Disclaimer: No more how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or any of the characters. Only Kai and my little OC village.

Chapter 2: The Sad Eyed Akatsuki and the Deal with the Devil

Author's Note: And with this chapter, our story truly begins and we see yet another side of our star.

Naruto Uzumaki was laying on his bed in his tiny, lonely apartment. Right now he was finding the ceiling to be really attractive. He found ceilings quite attractive now a days actually. What with Sasuke still gone and him not being able to keep his promise to Sakura, again, he was feeling particularly crappy about himself more and more every day.

Despite how heavy his limbs felt he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on his jumpsuit. The room was beginning to suffocate him and he needed as much fresh air as possible.

So it was without hesitation that he found himself bounding endlessly from rooftop to rooftop with no real motive for his actions. He didn't know what he wanted to achieve from this or when he would quit. All he knew was that he liked feeling his legs moving beneath him. It reminded him that he wasn't as dead as he felt.

Naruto idly wondered what Sakura was doing right now. Was she thinking about him? About how hard he was working for her? Or was she only thinking about Sasuke? Crying over Sasuke? The thought only made his heart heavier. 'She wouldn't be crying if you weren't too weak to bring him home.' He thought angrily.

"Dammit." He hissed through gritted teeth. Without warning to the rooftops or the ground, the blonde jinchuriki changed direction and headed off towards the training field. He needed to expel some anger and frustration that he had with himself.

His legs were moving so fast now that everything was a blur to him. His hands balled into fists as he neared his target. The middle wooden post. The same one he was tied to during his first training session with Kakashi. He drew back his fast and his jaw locked as he punched the defenseless and innocent post with everything he had. The wood split and shattered onto the ground emitting a cloud of dust.

Naruto could feel the warm trickle of blood that slowly dripped down his knuckles. Only a portion of his frustrations were appeased. The rest of his frustrations would come out in tears he realized as his knees gave way to the ground and the shameless sobs were ripped from his throat. In his moment of grief, he hadn't heard the dark figure that looked over him now approach.

He took a moment through his blurry eyes to analyze the figure. It didn't seem exactly menacing, but it didn't come with the feeling of good luck either. He whipped his body around and gasped at the person. It was a woman. A woman standing before him in the Akatsuki cloak. Her eyes were fixated on the spot where his tears had landed. She was barely paying attention to him. "Naruto Uzumaki." She muttered.

"What? How do you know me?! I've never seen you before!"

"Think Naruto. I'm in the Akatsuki, I know more about you than you'd like me to." Her tone of voice. It sounded like she was only half interested in their conversation. Like she was listening, but not really listening.

"I supposed you're here to fight or something? Try to destroy the village and kidnap me for your sick plans!" Naruto accused. He waited impatiently for the girl to answer and while he waited, he took in her vision. She wasn't but so tall. She couldn't have been more than 5"4'. Her strange hair that hung down to her waist. It was the color of dirty blonde with silvery tones that stood out the most at the ends. Her eyes shine brightly in the darkness and he can see that they too are silver with little bright specks of blue. He's not sure what attire she wore under her cloak but he can see her hands. Her tiny hands and her nails that were painted a soft lilac color.

She didn't look anything like an Akatsuki. The most of them looked creepy or inhuman. The others, they may have looked normal, but they always had that twinkle in their eye. The twinkle that read 'I'm a psychopath, hear me roar.' Her eyes however, her eyes did not give way to such twinkle. Instead he saw sadness and wonder. It's like her eyes were trying to tell him that she was lost and she didn't really know what she was doing with that particular group, but she wanted help. She wanted to be found. She-

"Stop staring at me." She bit. Naruto blinked a few times pulling himself away from her hypnotic orbs and then sprung to his feet ready in his fighting stance.

"Answer me!" He growled. "Are you here to take me and destroy Konoha?" He repeated the question and finally the woman looked up. She looked exhausted and like she would pass out and fall asleep at any minute.

"Relax," was all she said at first, "I was simply sent here to gather more Intel. I'll be sent back to destroy everything at a later day probably, but right now, well, I've used up too much of my visual prowess and it's left me drained. I'm in no fighting condition so you can lower your guard." Visual prowess? The only people Naruto knew of that had a visual prowess was Kakashi Sensei and…Sasuke. She certainly didn't look like an Uchiha. He glanced at the headband on her forehead. She was from that new village. Or not so much new as it was just rediscovered. The village within energy. The village that could supposedly beat out Konoha with one arm tied behind its back. The village that inhabited shinobi who had all mastered at least three chakra natures. In other words, he was in trouble. Drained or not, she was still dangerous.

"What do your eyes do?" He asked carefully lowering his stance but never lowering his guard.

"My eyes," she started, "they became a stark white and much like the byukugan and the sharingan they allow me to see everything. But, they also give me the ability to look into people's minds and communicate with them. To control their brain. Similar to the mind transfer jutsu of your Yamanaka clan. It also allows me to enhance my battle technique by at least double the strength. However, its side effects can be temporary paralysis if used too much. Other side effects are like now, exhaustion, weak state, vulnerability."

Vulnerability. She said it so casually as if she wanted him to know she was wide open right now. He could slit her throat with a kunai and there would be one less Akatsuki to worry about. Was she testing him?

"I know you won't hurt me." She said as if she'd been reading his thoughts. Her eyes were still the same silvery blue though so maybe he'd just been obvious. "Sit down Naruto. I'd like to speak with you. My friend, Deidara, he says you're pretty good. Strong. Tell me what it is that drives you."

"Ha yea right! Like I'd sit down with you! You're the enemy! Drained or not, I don't trust you!" Even though Naruto was shouting about how he didn't trust her, he couldn't find the will to make himself leave. There was something about her eyes. They just kept drawing him in.

"Hey what's up with your eyes? They look…sad."

"Sad? I guess you could say I'm sad. Rough life. Can you agree?" She asked him. He pondered it. He knew he didn't have to, but he did anyways.

"Yea. Really rough."

"Tell me about it, I wanna know."

"Well," Naruto said before he knew what was wrong with him. "When I was younger everyone in the village always treated me like I was an outsider, like I was the bane of their existence, like I didn't have feelings! I was lonely and…and there was only one other kid who even halfway acknowledged me! Who understood how I felt, how lonely I was! He was-is- my best friend and now he's gone and no matter how hard I train, no matter how much stronger I get, it seems like I can never catch up to him to bring him back and I feel like such a failure!"

"Failure." She said plainly once he was finished venting. "See Naruto, don't you feel better now? Destroying that wood and crying wasn't all you needed. You needed someone to listen." Naruto looked at her like she was insane. He saw that her eyes had closed and she was smiling gently at him. Warmly, almost friendly.

"Stop acting like you care." He gritted.

"Tch," she spat, "I'm not acting Naruto. I do care. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked. Now, do you wanna know why I'm being so nice to you or not?"

"Well…yea." He admitted. Who wouldn't wanna know why this Tsugakure Akatsuki nin was being nice to him?

"It's because like I said, I've had a rough life too. I was bullied and treated like dirt when I was a kid and it always made me feel a little bit better at the end of every day to know that I had at least one person who cared. I'm not here to hurt you, or Konoha, Naruto. That isn't my job and I'll make sure it's never my job. I'm just here as a curious little spectator." She smiled again. That same gentle and warm smile from before. It was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Sakura when she smiled at him.

"Are you really with the Akatsuki?" He asked. By now he was convinced she was either a really good prankster or just absolutely morally confused.

"I am." So morally confused it was. "Naruto, I could probably never go back to my village. I've done too much shame to my family and even if everyone saw the light and forgave me, I would still feel anger and bitterness towards them for all the pain they caused me. I could never return to Tsugakure. And if I don't return to my village then I'll be a missing nin and that means I can't just roam around any village and settle down wherever I choose regardless of how powerful I am. So, I teamed up with the Akatsuki and I'm actually quite happy there. I know what you're thinking, but not all of them are bloodthirsty animals."

"Yea right." Naruto muttered. The blonde haired, blue eyed ninja isn't exactly sure when it happened, but he noticed that he was sitting down alongside the sad eyed girl. He was positive that if anyone from the village had seen this they'd think he was probably in cahoots or hopefully just assume he'd been using the girl as a spy.

"Naruto. I have to leave now. It's really late and I'm really quite exhausted. Maybe we'll see each other again someday soon. If not, then I wish you all the best of luck."

Before Naruto could even think to reply to the girl, she was gone and he found himself very dizzy. He didn't even make it back to his room before he passed out.

XXX

When I returned to the hideout part of me felt shamed. I'd just spent the last half hour forcing myself not to use that kid to tell Sasuke the truth about his brother and get him to drop his deadly vendetta against Itachi.

Itachi would have been so mad at me, but I feel like it would have been worth it. Sasuke deserved to know about his messed up village and his older brother's sacrifice. Whatever. What's not done will just remain undone? I was lounging around with Tobi and Zetsu. Two of the members I didn't sleep with on occasion. Not that Zetsu couldn't be found somewhat attractive in his own inhumane way and Tobi couldn't possibly be appealing with his mysterious ora and lack of common sense. I just didn't favor them sexually. And I got enough want out of them just being my friends. Besides, I wasn't all that sure that Tobi was mentally capable or mentally old enough to go down that road.

My lids were heavy and I was using these two as pillows and leg props because the walk upstairs just seemed like too much. Tobi was softly stroking my hair while the TV hummed softly. Nothing worthwhile or interesting was on.

"Kai. What intel have you to report on Konoha?" Dammit Pein.

"Well they're obviously onto us. Security measures are high. Not too high that I couldn't get through clearly, but still. The jinchuriki." My voice was loaded with weariness and part of me wondered if I would fall asleep in the middle of my sentence. "He's pretty easy to get to. I sat next to him. Spoke to him. Pein, I will not bring harm to Naruto Uzumaki or Konohagakure. That will be left to you and Konan."

"So be it." Pein and I had a special relationship. He understood that I was powerful enough to take him on and possibly –if with enough effort- win. He didn't want to chance that. And he trusted me on a level that he didn't trust the others. We shared the same common goal. We were equals. I just had a different method to some of my goals.

XXX

Karin watched through a crack in the door as Sasuke Uchiha sat quietly on the floor, in the center of the room. She knew what he was doing. He was training. Again. Honing his lightning jutsus. Again. He was ignoring her. Again. He was so obsessed with killing his brother that it was honestly starting to make her a little crazy.

Anytime he called on her, it was usually just to seek out Itachi. Never once bothering to say thank you or show her any means of gratitude. But even despite all that she knew she'd still help him, regardless. Because she loved him. Even if he himself couldn't see that.

"Karin." She heard. She'd been caught obviously. "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna say something?" So brash. He was always so rude when he spoke, and that was to anyone.

Karin brushed it off though. She opened the door fully and slid her glasses off her face slowly. "Sasuke," she cooed, "it's really late and you've been working very hard. You should come to bed now." She couldn't help the tone of her voice, the alluring and sultry look in her eyes and the red tint to her cheeks. It was her way of letting him know her emotions. She watched as Sasuke's blurred vision stood and began walking towards her. He stopped only when his shoulder was align with hers.

"Give it a break Karin." He said. No. She would not give it a break. She'd been giving it a break since the day he saved her from that runaway prisoner.

"Sasuke, wait!" She called out grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. "Don't ignore me Sasuke! Look at me, I'm cute aren't I? Why can't you give me the time of day?" The red haired girl pouted while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hn. Goodnight Karin." Sasuke said nothing more, did nothing more. He simply walked off and into his room. Karin scoffed to herself while shoving her glasses back on to her face. She was tired of the younger Uchiha playing hard to get. Never had someone made her feel so ugly about herself. Well, no. That wasn't entirely true if she counted her entire childhood.

"Well, well, the skank strikes again." A voice said. The same voice that came with many headaches and heartburn.

"What the hell do you want Suigetsu?" She gritted.

"Oh nothing really. Just watching Sasuke reject you…again!" The young swordsman burst into a fit of laughter that sent Karin into a rage. Before she knew it she had spun on her heel and tackled the razor sharp toothed boy to the group where she continued to pummel his face. Much to her dislike, it didn't affect him in the least. He just continued laughing.

"Shut up before you make Sasuke mad!" Karin hissed. "You idiot! You're so loud!" Suigetsu finished off a few more laughs before his voice began to die down until he was merely grinning. His eyes wandered and observed the position they were in. Him lying on the floor, Karin, straddling him.

"Ya know Karin," he whispered, "I peg Sasuke to be a real…jealous and possessive guy. If you really wanna know how he feels about you, you should try flirting with other guys in front of him."

Karin stared emotionless down at her white haired associate. She hated to admit it, but maybe he was right. Sasuke did appear to have that 'I hate sharing my toys' attitude. And it would be a great way for her to find out his true feelings. There was only one problem.

"Who am I supposed to flirt with? We barely ever come into contact with other people so the only other males are you and Jugo." Jugo is too mentally unstable to handle the charade and far too loyal to Sasuke, so that only left...no.

Karin's whole body shuddered with disgust causing Suigetsu's grin to widen. "So you finally figured it out huh? Took ya long enough. Heh, and you're supposed to be the smart one."

"You sicko!" She exclaimed quietly while hitting him yet again. Karin quickly removed herself from Suigetsu's body and huddled against the wall across from him. The boy rolled over onto his side and stared at her. "Suigetsu, you and I hate each other! Sasuke isn't stupid enough to fall for that!"

"Ugh, okay really Karin. You give this way too much credit! And we could totally pull it off! I just want to help you…ya know, so you can be happy and crap." He shrugged. Karin's red eyes narrowed at him.

"Happy and crap? No way. I don't believe it. There's no way you're trying to help me! What's in it for you?!" She demanded.

"Oh well I'm hurt! I can't believe you don't think I'm capable of doing something nice for you just out of the kindness of my heart!" He said dramatically. He couldn't even hold the façade for more than 15 seconds. "Nah you're right. If I do this, you have to be my servant for the rest of our adventure together."

"Month." Karin challenged.

"Deal."

"Really? That was surprisingly easy."

"I was just surprised that you actually agreed to bargain with me, so I figured I better take it while my chances are still good." Karin rolled her eyes at him and stood up.

"Hey Karin, where ya going?" He asked in a slight sing song voice.

"Um, to my room, idiot." She spat.

"Oh I don't think so. Your room is my room tonight. Think about it. Sasuke just rejected you again and you're feeling vulnerable and angry. Who better to come to for a night of revenge sex than yours truly?" Even though he made a good case Karin couldn't help but to feel sick to her stomach. She'd just made a deal with the devil.

XXX

The next morning was a travesty. All night long Karin had to suffer through Suigetsu's maniacal laughter and even worse his consistent hair pulling. It was his idea that she had to play the part of a freshly laid female. So that also included him ripping the button off her shorts, which now refused to stay zipped up.

To make matters worse as if by some struck of bad luck or maybe good luck, she'd walked face first into Sasuke's chest this morning when she was leaving Suigetsu's room. She could feel her whole face turn as red as her hair and eyes and she felt like crawling under a rock and never coming back out.

"Uh, g-good morning Sasuke." She muttered nervously. The raven haired boy narrowed his eyes at her.

"Karin," he said, "what are you doing in Suigetsu's room?"

"Oh I was just leaving!" She exclaimed probably quicker than she needed to.

"Leaving," she heard the other boy chime in, "from a very blissful night I might add." Suigetsu was soon upon them with his arm lazily draped across Karin's shoulders. A grin focused on Sasuke who merely stared at the two of them possibly with what may have been disgust.

"Blissful?" Sasuke muttered. "Whatever happened between you two last night, better not interfere with my plans. Make yourselves decent, we're leaving." A quiet silence rose between the three of them after Sasuke finished. He stared back and forth between the two of them slightly before walking off, probably to get Jugo. As soon as Karin was sure Sasuke was out of ear shot she snatched away from Suigetsu.

"Blissful!?" She hissed. "Really Suigetsu?!"

"What? It's gotta be believable Karin. And hey, speaking of believable, you need to act normal. Ya know, be your usual bitchy annoying self." Bitchy? And annoying?

"How dare you! I am neither of those things! If anyone here is annoying it's you! All you ever do is complain and whine, complain and whine!"

"Hey shut up won't you? You don't want your precious Sasuke hearing us, the whole plan will be ruined and I'll lose out on a servant." Suigetsu yawned.

Karin stared idly at him. Why had she agreed to this? Clearly she'd lost her mind. Suigetsu was not trust worthy, he was not honorable, and he sure as hell wasn't mentally stable. Maybe even less so than Jugo. She couldn't help but to scoff at him with a roll of her eyes. She turned away from the boy and began making her way down the hall to shower and as Sasuke said 'clean herself up.' She could only imagine how long of a day she had ahead of her.