I am SO sorry that I went into another hiatus again! My mother got a tumor and it was chaos during her hospitalization and even now during her recovery. Starting college didn't really help either. I don't know how often I can update now that I've started school again, but I do aim to finish this fanfic. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.

My mind was still trying to convince me that what was happening to me wasn't real, but I knew that it wasn't. What was happening to me now didn't feel even remotely close to a dream. Here I could smell, think, feel, and control my actions. Aside from controlling my actions, which I never did in my dreams, I could only do one or two of my senses at once, never more than that.

"Keep up," Orochimaru ordered, not bothering to look back at me.

I quickened my pace to power walk so that I wasn't far behind the ninja.

"So…where are we?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"You are in a sealed building in the Hidden Rain Village," he replied. "You can't escape, so don't bother trying."

"Is that what happened to whatsherface?" I asked, not remembering the name Pein mentioned earlier.

"That's no concern of yours," Orochimaru said plainly.

After that I just kept my mouth shut. I followed Orochimaru, keeping my eyes downwards. When we stopped I looked up to see that we were in some kind of kitchen. I immediately noticed something strange about it.

All of the workers were women, and all of them appeared to be…exotic, for lack of a better word. They all had different hair colors. Pink, green, blue…you name it, it's here. They were all wearing the same, bland uniform; a simple black dress with a white apron that had upside-down corset lacing in the back.

I watched Orochimaru approach an elderly woman with grey hair tied in a bun that was tucked into a hair net.

"I have another girl for you," Orochimaru said to her, instantly pulling her attention away from the turnip she was chopping. "Get her changed and find her a room, then put her to work."

The old woman nodded. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

I guess they use the Japanese suffixes here… I thought absent-mindedly.

Orochimaru shoved me out of the way and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me with complete strangers. How thoughtful.

"My name is Hinako," she said to me. She looked at me with a sorry expression. "It's very unfortunate that you have been taken here."

"Yeah, about that…" I muttered. "…what's going on?"

Hinako looked at me with confusion. "You don't know?"

I shook my head. "No, I was just taken by Orochimaru, shown to P—" I didn't remember if his name was known, so I stopped myself at the last second. "—the leader and now I'm here."

Hinako sighed. "Let's get you changed, and then I will explain everything. Please follow me."

Hinako led me to a room in the back of the kitchen that had a large wardrobe filled with what looked like various sizes of the uniform the other girls out there were wearing. Hinako pulled one of the dresses out of the wardrobe and handed it to me.

"This is the Akatsuki base, and now you're one of its prisoners," Hinako said as she led me to a rack of aprons. She carefully looked through them as she continued talking. "You were kidnapped from your village and taken here to work because of your uniqueness."

I gave her back a confused look. "How am I unique?"

"Your hair, for one thing," Hinako replied, briefly looking over her shoulder at me.

"Um…it's not natural," I informed her. "I just bleached it a lot."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if your hair was not natural you wouldn't be alive right now."

The muscles all over my body tensed up instantly.

I guess it's a good thing they were fooled… I thought. Now I'm glad I did my roots again last night…

"Here," Hinako said, handing me an apron. "You can get changed in the back. When you're done ask Yumi for something to do. She's the one with red hair."

I nodded and watched Hinako leave the room. I went into a changing room in the back and changed into my new uniform as I thought about my situation.

Somehow I was in Naruto, Orochimaru had kidnapped me, and now I was working in the Akatsuki base because of my hair. If anyone found out about my hair, I was royally screwed. I knew I'd have no chance, but I needed to find a way out of here to the only village I knew would be safe for me. There were ninja there that could help me.

I had to get to Konoha. My life depended on it.

"No, no! This one goes here! That one goes there!"

"Okay! Okay! Sorry!"

"You're so useless!"

A girl with short green hair leapt to my defense. "Come on, Yumi, she's new here," she said as she stirred something in a large pot. "Cut her some slack."

"Tell that to the Akatsuki," Yumi challenged.

The green-haired girl backed off and went back to what she was doing.

"Yeah, I thought so," Yumi said bitterly.

I desperately wanted to say something to her, but I knew when to keep my mouth shut.

"Come on, get back to work!" Yumi ordered me.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, almighty evil one without whom all life would be meaningless."

Yumi glared at me. "Don't talk to me like that, kid!"

"I'm not a kid, I'm eighteen," I said bluntly as I dumped chopped white radishes into a bubbling pot.

"Whatever," Yumi muttered, walking away. "Just keep chopping those radishes!"

What a bitch… I thought as I put my cutting board and big knife down.

"Just ignore her, that's what I do," a sweet voice said.

I looked to my right at the girl that had spoken to me. She was concentrating on scrubbing potatoes in the sink next to me. She had straight black hair that went down to her elbows and pale skin that instantly made me think of Snow White.

I would be the one to think of Disney while in Naruto, I thought. It's bad enough that I'm a Mary Sue just by being here, now I have to bring Disney into it too…

"Ever since she came here she's been a royal bitch to everyone," the girl said as she continued her task. "I'm Michio, by the way. What's your name?"

For a second I debated on whether or not I should give her my real name. After all, I didn't have a Japanese name like everyone else here. I gave her the first nickname that came to mind.

"…I'm Mei Lin," I said with a small smile.

"That's a pretty name," Michio said as she moved on to her next potato. "So, who was the one that brought you here?"

"Orochimaru," I said. "He just showed up at my window in the middle of the night and took me. What about you?"

"Sasori-sama," she replied. "I was working at a farm out in the country at the time. I was gathering crops for my…employer when suddenly Sasori-sama showed up and knocked me out. The next thing I knew I was here."

"How long have you been here?" I asked curiously.

"A few years," Michio said as she rinsed off her potato. "You'll get used to life here fast, I promise."

"I hope so," I said with a smile.

A loud crash of metal made me jump and I almost dropped the food I was organizing. I looked over my shoulder and saw that a shy girl with long black hair and scarlet bangs that went past her chin was looking down at a pot of pasta as water spilled all over the floor. She was holding her right hand to her chest as if she hurt it when she dropped the pot.

"Good job, Hiromi!" Yumi shouted as she stomped over to her. "Now what are we going to serve? You're useless!"

That's it!

"Leave her alone," I said, glaring at Yumi as I walked over to her.

Yumi glared back at me. "Get back to work!"

"You're out of line," I said bluntly.

"Then you fix this!" Yumi shouted at me as she pointed at the mess on the floor.

"I will!" I said confidently.

Yumi growled as she stomped away to go boss around somebody else.

I walked over to Hiromi and put a hand on her back. "Are you okay?" I asked with concern.

"I'm fine…I just got some water on my hand," she said, forcing a smile. "Will you be okay with cleaning this up?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," I assured her. "Just go take care of your hand."

"…Thank you," she said shyly as she left the kitchen.

I looked down at the mess at my feet and clapped my hands together.

Now I just need to figure out what to make for the Akatsuki, I thought as I started cleaning up the mess.

I rushed to clean up the spilled water and pasta so that I would have time to make something for the Akatsuki. I thought and thought, but nothing came to mind. Suddenly it hit me.

"Michio, do we have any ground pork?" I asked as I ran over to her.

"It's in the fridge," she replied.

"Do we have corn starch?" I asked eagerly.

"It's with the seasonings."

"What about spring roll wraps?"

"Those are in the fridge too. What are you making?"

I smirked. "Lumpia."

I carefully pulled the last golden roll out of the pan and set it on the plate with the others. I turned off the stovetop and looked down at my creation with satisfaction.

Hopefully I made it right, I thought. Thank you, Mom!

"What the heck are those?"

I looked over my shoulder at Yumi, who was staring down at my plate of food with a contorted expression.

"They're called lumpia," I said as I picked up the plate. "So, where does this food go?"

"Take it out to the dining hall and serve it," Yumi ordered as she walked away. "You better hope they like it or it'll be your neck."

They'll like it, I thought as I followed the other girls heading out to the dining hall.

I felt perfectly fine until I saw the deadly ninjas sitting at the long table. I was instantly able to pick out Orochimaru in the group, and it made my knees weak. For some reason, seeing him terrified me more than being in the same room as all of the current Akatsuki members that were there. I was told that a few of them were away on missions, so not all of them were there. I guess I got lucky.

Trying to walk without stumbling, I followed the girls around the table and started serving them the lumpia.

"What the hell is this shit?" Hidan asked as I started putting the fried rolls on his plate.

"It's called lumpia," I said, trying not to sound nervous.

"What's in it?" Hidan asked, sniffing it.

"Pork, garlic, minced onion—"

"I hate vegetables!" Hidan shouted at me. He picked up the lumpia and threw it at me, nailing me in the face. I couldn't help thinking that that was a good shot despite the fact that it hurt like a bitch.

"Don't act so childish," Orochimaru said as I put some lumpia on his plate.

As I put the food on his plate, I couldn't help looking at Orochimaru. The ninja looked at me from the corner of his eyes and smirked at me. I instantly dropped my gaze and moved on to the next member, Kisame.

"There's no shark in those, right?" Kisame asked me as I put some on his plate.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Kisame-sama," I said respectfully.

Kisame smirked. "Good."

I yelped loudly when I felt a large hand slap me on the ass, causing my spine to straighten and a strong shiver to go through my body. Most of the table erupted into laughter.

"I didn't know you liked them so young, Kisame," Hidan said jokingly. He looked at Orochimaru. "I have to say, you made an excellent choice with this one, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru chuckled softly. "She is rather…alluring, isn't she?"

I felt my face go red as I finished serving my food.

"What's your name, girl?" Hidan asked, looking at me.

"Mei Lin," I replied, looking down at the floor.

"Where are you from?" he asked me.

Oh fuck!

"Uh…" I said, feeling cornered.

"Stop pestering the girl and eat your food," Orochimaru said, getting Hidan's attention.

Hidan scoffed at the snake man. "Don't tell me what to do."

I took this opportunity to leave the kitchen as fast as I could. I let out a sigh as I slumped against the wall.

How am I going to survive? I asked myself. If I can barely handle being around the Akatsuki how can I make it to Konoha?

"You did great for your first day," a familiar voice said.

I looked up and saw Michio standing in front of me.

"I was worried when Hidan got mad," she said to me. "The last girl that did that got her throat cut open. Come to think of it, I think you're the one that replaced her…"

I tried to block out images of Hidan cutting my throat open when I tried to serve him vegetables. I failed. Miserably.

"Come on, I'll show you where your room is," Michio said.

I looked around my new room as I tried to figure out how I felt about it. It was pretty plain, but at least it wasn't some crappy wooden shack. The walls were a depressing shade of grey and the sheets on the beds were all dark grey.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing," Michio said, trying to sound positive. "I'm in the second room to the right if you need anything. I'm going to be up for a while, so just knock if you need anything."

"Okay, thanks," I said gratefully.

Michio smiled at me. "No problem. Good night, Mei Lin."

"Good night, Michio."

Michio left my room, shutting the door behind her. I looked back at my bed and sighed. I went over to my white dresser to see what was in there. There were several yukatas in the drawers as well as underwear (which was surprisingly my size), and next to my dresser was a pair of wooden sandals.

Needing to get out of my work clothes, I changed into a grey-blue yukata and set the clothes in a laundry basket in my small closet. I went over to my bed and had just sat down when someone walked into my room. At first I thought it was Michio again, so I looked up with a smile.

My smile vanished as soon as I realized it was Orochimaru that had entered my room.

"O-Orochimaru…sama…" I said with surprise, forcing myself to add the suffix. "Do you need something?"

"Don't expect me to always cover for you when you can't say anything," Orochimaru said as he shut the door behind him.

Oh shit he closed the door! Please don't do anything to me!

Orochimaru slowly walked over to me, making my fear grow with every step. He stopped when he was in front of me and bent over until his face was level with mine. I was so terrified I couldn't move despite my instincts ordering me to move away from him.

"You're going to be perfect for what I have in mind, Mei Lin," he said quietly.

Orochimaru flashed me a wicked smile as his yellow eyes looked over my entire body. He opened his mouth and I couldn't help staring at his tongue as it grew longer than its natural length. I had to hold back a yelp when I felt his tongue touch my jaw, slowly moving until it was underneath my chin.

"Why are you so nervous?" Orochimaru asked tauntingly.

I felt my head get extremely light-headed as Orochimaru pulled his tongue away and stood up straight. He walked to my door and I watched him go, swaying slightly as I grabbed my dizzying head.

"Sleep well, Mei Lin," Orochimaru said, looking at me over his shoulder.

As soon as the door shut, I let myself fall sideways onto my bed. I said nothing as I stared into nothing, trying to wrap my head around what just happened and what Orochimaru was going to do with me. Knowing how sick and twisted he is, I could expect a number of things to happen. There were so many possibilities that I couldn't narrow it down to one thing. I had to keep on my toes and watch out for Orochimaru and the other Akatsuki members.

Okay, I know it seemed like there was some OOCness in this chapter, but I do plan to explain it in the next few chapters. I promise they're not actually being OOC. You'll understand why soon.