "Could you be Suigetsu? No way! You were on my first list of targets to kill!"

"Obviously that didn't work very well considering I'm alive and have never seen you before," Suigetsu stated.

"You disappeared and were taken off my list," Ruri stated. "You might've stood a chance back then, now you won't. I've got training. Training from the best Uchiha. Uchiha Itachi."

Both Karin and Suigetsu had missed the flash of motion that happened. Somehow Sasuke was standing where Ruri once stood, and Ruri was next to Karin where Sasuke used to be.

"Somebody is touchy," Ruri teased. "Any way about your bro-"

"Kill her," Sasuke interrupted. His eyes had yet to turn into the Sharingan so Ruri didn't have to use her psychic powers yet and that made her relieved.

"Hai! Sasuke-Kun!" Karin squealed. She turned and glared daggers at Ruri.

"Oh come on I thought we were getting along so well," Ruri said before dodging Karin's first attack.

Karin followed up with a charge for Ruri's torso. Ruri grabbed her arm and twisted into an impossible position. She used her knee and brought into her stomach forcing the wind out of her lungs. Karin coughed and gagged.

"Your radius is broken and your elbow is dislocated," Ruri whispered into her ear. "I also shattered a couple ribs. Don't charge so carelessly at an Akatsuki member next time." With a quick blow to the back of her head Karin was on the ground unconscious.

"Sakura's way stronger than this…" Ruri muttered. "You should have gone back for her. You know she still loves you. Love is the only thing that can heal you. Even if you kill Itachi you won't avenge your clan, you'll disgrace it."

Ruri didn't have time to wait for him to answer as a sword swung at her head. She ducked but she had to dodge right away again. This guy, Suigetsu, was everywhere swinging the blade at her. Finally Ruri had a chance to hit him and she punched right through him. Her arm felt like it went through water.

"Kisame doesn't do that…" Ruri murmured. She looked up to see Suigetsu's smirk he was her type but that aside she would defeat him. "Neat trick want to see one of mine?"

Ruri kicked a heel through him before back hand springing away from him. Forming hand signs she pulled out a rod and out sprung her trustworthy whip. She pulled off her cloak revealing her body and allowing more movement. She pulled something out of her jacket but put her hand down to her side open. Suigetsu wondered what she did but if he knocked her out quick it wouldn't be a problem.

He lunged at her closing the distance between them fast. Ruri swung her whip right through him. She let go of it to make hand signs as he chased after her. Ruri smirked before clapping her hands together. Suigetsu stopped in his tracks. What's this strange feeling, he thought.

"There's a seed planted inside you," Ruri explained. "Don't worry I'm just going to dehydrate you enough to make you unconscious. I have a thing for charismatic cuties like you." Ruri smiled but there was something dark behind her smile. "You can have any medic ninja remove it, the second you used your water to try and dodge my attacks was when you lost."

Suigetsu dropped to his feet panting. He had never felt such a dull ache before. He had felt pain before, but this was like he was slowly being eaten alive. The girl just stood there smiling. Soon black came across his vision, before it completely over took him.

"You know it's not that they're bad ninja's it's just that I'm that good," Ruri said facing Sasuke. He had that same emotionless look on his face. "Can you please give me Orochimaru's ring?"

"Why would killing Itachi be a disgrace to my clan, when it was he who killed them?" Sasuke asked. His voice was deep but still had no signs of emotion. He has no idea how much he's like his brother, Ruri thought.

"He stopped an uprising by doing that," Ruri stated. "I've seen things in the archives you can't even imagine. All I can tell you is the massacre was an order, and that order originated from one specific person who was being controlled by another person. My goal is to bring you back to Konoha so that you can be a member of the Uchiha clan and not end up dead. The next time I see you I'll definitely take you back and you'll have you're revenge on the true conspirator. Right now I need that ring you have to stay alive though, so if you wouldn't mind toss it over here."

Sasuke activated his sharingan not a second after, Ruri's eyes bleed into purple and stared back at him. His sharingan started spinning and he waited for his genjutsu to take effect, but nothing happened. He tried again, and the outcome was the same. He was somewhat confused this stupid girl should have been in his trance.

"Uchiha my ability is immune to most genjutsu and illusions," Ruri stated. "Look I'll fight you and take that ring if I have to but I was hoping we could skip all that. Think about it, think about your brother. Would he have normally done something like that?"

Sasuke charged Ruri after activating his chidori. Ruri stood absolutely still waiting for him to get close before making hand signs.

"Psychic Armor!" She called out. A thin coating of purple light covered her body. As soon as Sasuke made contact with Ruri's body it reflected off her. It didn't hit him but it repelled him away from her.

Before he had time to completely recover from it Ruri jumped high in the air. Purple translucent kunai appeared and she threw them. The bounced off each other in a familiar way as they flew towards him. He dodged all but two that grazed his sleeves. She had executed throwing kunai exactly the way Itachi had once before, she wasn't lying the girl had been trained by his brother.

So the ring isn't in his sleeves Ruri thought. Ruri began to rack her mind of places where Orochimaru's ring could be hidden on his body. He would put it in a place unnoticeable but still easily accessible.

She dodged a string of taijutsu attacks from Sasuke as she began to plan her next moves. However the Uchiha managed to connect a devastating blow to her legs. Ruri was surprised and let a small gasp of pain escape from her mouth. A smirk appeared on the Uchiha's face but disappeared when she did not crumple to the ground from the attack.

She's stronger than I originally thought, but she is still out of her league Sasuke thought. He set out drawing his katana on her and charging. She was dodging him again but it was different than before. Her movements had become more deliberant like a choreographed dance. Ruri did a back hand spring and grabbed her whip from the ground.

With a sudden snap the rod extended and the vine that had been attached to it withered to the ground. She formed a hand sign and a purple blade appeared turning the rod into a scythe. An intense look filled her eyes most would've immediately felt fear but Sasuke Uchiha had abandoned that useless emotion long ago. The thought sinister had crossed his mind though.

He didn't let up on his attacks as he continued to use his katana. Ruri had been meeting every one of his swings with the blade of her scythe. He thought it had to be impossible. To begin with the size of the scythe was about six inches taller than her that should make it hard to wield. The katana was much smaller and Sasuke Uchiha was someone who was never accused of being slow. Yet this girl was countering all of his attacks almost effortlessly.

Ruri saw a small opening she sliced the Uchiha across his torso tearing his shirt and slicing some of his skin. It was deep but not too deep the Uchiha noticed as he continued to attack. Soon he backed up with the full intent of a summoning jutsu, but the girl came at him fast. Ruri brought the scythe down slicing the rope that helped to keep his loose fitting pants up. Sasuke growled as the ring tumbled loose from his clothing.

When he looked up at her intending to strike her into an early death but froze when he saw her. He felt like being sick almost disgusted. Her eyes had a wild blood thirsty look of satisfaction. Her mouth was curved into a sneer that revealed what looked like small fangs. Ruri looked like a monster to him there was no other way to describe her, even though he was no better than her.

Ruri kicked him powerfully out of the way sending him flying into the rock formation that Suigetsu had been sitting on earlier. Ruri picked up the ring on the ground. Even with her back to him Sasuke could feel the air around her shift. Ruri turned back towards him, her eyes once again their famous shade of green. Her smile had turned into a sweet and innocent one, Sasuke felt himself almost relax.

"I hope you don't mind but I will be taking this ring with me," Ruri said cheerfully. "I think it's a small price to pay for your life." Ruri slipped the ring on her pinky finger and watched it automatically adjust to the right size.

Ruri began to perform rapid hand signs before biting her finger drawing blood and slamming it on the ground. She disappeared into a purple light.

Sasuke stood up slowly; he hadn't even realized how heavily he was breathing or how sore his body was. He took a look at the teammates he had gathered. Were they enough? If that was what Itachi's student was like could he really take on Itachi?

He would wait for Karin to wake up before they would take Suigetsu to a doctor and get the last member of their team. This was certainly throwing his plans off a little bit but he would deal with this girl later if it was needed.

OO00OO

"You know what?" Deidara questioned loudly. He was pacing around like a madman by the river where Ruri had left them a little over an hour ago. Sasori stood against a tree watching him rant like a maniac.

He had already figured out that Ruri wanted to talk to the Uchiha alone, considering he was her target. Ruri could be called a lot of things but her ability to perform her rightful duties was astounding. Sasori wondered what Konoha was thinking about her right now.

"I think when she gets back I'm just going to chain her up and put her in a cage!" Deidara yelled.

"I had no idea you were that kinky Dei-Dei." Both boys turned their heads to see Ruri. She was definitely in a disheveled state. Her face had a few scrapes and bruises but nothing major, but Ruri was limping.

Both men directed their attention to Ruri's right leg. A massive purple bruise had appeared and covered most of her outside thy. The fact that her golden brown skin had taken on such a color meant that whatever happened had done massive damage to her leg. It was probably amazing that she was still walking.

"Sit down now," Sasori instructed firmly. Ruri complied without a second thought, practically tumbling to the ground. She let out a whimper of pain as she landed, worrying Deidara. "Do you know how he did this?"

"It was a kick but something was different about it," Ruri answered. She glanced at Deidara who had his fists clenched, and was grinding his teeth against each other. Ruri frowned. "Deidara you know as well as I do that getting injured is part of being a ninja. Don't fuss over it."

Sasori noted how Deidara slightly calmed down. No doubt this girl was amazing he would even admit that this girl had changed him. He no longer felt the same blood lust he once had. He felt stronger and more in control than ever. His puppets also worked perfectly.

"Well you managed to break the bone completely," Sasori told her after scanning her leg. "How did you walk on this?"

"I put one foot in front of the other like every other person," Ruri replied bitterly as he pressed down on it to prove his point.

"Deidara you're going to have to carry her until we get to the next village," Sasori said. "I'll need more than just the basics to properly heal this. Also send a message to leader saying the ring has been retrieved but we will need a few days of recovery before we can start traveling back to the base."

"I'll send the message as soon as we reach a hotel," Deidara stated moving towards them. He scooped Ruri into his arms princess style, and ignored her words of protest. "Is she in critical or can we walk?"

"She's fine probably just in pain," Sasori answered. He knew that Deidara only wanted to punish Ruri for leaving so suddenly with little explanation to where she was going; he agreed with him whole heartedly. "Let's take it at a nice slow walk. By the way my new art is completely superior to yours."

"Hell no!" Deidara protested. "Your little dollies can't even be compared to my master pieces."

Ruri groaned loudly as their argument began. She was tired and would try to sleep but the pain kept her awake. She had to listen to their constant bickering the whole way to the nearest village.

OO00OO

"You know leader isn't going to be very happy with you when we arrive at the base," Deidara told Ruri. She had already recovered from the injury she received five days earlier.

"You have no idea…" Ruri muttered with a dark look in her eyes. She knew full well that she wouldn't be dealing with Pein, but his evil counterpart Madara. Scratch that they are both evil Ruri thought. "In my old age I hope to become a hermit that lives all alone with no human or animal interaction what so ever."

"As your current lover I take that very offensively." Ruri saw Deidara's eye twitch and let out a cute laugh at his frustration.

"It's funny because I think of you as more of a personal alien than a human or animal," she teased. That statement launched them into a small battle of teasing thoroughly annoying Sasori.

"Would you two shut up!" Sasori snapped. "We'll be at the base in about an hour, so just be quiet until then."

"You look young but I always forget that in truth you're a crabby middle aged man," Ruri retorted. Sasori let out a growl.

"Whatever however this whole delay is being blamed on you," Sasori stated.

"I don't think you can call it a delay when leader never thought I would actually come back alive," Ruri stated.

"Now that would be a nice little thought," Sasori muttered as they continued on.

OO00OO

"Deidara, Sasori you're dismissed," Pein told them. The two bowed and left. Now Ruri and Pein stood alone in the office. A long period of silence passed through the room.

"Let me guess we are waiting for Madara," Ruri stated calmly making her way to a chair that sat in front of the desk.

"No I'm here now," Madara said entering from a door behind the desk. Although Ruri could not see him his intimidating presence was all too familiar. "So you ended up fighting Sasuke Uchiha that's rather interesting."

"He was a very interesting person," Ruri mused. "However I still beat him, he didn't even know that I got injured. I'm pretty sure he's afraid of me."

"Is that so?" Madara chuckled amused at her response. "You probably think I'm here to scold you but in reality I'm praising you. Congratulations on not getting yourself killed."

"Well thanks," Ruri muttered. "If that's all than I'm free to go right?"

"No you're not, but Pein is," Madara said. Pein removed himself from the desk chair and out the door which Madara had entered. Madara planted himself in the chair comfortably. "I like talking with you it's almost just as interesting as the conversations I used to have with Itachi when he was younger."

"You had Sasuke purposely left alive didn't you?" Ruri had come up with that conclusion while lying in a hotel bed with nothing better to do.

"Ah, I knew you would figure out you smart little cookie," Madara practically laughed out. "Do you know why?"

"Not yet nor is it any of my business," Ruri stated.

"If you tell me what you're actually thinking then I will tell you the people going to retrieve the three tails," Madara offered.

"Right now I'm thinking about frolicking with pink bunnies and eating giant vegetable onigiri," Ruri replied sarcastically.

"I'm sure you are. Now tell me what you actually think about Sasuke Uchiha's purpose."

"He's the main Uchiha in your plans not Itachi," Ruri replied hesitantly. "You've used Itachi as a sacrificial lamb in order to fuel his hatred and need for power. Then you intend to let Sasuke kill Itachi and receive the next level of the sharingan. By then Sasuke will be half crazy and delirious enough to do every single thing you ask of him, without questioning it."

"You never disappoint me," Madara said clearly amused. "Deidara and Tobi are the ones going by the way. I must ask if you would consider becoming my second command instead of Pein. I'm sure you would be able to handle it."

"Listen," Ruri started, "I may be good at figuring things out, but I'm not an idea person. As long as your orders get me closer to my goal of reinventing Konoha than I'm happy to comply with them. Don't worry I don't want any more power than I already have."

"So you figured out that this was a test too?" Madara asked. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"Obviously because if you wanted me to be second in command I'm positive Pein would have been killed off before you made that offer."

"You're correct. The only thing I have left to say is: welcome to the Akatsuki. You are our newest official member. You're now excused."

Ruri bowed before silently exiting. She had done it, what no other shinobi dared to do. She had successfully infiltrated the Akatsuki.

OO00OO

I'm going to post this a day early mostly because it's finished and edited (I use that term loosely) which means NO chapter tomorrow. Also I like posting early it makes me feel like I didn't procrastinate, which is more than I can say for my mountain of summer homework I haven't started. I love all Reviews good or bad, I'd super appreciate it if someone told me how the fight sequences were. That's it for now thanks for reading! :)