Stage Five: Prisoner

I woke up, unaware of my surroundings. The smells were different; there wasn't one I could recognize. Smells of people drifted in and out of my range. There was a constant beeping, rapid and steady. I felt scratchy blankets. I tasted plastic tubing, and I saw nothing. I realized I was blindfolded. I reached for what ever was obscuring my vision, but I was bound to a rail of sorts. Instead, someone removed it for me. I was wired to a machine of sorts.

I was lying in a hospital like room with someone beside me I did not recognize. The beeping was a heart monitor, which read my temperature, blood pressure, and beats per minute. The tube was the next thing to come out, which made me gag in reflex to the slithering plastic.

For the first time I looked at the man. He was stitched in so many places, he looked like a poorly constructed puppet. A mask obscured his face, and I wanted to pull it off. I felt dazed and sluggish when I thought. They had to have drugged me.

I tried to sit up, but was slammed back down by the man tending to me. "Do not move," he commanded. "You have a fever."

"No I don't," I protested. "I feel fine!"

"One hundred and two," he stated as he pointed to the monitor.

"That's normal," I hissed. I ripped the wires off my chest and arms with my teeth.

"Then wait an hour for the jutsu to wear off."

I sat there, looking at the binds that were holding me in place.

"So you don't try to escape during the night," the man explained.

"Then I'll have to work during the day, won't I?"

He chuckled, then walked out of the room.

I stared at the ropes again. I couldn't make hand-signs, which was a set back. I could still channel my chakura into my wrists, though. I focused all of my energy to this, hoping that, somehow, the ties would break. It wasn't long before they snapped.

"I told you not to come here," a familiar voice growled.

"You also led me into a trap, Itachi," I hissed in reply. "I was expecting as much, to be honest. You never look out for anyone other than yourself."

His red eyes fixed on me in a glare. "What has he done to you?"

"What has who done to me?"

"Orochimaru. He did something to you," he repeated.

"He taught me everything I know, if that's what you mean."

"No he didn't," Itachi spat.

"Then who did?" I snarled. "Are you going to take credit for his work?"

"More like he's taking credit for my work," Itachi spat. "You didn't go to Otogakure when you left Suna, you went to Konoha."

"I have never been to Konohagakure before six months ago. You're delusional."

"That's why you get the sense that the village is familiar to you, because you've never been there before?"

"How did you know that I was confused about my deja vu?"

"I didn't, until now. You just told me."

"A shot in the dark," I hissed. "You think that I was there, in Konohagakure, with you, learning everything by your hand?" I laughed at the thought of it. "I would have turned out like Sasuke: weak."

Anger shot through Itachi, but he hid it well. If I wasn't so trained to observe Orochimaru, I would have missed it. "If I am so weak, why does your Sensei fear me? If Sasuke was so weak, why is he still alive?"

"If Sasuke wasn't so weak, why are you still alive?" I retorted. "You think I don't know what it is you mean him to do? I may not be a regular on the streets of the Leaf Village, but I do know a few things. If he was so strong, you wouldn't be standing here, glaring at me."

"You always were a quick thinker, I'll hand you that." He walked out, sliding the door shut behind him.

I shook my head in anger, hearing a jingle. There was something in my ear. I felt the bell that Itachi had given me in my right ear; I think he just claimed me as his. I pulled it out and threw it against the door, listening to it ring as it hit the floor. I got out of the bed and followed the Uchiha out of the small room.

A hallway lay outside the door, filled with more doors. More than likely supply closets and patient rooms. Even the Akatsuki get wounded and need to be healed. I walked the hallway and heard voices. It sounded like the puppet and the silver haired man who abducted me. They were in conversation over something. I hid behind the wall and listened.

"I don't know what he wants with her, Kakuzu. He wouldn't even let me fight her."

"She didn't have any significant wounds, but a few bruises along her jaw line."

"I didn't put those there," the man growled. "She must have gotten them from someone else."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't give a fuck!"

"Leader-sama won't believe you."

"That bastard doesn't understand shit."

"Hidan, you're impossible."

"He's a pussy."

I gasped audibly, slapping a hand to my mouth. Hidan was the one who killed my parents, my sister, and destroyed me. He was the one who was supposed to be a friend, supposed to care. I heard their footsteps toward me and ran back down the hall. I was enraged. I now had three reasons to rip out that man's throat. I just had to be ready.

I slammed into a body before I got to my room. I was thrown backwards onto the floor while he looked at me. "Going back to Orochimaru?" Itachi growled. He took hold of my wrist and pulled me to my feet. His grip was tighter than Orochimaru's. It hurt me. He brushed back my hair and added, "What did you do with it?"

"Got rid of it, I'm not yours."

He threw me to the floor. "Then let the others have their way with you. I won't stop them." He turned his back on me and began to walk away.

I grabbed his ankle and dragged him to the floor. "Why are you protecting me?" I hissed. "Why are you so convinced that I am worth your time? How do you know I'm not going to kill you along with the rest of them?" I asked, hinting to the men walking up the hall behind us.

Itachi pried my fingers off his ankle. "You're the one who said you weren't going to avenge, because it was what they wanted. You don't follow orders very well."

I thrust a kunai through his cloak, pinning him to the floor. "How do you know so much about me? How did you know me from the start? You saw through me, and I want to know how you did it," I demanded.

"When your sister would transform, couldn't you tell her from the crowd?" he asked.

"How did you know I had a sister."

"Orochimaru is using you as a guinea pig," he stated. "He erased your memory and filled it with pictures of himself."

"He did not," I growled. "I never knew you."

Itachi pulled the kunai from the floor and stood up. "Stop by my room sometime, and I'll prove you wrong." He looked back at the onlookers. "Take her to Leader-sama."

I found myself looking down at the three bladed scythe. "Common, Bitch," Hidan growled. "Off to meet the bastard."

*****

Pein was more of a bastard than I suspected. He not only thought of himself as a king, but as a god. He was more arrogant than Gaara could ever dream to be. He kept calling me "little one," or "child" as Orochimaru had, but his tone was less caring. Orochimaru always had a hint of care when he called me "Little One," or "Child". It was a title of endearment to him. To Pein, it was just him undermining me.

"Tell me, child," he spat, "how did you evade me for so long?" His tone was cold, almost icy compared to Sensei. He was full of resentment behind his silence.

"I went to the one person you wouldn't dare to search," I answered.

"And who was that?" he inquired.

"I went to Orochimaru."

No surprise was shone from him, and he didn't seem to care much. "You went to one of my own," he answered.

"You didn't own Orochimaru at the time. He had left by then."

"You're right, he did. He didn't care to stay, but he doesn't care for much, does he? Why did he let you leave?"

"He didn't."

"You are here," Pein observed.

"I am here," I spat back.

"Why are you here?"

"Because that bastard was waiting for me in the ruins of my parent's house," I answered, pointing at the man who was now my guardian. I wouldn't let them know that, though. It was my secret, and a secret I'll take to Hidan's grave.

"I assumed you would come back," he stated. "It took longer than planned, but you came back." At this point, he got up. "Now all we have to do is wait."

"Wait for what?" I asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he answered mockingly. "Take her back to Itachi. From what I know, he claimed her as his."

"I don't belong to Itachi!" I shouted. "I don't belong to anyone! I am not a possession!"

Pein almost smiled. "Well then, let her be claimed by someone else, if she isn't Itachi's. Don't let her run loose, or she'll need to be caught again."

I found Hidan's scythe against my back, pushing out of the little office. I heard Pein call back, "Don't you dare harm her."

"I'll do as I wish, Bastard," Hidan spat back. The blade was removed from my back, just to be lodged in my shoulder. Blood spilled down my arm, but I made no note of the pain. It was something I was used to by now. Hidan poked his finger into the wound, getting a sharp gasp from me. "That's better," he muttered in satisfaction, removing the pressure.

He steered me through the many corridors and hallways, knowing where he was going. He kicked a door off its track and stated, "This belongs to you," in a growl.

Itachi looked up from the desk he sat at. "Does she?" he asked, mocking me.

"If not, the bitch is up for grabs. Do you really want me to have her?"

Itachi motioned for me to step forward. "I'd rather she died than have to suffer through you."

"What the hell? Who is she to you, anyway?" he asked, angered by Itachi's statement. "You're too concerned about her fucking well-being."

"She's my brother's friend," he answered.

"And what does that have to do with shit?" he asked.

"Maybe she's the motivation he needs to finally kill me," Itachi answered.

"Oh, so she's the key piece to some high and mighty plan by Itachi? Right. There's more to this bitch. If there wasn't, you'd have sought her out sooner. I'm not fooled."

"I don't need you to be. It's Sasuke who needs to buy it."

I was just a trap, sprung by Itachi to end his pathetic life. He was lying to me, just to make me want to stay. Hidan turned to the door. "Keep her in line, otherwise she'll find herself a sacrifice to Jashin."

I looked to Itachi. "You heartless bastard."

"You're one to talk," he answered coolly. He got up and fixed his door. "At least I can remember my own past."

That reminded me. "Where's your proof?" I asked. "Was that a lie too?"

"I have never lied to you."

"Then you're lying to Hidan?"

"Depends on if Sasuke really sees you as something worth fighting for."

"I hope he doesn't," I answered. I remembered the last time I spoke to him. If he were to come here, he would fail in killing Itachi and retrieving me.

"That's your own issue, now isn't it?"

"Why am I really here?" I asked.

"Because you wanted to be," he answered. He looked up at me. "You did want to, remember? Or has Orochimaru blocked that from you as well."

"He didn't block anything from me," I hissed. "I wanted to escape him."

"You were eager to go to him," Itachi stated. "What happened, did you find out he didn't care about you?"

"No, I've always known that. It's never bothered me."

"Then why leave?" He finally popped the door back into the track, straightened up, and faced me. "If it doesn't bother you, why not stay by his side, where he can protect you."

"I care about him," I answered. I looked away from Itachi, horrified I would tell him this secret.

"And the cat fell in love with the snake," he commented. "How, story book. Let me guess, he found out and tried to kill you?"

"I left so he wouldn't find out. I am not afraid of being killed. I am not destined for love, and I never will be."

"You say that now, but wait until you are loved," he advised. "You'll see things differently."

"What if I don't want to be loved?" I asked.

"Then you won't be."

"You make a hell of a lot of sense," I spat.

"Well, it's still an answer, mo matter how shitty you think it is."

That was my response to Tayuya a long time ago. Itachi and I were a lot alike, and I had to acknowledge this fact. My survival has always depended on my understanding of those around me. I have to understand the Akatsuki if I'm going to survive in their grasp. "So it would seem," I answered, distracted. I pondered how I was going to observe them, without being too conspicuous.

There was a knock at the door, then it slid open. In stepped a tall man, the same one that was with Itachi when I had seen him the first time. Something stood out about this one, and it might just be the blue skin. He also smelled like fish, but that was neither here nor there. He looked at me, and I looked at him. I knew that I had seen him, he didn't know that he had seen me. "Who is this?" he asked, in the same low voice that had suggested they kill me. "And why is she here?"

"Remember that girl on the rock?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah, but she's not-"

"Genjutsu," Itachi answered. "She's the girl Leader-sama wanted years ago."

"I thought she was dead."

Itachi only grunted in response.

"Why is she here?" he repeated.

"To lure Sasuke," Itachi answered.

"That's why Leader wanted her?"

"I don't know why he wants her, but that's why she's in my room."

I just loved being talked about like I wasn't there. It's totally not annoying at all. I rolled my eyes as they discussed me and pretended to not be there. I watched them both, eager to understand.

"She's looking at me funny," the blue man stated.

"She does that," Itachi answered. "She's just observing how you behave. It's a habit of hers."

Am I really that predictable? "You don't know my habits," I spat.

"I know them better than you think I do," he answered.

"I'm confused," the blue man stated. "Someone tell me what's going on."

"She's here because of some plan that has been in process for the last seven or so years, you're being observed by her, and she's being stubborn."

"Damn right, I'm stubborn," I hissed.

"Stubborn about what?" Blue asked again.

"Stubborn about accepting the past, Kisame. It's something that I can't explain to you, and she wouldn't understand it if I tried to explain to her. It's just complicated."

"You know her from somewhere?" Kisame asked. They were back to ignoring me.

"To put it lightly, yes."

"Why doesn't she just remember you?"

"Orochimaru has blocked her memories."

He has not. Why won't Itachi accept this?

"Why would he do that?" Kisame asked.

"You know Orochimaru, he doesn't need a reason. She's just another guinea pig."

Kisame looked at me. "She looks normal, kinda." He tilted his head as he inspected me. "If you look past the eyes, anyway."

"There is nothing normal about her."

"You don't know that!" I yelled. "You don't know me!"

"I know you better than you think I do, and be thankful. If I didn't, Hidan would have killed you by now."

"I'd have killed her by now," Kisame laughed.

I have had enough. I pushed past Kisame and walked out of Itachi's room, steaming. I felt their eyes follow me out.