Chapter 24

A/N: not as many people votes as I would've liked, but here you all go. Itachi won so lets see how it all goes, shall we?

Jinrou POV

I fluttered my eyes open and woke up with a groan. I sat up tiredly and looked around. It was a white room and I was on a stiff bed with stiff pillows. Oh, a hospital. Great. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and yawned. I stood up and walked to the bathroom. Hmm, my uniform was gone and I only had the small black shorts, the black tube top, and the black netted shirt over that was see through. I walked to the door that must've led to the bathroom and did my morning things before walking back out. I sat down on the bed and began to braid my long hair. As I was finishing up, someone opened the door and walked in. It was a blond lady with extremely big breasts.

"Oh, hello." I said with a smile as I tied my braid.

"So you're Jinrou. The girl who the young ninja of this village have searched for for so long." She said with a smile as she crossed her arms. I tilted my head and scrunched my eyebrows confused.

"Searched?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yes, especially Sasuke and Naruto. There hasn't been a day that goes by that they aren't worried about you." She said softly. I blinked.

"But they wanted me gone. They wanted me to leave." I whispered as I tilted my head. I sighed and shook my head. "There's no reason for them to have looked for me." I said. She tilted her head.

"Oh really?" She asked. I nodded.

"So, if you could let me go free so I can go back home that'd be great." I said with a smile. She chuckled.

"Nice try." She amended. "There will be a team to keep an eye on you, and I'm sure you'll recognize them." She said and the door opened once again. In walked Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Gaara. I crossed my arms.

"Can I have my uniform back?" I asked and they all grimaced.

"Sorry, but no. We have to check if there an any means of communication stored in it like secret pockets and such." The lady said. I nodded.

"Can I at least get some clothes?" I asked. She nodded and someone brought in a bundle. It was black jean shorts, and a blue tank top with a pair of ninja sandals. I went into the bathroom to get changed and came back out with my old clothes in my arms.

"You can just leave those here." She said. I nodded and put them on the bed.

"Jinrou, why are you so calm about this? You'd think you'd try to escape or put up a fight." Sakura said. I shrugged.

"I won't be going anywhere for a while, so there's no point." I said crossing my arms.

"Why?" Lee asked.

"I used up most of my chakra when I teleported the Akatsuki and did all that other stuff. So I'm drained at the moment and won't have anything to fight with." I said wisely. Ookami was sleeping in my head, she was tired. They nodded. Sakura was looking me over. "What?" I asked.

"You've just... really grown up." She admitted. I nodded.

"Yeah, that's what people do as the years go by." I said. "Well, I'm already tired of being here and want to go outside. Shall we?" I asked motioning to the door. They nodded and we went outside. I walked calmly with them as we walked around the village.

"Where've you been all these years?" Lee asked.

"That's information I don't feel like sharing." I replied.

"Who have you been living with?" Gaara asked.

"I've been living with Itachi and the Akatsuki." I said and they all froze. I stopped and turned to look at them. "What?" I asked.

"You're part of the Akatsuki?" They all asked in unison. I blinked.

"Um, yeah. I guess." I said.

"But they're evil and horrible people!" Naruto shouted.

"No they're not." I argued.

"Yes they are! They're nothing but murderers!" Sasuke yelled. I glared.

"You don't know anything." I growled as I narrowed my eyes at him. I turned around and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" He asked catching up to me. Everyone walked behind us.

"Away from you." I said and walked faster.

"Sasuke, we have to keep an eye on her. You never know, she might escape." I could hear Sakura whisper. I just continued walking. I walked into the forest and made my way to the waterfall. I could feel someone following me, but I ignored them. I made it to the waterfall on foot. I sat down and tucked my knees into my chest. I miss Itachi and the Akatsuki. I just want to go home with them. I want to mess around with Deidara, Sasori, and Zetsu. I miss having girl time with Konan. I miss just hanging out with Tobi and telling him he's a good boy. I miss sparing with Pain. I just want to go back home and everything to go on as it has for the past few years. I sighed and rested my check against my knees.

"Why do you want to go back to them? You should be happy you got away." Sasuke said from behind me. I turned my head to look at him.

"They're my family. Of course I want to go back." I said as I turned and continued to look at the waterfall.

"Why?! Why do you want to be with them so bad when they're nothing but murderers!" He yelled. I stood up and got in his face.

"You don't know anything! They're my family! And I'd rather be with them than here!" I yelled right back.

"You're wrong!" He yelled in my face.

"Why do you care?! I thought you wanted me gone!" I screamed.

"Because I overreacted out of jealousy!" He screamed and I stopped. I just stared at him. He was... jealous? I stared but, I don't really...

Care.

I just don't care. He was jealous. So what? It doesn't change anything. It won't bring back all those years I've been away.

"Naruto and I were both jealous. We acted out on it and you have no idea how much we regret saying those hurtful things." He said. His tone was begging me to understand. "Why do you want to go back to Itachi. He's just a murderer. He killed my whole clan. He's probably just using you. He doesn't know how to care for people-" I cut him off angrily.

"He loves you!" I finally screamed out. Itachi had told me all about why he had to kill his clan. But he loved his little brother and left him in hopes he could one day repopulate their clan. He stopped and looked like I just smacked him in the face.

"W-what? No he doesn't! He-" I grabbed his shoulders and shook them.

"Look at me Sasuke! He does know how to love!" I yelled in his face to reassure him.

"Are you reassuring me, or yourself?" He asked quietly. I froze with wide eyes. I stayed motionless and he continued to stare at me.

"That's a good question." I whispered as I let go of his shoulders.

Itachi POV

I woke up with a groan. My shoulder was sore, but it felt warm as if someone had their hand on it. I opened my eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling of my room. I sat up and looked at my shoulder. It was bandaged up. I furrowed my eyebrows as I remembered what happened. I remember lying in Jinrou's arms and a feeling of warmth, then everything went black.

"Jinrou?" I called out. Konan came in instead and she's fidgeting. I narrow my eyes. She seems worried and pale. "Where's Jinrou?" I ask and that makes her freeze.

"Well, um, Itachi-sama, the thing is..." She continued to ramble. I raise my hand and she goes silent.

"Where is Jinrou?" I ask slowly and clearly. She looks down and mumbles something. "What was that?" I asked.

"Jinrou...still...village. ...teleported... most..out...likely...drained." Is all I got from her mumbling.

"Speak up!" I barked getting frustrated. I was beginning to feel uneasy. Why doesn't she just tell me where Jinrou is?

"Jinrou is still in the leaf village! She teleported us here! She's probably passed out because she'll most likely be completely drained!" She said rushed and was immediately quiet. I froze and my eyes were wide.

"What! Why didn't you bring her with you?!" I yelled. He flinched.

"She was pinned down by her old team and we weren't near her. We were being surrounded by other ninja and she just kept yelling at us to get you out of there. When we kept insisting we couldn't leave her, she said she would be fine before she teleported us a small distance away from here." She said and my eyes widened. Jinrou was in Konoha. With the people she used to care for. What if they convince her to stay with them? Will she stay, or will she come back to us?

"We have to get her back." I said as I stood up but stumbled a bit.

"We will, but you need to rest first." Konan said as she gently pushed me back down. I grit my teeth but knew she was right. I need to be at 100% if I want to get my Jinrou back.

Wait.

My Jinrou?