1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

Chapter 71

Note: The Uchiha know how to verbally slap you across the face.

~Kahlan's POV

When they left the room I gathered the dishes and headed for the kitchen. Instead of doing the dishes, I just leave them in the sink. I start biting on my lower lip as I head to the living room to wait for them to get back. I'm worried about Laura and the possibility of our families hearing any fighting that may occur.

"Laura's going to be fine," I hear Konan say from the doorway.

I turn to face her and give her a very small smile. Konan seems to know Laura and I well. "Hearing that will never stop me from worrying," I reply with a sigh.

"I know," she replies with a small smile walking into the room.

"Must there really be war," I ask crossing my arms thinking about the Konoha ninjas and their allies.

I may not have trusted them all, but I don't want them getting hurt. They were nice enough to help us. Then there is the very small amount of friends I made. Gosh I feel slightly horrible thinking about the safety of people from another world instead of the people in my own world.

"It must be done," she replies softly.

I press my lips together not liking the answer. There should be another way to resolve whatever the conflict is, but I'll keep that to myself. Whenever this war starts, I hope we can all be well prepared.

"We got the brat," Kisame's voice calls out throughout the first floor.

Immediately I rush over to check on Laura. Kisame, places her down on her feet and I hug her. She hugs back and then I pull away. My eyes roam looking for any type of injury.

"You're not hurt are you," I ask looking into her greenish grey eyes.

"Nope, I don't have a single scratch," she replies with a slight pout.

"You have another citizen," I hear a new voice ask.

Looking behind Laura I see some guy who must be Sasuke Uchiha. My eyes look him up and down for a second, turn to look at Itachi then glance back at Sasuke. The two Uchiha look like brothers, but what would I know.

"She's also part of the Akatsuki for the mean time," Itachi replies.

At that moment Leader walks into the room with the rest of the members. I bite down on my lower lip having questions but no answers. Damn ninjas are very hazardous to people's health. When will life go back to normal?

"So you've decided to join us," Leader asks.

Crossing his arms, Sasuke nods then says, "I'll join but I want to be the one that fights Naruto."

I bite down on my tongue as I desperately try to keep my face neutral. Naruto is one of the few friends I made. What reason does Sasuke have to want to be the only one to fight Naruto? It's almost a little hard for me to imagine Naruto doing something wrong that someone would want to hurt him.

"I'll take that into consideration," Leader replies. "Now that you are one of our temporary members, you will be taking orders from me." Sasuke's only reply is an 'Hn' something I know Itachi does sometimes. "Once Laura's and Kahlan's families leave, you will be training with us. And since you know the majority of the Konoha ninjas you can help Laura and Kahlan in their training with the fighting styles of the Konoha ninja."

"I don't want any of his help," I say slightly narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms. I have enough help from the rest of the Akatsuki members, there's no way I can accept help from another ninja who I know nothing about.

"You and Laura will be training with him," Leader replies looking at me. "It is not up for debate."

"Is it really wise to use citizens against Konoha," Sasuke asks.

"Hai," Leader replies turning back to our newcomer. "They wouldn't expect the two girls to be fighting or helping us in any way. It's late and since there is no training and both families are here, we'll take that break to the beach. Are there any more rooms," Leader asks turning to me.

"No," I reply. "He'll either have to sleep down in the basement or on the couch." Leader turns to Sasuke. Yes there's a basement, but it's build in concrete with nothing in it. I think my grandfather wanted to build it just because he wanted to.

"I'll take the couch," Sasuke replies.

Nodding Leader says, "This meeting is over. I want everyone in bed now."

The others start leaving the room. Kisame gives Sasuke a scary-ish looking grin while walking past him; a grin he completely ignores along with the glare Deidara gives him. The others hardly even look at Sasuke. Hidan on the other hand makes loud swearing objections about Sasuke, which causes Kakuzu to punch Hidan in the face; he then drags Hidan out to do whatever. As Itachi walks out, he pokes Sasuke on the forehead with his two forefingers. This causes a reaction from Sasuke. His face turns into a scowl as he glares at his brother and probably would have attacked him if it wasn't for Leader emitting an aura promising lots of pain. The only ones left in the room now are Leader, Konan, Laura, Sasuke and I.

"Try not to start any fights with my members," Leader says to Sasuke then walks out.

"Here are some rules to follow," I say turning Sasuke narrowing my eyes slightly. "This is my house so if you screw anything up you're paying for it. Any cooking that is done is by me or Konan and Laura. You're going to eat what we make and enjoy it or just starve. Clean up after yourself because none of us are your maids. Finally, don't touch what doesn't belong to you unless given permission."

His reply is, "Hn."

"I'll be back with a blanket and pillow," I say turning away.

"Goodnight Ducky," Laura says with a small grin and a wave.

Konan lets out a small cough and walks out of the room. Sasuke looks slightly shock and as I tilt my head to the side, I can see why she called him that. With a laugh I grab hold of Laura's hand and walk out of the room with her before he decides to do something irrational.

"Nice one Laura," I say letting go of her hand once we're climbing the stairs.

"I don't really like him," she says crossing her arms with a pout.

I don't bother asking why. I hardly know him but I can tell if we were ever to meet under different circumstances I wouldn't like him either. He just gives this vibe of being a prick.

"Kahlan," Laura says as we reach the second floor. Turning to her I see she's slightly pouting. "What does seduce mean?"

"Uh…why do you ask," I reply feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"For our mission Itachi said that if genjutsu doesn't work to seduce Sasuke with my cute-ness," she replies. Oh I'll be having a talk with Itachi in the morning. What is he trying to do ruin Laura's innocence?

"There's a few meanings for seduce," I reply after a moment once reaching the door to my room. "But don't worry about it I promise you'll never have to worry about doing that again."

"But I wanna know what it means," she replies pouting even more.

"To lead astray," I reply not wanting to give the other definition. "Go ahead and go to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well and goodnight." I give her a hug and she hugs back.

"Okay, goodnight and sleep well too."

"I will," I reply giving a smile.

Laura turns and heads to her room. Turing around, I head to my room. Inside I grab one of the blankets and pillows for Sasuke. The extras are up in the attic somewhere in boxes and probably need to be washed. Anyways, with the two items I walk out and head back to the living room to Sasuke.

"Here," I say walking into the living room. Handing them over I continue, "I hope you're able to make your own bed."

"Hn," he replies taking the stuff away from me.

"Right back at you," I reply turning away. I don't bother with anymore hospitality. Instead I head straight to my room quickly stripping down to my undergarments and getting into bed.

Waking up the next day I look over to the clock on my small nightstand to see it's six in the morning. With a groan, I roll out of bed and collect two sets of clothing. I place on one set and leave the other set on my bed. Walking out of the room I quietly head downstairs. Before passing the living room I slightly lean in listening. It's almost unnoticeable but there is some snoring coming from the couch. With a nod I continue my way to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, I grab a piece of paper and a pen. Leaving a note I write; 'To anyone who wakes up and read this, I have not ran off anywhere. If you take a look outside you can see I'm actually running around the property training. I'll make donuts for breakfast when I get back. Sincerely, Kahlan.'

I stick the note on the fridge and head out to the yard. I make the short trek to the shed. Inside I quickly find the weights and place them on. After a few short stretching exercises, I take off jogging across the grass barefoot. Yeah, I was a little too lazy to put on some shoes.

I jog and run until the sun starts coming over the horizon. By that time my side is hurting and I'm breathing heavily. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't be overdoing anything, but I'll be fine. I take a short break by sitting down leaning against a tree. When my breathing gets under control and my side isn't bothering me as much, I get back up and walk back to the house.

Reaching the house I see my mother doing some stretches. For a moment we both stop what we're doing and look at each other. She presses her lips together for a moment and I cross my arms waiting.

"I do not approve of all the people you have living with you," she says, her blue eyes slightly narrowing.

"There's a lot of thing you don't approve of but life goes on," I reply.

"Kahlan," she says, her voice dropping down slightly in warning. "What is the reason for all of these people living with you?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with," I answer back slightly narrowing my eyes. "And don't say anything else about the matter. This is my life and my house. I can have whoever I want living with me. Yeah I get it that some of them are a bit…weird, but that's who they are."

Before she can say anything I just walk inside. I can't believe I just defended the Akatsuki. That was something I didn't think I would ever do. Inside the kitchen is Konan washing dishes. Turning to me she gives a small smile and I return it.

"Did you enjoy your little exercising," she asks.

"It was nice," I reply removing the weights. I'll have to put them back later. "Is anyone else awake?"

"Not yet, it's still early," she replies.

"Okay, I'll be taking a shower then I'll make breakfast."

She nods and I head up to my room. I grab the second set of clothing I left on my bed and then went to take a shower. After going through my entire morning routine, I head down to the kitchen and start making donut as well as lunch for the trip to the beach. Konan helps as well and we're able to get everything done by nine just as Hidan walks into the kitchen to complain about being hungry.

Once breakfast is placed on the table and food is packed I go over to Itachi. Whispering in his ear I ask, "May I have a word with you in the living room please?"

I can feel everyone's eyes on me but I ignore them. Itachi nods in reply and removes himself from the table. I lead the way out to the designated room. Once there I turn and narrow my eyes a little.

"Are you insane," I almost snarl out. "What were you thinking when you told Laura to seduce Sasuke with her cute-ness?"

"I was thinking about the mission," Itachi replies unfazed.

"Well you should have thought of a different way," I snap. "She's innocent; I don't want her used for seducing men on any type of mission. And I have no problem telling that to Leader."

"The mission was a success and done quickly because…"

"I don't care," I interrupt. "I won't protest about the war, the training, taking over our lives, but having Laura seduce is a line that should not be crossed."

"If you were in Laura's place, I highly doubt you would have been able to seduce my brother." My eyes widen slightly in shock. Continuing he says, "You're much too aggressive and prideful unlike Laura. Though you have proven you can lie well, acting is not something you're good at. In addition, Laura acts more like a girl then you."

My hands clench tightly into fist as I glare at the man in front of me. I can feel my face starting to burn with anger and embarrassment. So many words gather at the tip of my tongue as my brain tries to unscramble them all to decide what should be said first.

He just stands there waiting and I feel no matter what choice I make I'll be proving him right. With what little dignity I can muster, I raise my head and walk out of the room without another word. When I reach the dining room I grab my plate.

"I'll be in the parlor working on my music," I say, my voice sounding thick in my ears, as Itachi walks in and takes his seat.

"Are you okay," Laura asks with a slight pout, worry in her tone.

"I'm fine," I reply with a small smile. Without another word I leave to go work on my music until it's time to go to the beach.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

We both hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Thank you to everyone who has been reading, adding this to their favorites and/or alerts and for reviewing, it means a lot to us. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^