Chapter 10

"Aiko! I'm so glad you're alright!" The old man in white and gold robes came forward and embraced me in a hug. I stood there, stiff as stone, feeling close to tears. I felt torn; I didn't want to go back, but it feels wrong not to. "Aiko! There's no need to cry. You're safe now and that's all that matters."

"Kiro-san…" I choked out, but I couldn't find the courage to say the words I wanted to say.

"Just a minute Kiro-san," said the woman with the…well-endowed chest and pigtails. "I, personally, would like to ask her a few questions regarding the Akatsuki."

"I'd rather you not. Can't you see she's in a bit of shock? I'd rather the two of us return to Ametsuchi as soon as possible."

"I think not. The Akatsuki are dangerous and the more we know of them, the more easy it'll be to take them down. I will not allow you two to leave until I have questioned her." The woman ordered, more like demanded, her eyes narrow.

"Fine…" Kiro-san agreed, sitting in a chair in front of the woman and I sat down in the chair beside him. Hatake-san's team stood on the side of the room. My eyes made contact with the boy, who spoke with me last night, with blue eyes and yellow hair. He gave me a look of confusion before breaking out into a grin. As though trying to tell me that everything was going to be okay, but it didn't feel like it.

"Good. Now your name is Aiko, isn't it?" The pig tail woman asked me and I nodded in response. "Alright Aiko-san, I'll be asking you some questions about the Akatsuki, understand?" I nod again. "How many Akatsuki members did you meet, while you were with the Akatsuki?"

"...6...I think..."

"Have you ever made contact with the leader?"

"Only once."

"Can you describe him for us?" She asked, her tone of voice changing to one of interest. I shake my head no and noticed her facial expression change. "Why not?"

"I…never saw him," I said, it was partially true. All I could see was his eyes, his rather strange eyes, but I doubt that was worth describing.

"I see…have you ever seen Uchiha Itachi?"

I nodded. "He was very kind to me," I said without thinking. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room eyeing me strangely and I immediately wished I hadn't said that.

"Well, what about the members of the Akatsuki you met? What abilities did they have?"

"Uh…I never really saw them in combat before." I answer truthfully, pushing away the facts that Deidara could make huge bombs of destruction that Kakuzu hands could detach from his arms and that Hidan was in fact immortal, far to the back of my mind.

"Your information isn't very helpful."

"I'm terribly sorry; I just want to go home." But, where was home? Was it in Ametsuchi or was it wherever the Akatsuki was?

"Maybe we should get Ibiki to question her instead."

"I think that's enough questioning! We really must head back to Ametsuchi. The entire nation of Maho is grieving for the lost of Tenshii-sama and this girl plays a key role for our nation," Kiro-san argued, putting an arm around my shoulder protectively. I could tell he was getting anxious.

"No," I whispered, but Kiro-san heard me.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want…to go back to Ametsuchi," I said, my voice louder, more defiant.

"And where would you stay? Here in this shinobi village? Do not betray your nation that needs you!"

"My nation is strong; they should not, and do not, need to rely on me for strength, not if they're faith in Kami-sama is strong!" Again, there it was. This feeling, this part of me that is unknown to me has begun to rise up in me again.

"You are Kami-sama's gift to Ametsuchi!" Kiro-san shouted, forgetting the Konoha ninja in the room with us. "You don't have a choice! It was by Kami-sama's will that you were born to Ametsuchi. That is where you belong!"

"I don't get it, what's so special about her?" The blond boy finally asks, interrupting our argument. All heads turn to him, while I look at Kiro-san waiting for what he wished to do. Had he not revealed my significant role to Ametsuchi, to Maho? And if he hadn't, why not? Am I dangerous? Is there a dangerous part of me I don't know?

Kiro-san looked angry; I've never seen the old man so angry. He walked behind the pig tailed woman's desk and whispered in her ear as the rest of us watched curiously. Her eyes got slightly wide and she nodded, as though in consent of whatever it was that Kiro-san proposed. "Kakashi," said the woman and the gray haired man was at her side almost instantly. She whispered in his ear and he nodded then disappeared.

"I'm truly sorry about this," said a voice from behind me and my vision went black.

When I woke up, I was lying down on something hard. My eyes fluttered for a moment before opening all the way. Blinking slowly, I allowed my lavender eyes to slowly survey the room. I had absolutely no idea where I was. I tried getting up, but my muscles were weak and felt exhausted; I was unable to move my body. I tried to at least open my mouth, to call out to someone, to anyone, to help me move; however, my lips could barely part to allow any sound to vociferate throughout the room. I was beginning to get a little nervous and frightened; I noticed my chest moving up and down faster and faster and tried to take in slow deep breathes to stay calm.

The sound of footsteps reached my ears. Slowly they came closer and closer, until I could see the hooded figure, to which the footsteps belonged to. I felt fear, but the sign of it didn't show on my face; my face was frozen. Did someone drug me? The figure proceeded to place their right hand over my head, but I noticed the red ruby ring on their finger. Then it all came back to me, all at once; it overwhelmed me, the truth of my past.

I remembered my father, the leader of my country called Maho, who named me Tenshii for my eyes. He always told me that the first time he looked into my eyes; he thought he was looking at the eyes of someone innocent, the eyes of an angel. I remembered my brother Takashi, who was always defiant and looking for a way to travel far away from home. I remembered the day my father locked me away and kept me under constant surveillance, two days after my brother left our country. I remember longing to be with my brother, to join him on his journey to lands beyond our own; I ran away, but was quickly captured and my father upheld his promise. "If you ever do this again, the consequences will be severe…"

And so began my "appointments" with Kiro-san. He destroyed who I was, my mind, body and soul, until the old me was locked away, torn apart and forgotten. I don't know how many times this has happened before. How many times has Kiro-san put his hand on my head and muttered those same words, as though he was chanting some sort of spell? How long did it take for Kiro-san to force me to forget who I was?

I could see a red glow emit from above me and assumed it came from the ruby ring Kiro-san wore. "Can you hear me? Answer yes or no."

"Yes," I croaked out automatically. Again, he was going to erase my memories. My memories of what has happened, of the Akatsuki.

"Do you know who you are?"

"No," again I automatically replied. I don't know who I am, I don't know anymore. How could I forget my past? Was I really Tenshii? Was I really Takashi's little sister? Was I really my father's daughter?

"You're Takara Tenshii. Your deceased father was the leader of our country, of Maho." I remained silent. "You're no longer Takara Tenshii. You are now Miyuki, Kami-sama's choosen. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I could no longer think straight. My mind was all fuzzy.

"Repeat after me, 'Kami-sama is almighty'."

"Kami-sama is almighty," I repeated obediently, I noted how my tone of voice resembled that of a robot.

"'I live to serve only him'."

"I live to serve only him."

"'With the power he has given me…'"

"With the power he has given me…"

"'I shall serve him faithfully, for it is Kami-sama's will, God's will."

God's will? Was it really Kami-sama's will to have me serve my country for all of eternity? "I don't think it's up to Oto-sama or Kami-sama to choose our futures. I think you should be able to pick the future for yourself; the future you desire," Those were the words of my brother. I didn't understand them at the time, but I think I do now. What's the future I desire? I don't want to stay in Maho forever, after all forever is a really long time. What's my desire? What's my will? I search my heart for the answer and all I can think of is Hidan.

"'I shall serve him faithfully, for it is Kami-sama's will, God's will," Kiro-san repeated, impatiently.

I don't want to forget him, to forget his rude remarks, his violent actions, the way he talked to me, the way he slept, his hair, his eyes; I don't want to forget Hidan.

"REPEAT WHAT I TELL YOU!"

"No," I whisper at first, but my voice grows stronger. "I am not Miyuki. I am Takara Tenshii, but I am now…I am Aiko." I look up at Kiro-san with an icy gaze and a flash of fear passes across his face. He begins to murmur his chants again. "This is not Kami-sama's will! This is your will, Kiro-san!" He continues to chant, but this time a little faster. "I will not be held by your chains any longer." My hand moves and rests on his cheek. He abruptly stops, fear now evident in his eyes; he could not hide his fear now. As I looked into his eyes I saw his soul. It was the soul of a broken man, a man who let his high ranked position overtake his good heart with hunger for more power. He yearned for me, because without me he could not continue to be the "leader" of Maho.

"Kami-sama gave you your life, a life you abused, and tried to take control of everyone around you for your own personal desires. I think you need some time to reflect on your actions." I closed my eyes and he fell to the floor.

It took me a second to realize what had happened and I quickly felt regret. I knelt beside him to find a pulse, which I found and began to breathe at ease. I couldn't help but feel that it was wrong to force him to lose cautious, but then he hasn't been very fair with me. Why did Kami-sama give me this gift, to heal at will when it should be impossible, to have other knock people unconscious without having to move a muscle? Am I not human?

I sighed, it doesn't matter if my abilities are inhumane, because I know my heart and soul are human and that's really all I need. I've made my choice and there's no turning back now. All I have to do now is get out of here.


"I can't believe it. This is such a waste of time. Do you know what I could be doing right now?" Kakuzu asked, obviously ticked off.

"What? Count your fucking money like you always do?" I asked.

"It wasn't necessary to send both of us to pick up the girl. Leader should have just sent me instead." Kakuzu continued, ignoring my statement.

"What the hell! Why the hell would he do that! You don't even want her in the Akatsuki anymore!"

"Neither do you…"

"Yeah, but that's because…" I didn't finish my sentence not wanting to admit my true reasons of why I didn't want Aiko to come back to the Akatsuki.

Kakuzu gave me a look. "Besides, with her around I won't have to be in charge of healing you idiots. Then I'll have time to do other things."

"Like what?" I asked, but again he ignored me. "You're such a fucking hypocrite! Weren't you the one who said she wasn't suited for a life like this?" I yelled at him. "She shouldn't be coming back here you selfish bastard?"

"I simply changed my mind. I have nothing to lose if she doesn't come back; but I have something to gain if she does. I'm just thinking reasonably for my advantage. You on the other hand are now thinking about what would be best for the girl."

"Che." I looked away from him "If that girl has any sense, then she'll go back to where ever the hell she came from."

"OI!" We both look ahead to see Kisame, Itachi, and, to my great pleasure, Aiko. She stood annoyingly close to Itachi.

Kakuzu approached them, but I stayed behind; I could see her looking at me. I wish she'd look away. "It seems that you two didn't have a lot of trouble getting her out of there."

"Nope! It was surprising really. We enter Konoha, undetected, and found the kid walking around in the marketplace. No idea how she escaped…" We all looked at her and she looked back at us nervously, grabbing Itachi's sleeve in the process; it pissed me off.

"I guess it doesn't really matter," Kakuzu finally said, breaking the silence. "You guys weren't followed right?"

"No," Kisame spoke again. "But they'll probably be searching for her any minute now. So you guys should get a move on."

"Aiko, let go," Itachi ordered. I couldn't help but notice a blush rise to her face. She looks at me, as though she was trying to tell what I was thinking. Her fingers slowly lost their grip on the Itachi's sleeve and she ran right up to me and smiled. "Hidan-sama!"

I look away. "Hey…"

"Yeah…" Kisame started, noticing the awkwardness that must have been in the air. "Itachi and I will be seeing you guys later then." He gave a sort of a wave and the two of them walked away.

"I missed you so much Hidan-sama."

"Yeah…me too…listen we need to talk."

The smile on her face immediately disappeared. "You…you aren't going to say something mean again are you?" It was starting to get harder to look her in the eyes.

Kakuzu looked from me to her and back at me. "I'll just go ahead." And he left, leaving me and Aiko alone.

I really didn't want to say this. A part of me was telling me, "She's here now. Take her back, you know fucking want to." Then there was another part of me telling me, "It's dangerous for her to be with you. Make her go back."

"Listen, Aiko. Are you sure you want to go back to the Akatsuki? Don't you want to go back to Maho or wherever it was you came from?"

"If I didn't want to go back, I wouldn't be here right now. I want to be with you."

"You're not supposed to say that!" My temper rising for no reason.

"But that's the truth."

"Have you seen yourself? You don't belong in a place like that you stupid bitch! We're a bunch of criminals, a bunch of murderers. You belong back in your stupid church being the perfect angel you are!"

"Hidan…I'm not as perfect as you think I am. I'm just as imperfect as you."

"You're nothing like me, crazy woman! You deserve better, so just go!" I shouted and walked away. It was a pretty lame argument to get her to go back and I probably shouldn't have yelled at her, but she didn't seem to get it. I could've tried being more…friendly towards her, but then I'd sound like…something I'm definitely not. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't like her, but I sure as hell don't love her or anything. But then again, whenever she's with me, she makes me feel like she actual cares, but then she's just so fucking innocent that I can't stand to be around her. It's strange, wanting to be with someone, but not wanting to be with them at the same time. I looked back, sort of hoping I'd have one last look at Aiko before she left, but wasn't surprised to see her walking right behind me. "I told you to get lost."

She shook her head to and took her hand in mine. "I already made my choice; I said I want to be with you. Where ever you go, I'll go, because that's what I want" She said, smiling at me, and this is why we're so different.

I admit I felt a little embarrassed from her sudden act of affection; I couldn't look at her now. "Fine," I finally gave in, pretty pissed off, but a part of me was also a little….happy she decided to stay.

"Hidan," she spoke again, still holding onto my hand. I was a little surprised that she dropped the "sama", but ignored the fact.

"What now?"

"Um…I think I…" A blush was now evident on her face. Please don't you fucking say it; don't you dare say those three words. "I think…I wanna…." She mumbled off and I couldn't hear what she was saying.

"You're gonna have to speak up if ya wanna say something," I said a bit annoyed for some reason, but refrained from using any curse words, though my tone was still rather harsh.

"I really want to be with you!" She blurted out, obviously embarrassed. Hell I was a bit embarrassed from her confession…if you could count that as one, which I really don't…never the less all I said to her was. "Well, I'm immortal you know. If you want to be with me, you'll have to be with me forever and you know how long forever is."

"Yeah…forever is a really long time, but I don't mind, not if I'm spending that time with you" She said with a smile and I couldn't help but grin a small grin back at her.

"Hidan, we should catch up to Kakuzu, before the Konoha ninja catch up to us." She let go of my hand and began walking ahead, her hips swaying this way and that.

Hell, I don't really understand my feelings for her, for Aiko. I just know that I don't want her to get hurt, and yet I want her to stay by me, even though I know that I'm probably one of the most dangerous fucking bastards she'll ever meet. All this is fucking confusing, but she made her choice. I hope she doesn't regret it.

I swept her off her feet and began to carry her…sort of like how a groom would carry his fucking bride. "Hidan!"

"At the pace you're going, we'll probably be caught by the fucking Konoha nin in no time." She pouted and looked away, but that didn't hide the fact that her cheeks were slightly flushed from embarrassment, or was it because I was holding her close to me? I laughed at her and it only made her cheeks turn redder.

I hope she'll never want to go back to her old life or to Konoha or anywhere else in this damn world. She's with me now and I think it'll always stay that way because I'll never let her go.