Sorry I'm a day late! School and work have combined into an unstoppable force that keeps me busy and puts my natural procrastination to shame.

Please enjoy, despite the wait!

Tracey's P.O.V.

I giggled as I doodled on Mischa's special paper. I didn't know why it was special, just that it was a light, square-cut material with pretty colors and patterns that Mischa took excessively good care of. It was all the same to me – just paper to mess around with.

Currently, I was in the Akatsuki living room, the only other occupant being Itachi. He was sitting on the central couch, while I was on the floor with my back to the sofa upon which he was residing. His nose was stuck in a book – I thought I'd cured him of that when I introduced the Akatsuki to sports – and he gave no sign that he knew what was going on around him.

"Are you sure you have permission to do that?" Never mind.

I craned my neck back to look at him questioningly. "Why wouldn't I be? Mischa encourages all of us to have an interest in drawing, and she's let me use her drawing paper before."

Itachi glanced down at the pile of neatly-stacked paper. "That appears to be expensive origami paper, not drawing supplies. I believe the supplier of that specific paper only sends it to the Land of Rain once every few months, and to Ame specifically less often than that."

"Oh. Oh, shit! Save me, Itachi!" I yelled, jumping onto the couch and trying to hide behind him. "She's going to kill me for drawing hearts on her-"

Mischa followed Tobi into the living room, and I cut myself off. "Uh, Tracey? Why are you trying to rape Itachi?"

"Please don't hurt me!"

"Why would I-" Mischa caught sight of her paper and trailed off. She made her way over to the coffee table they were resting on and drew in a shaky breath. "You doodled on my origami paper."

"I'm sorry, Mischa, I didn't-"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mischa screamed, lunging for my throat. I screamed, and Itachi moved me out of the way of Mischa's warpath just in time.

Tobi, meanwhile, was trying to calm Mischa down. "Mischa-chan! Tracey-chan said it was an accident; she didn't mean it!"

"I DON'T CARE! GET BACK HERE, TRACEY!" Mischa yelled, lunging for me again. Tobi grabbed onto her at the same time Itachi picked me up and leapt off the couch. "TRAITOR! LET ME GO, TOBI!"

"Mischa-chan isn't allowed to kill anyone! Itachi-sempai would miss Tracey-chan, and the world doesn't need an even more depressed Uchiha!"

"It's too early in the morning for you to be screaming, Sis." We all stopped like someone had pressed 'pause' and turned to Shylah. She had a disgruntled expression on her face, and was looking at the scene we'd caused with distaste. "Pipe down, you three."

"There are four of us, Shylah," I pointed out, confused.

"Do you hear Itachi screaming like the hounds of Hades have sprung out of the ground and commanded Mischa to kill you for their entertainment?"

"Why would dogs order Mischa-chan to kill people?" Tobi asked, as confused as I was.

"I dunno. She'd probably obey them, though."

Mischa giggled before catching sight of the paper again and turning on me. Tobi rushed in front of her, waving his arms around dramatically. "No, Mischa-chan! No killing!"

Shylah walked over to Mischa and bopped her over the head. Mischa blinked and frowned at her sister, rubbing her head. "Why'd you do that, Sis?"

"You heard Tobi-san. No killing." As Mischa pouted, she turned to me. "Why was she trying to kill you, anyway?"

I opened my mouth, but Mischa didn't give me the chance to reply. "She doodled all over my origami paper! That stuff's expensive!"

"I didn't know it wasn't for drawing, and I wouldn't have done that if I knew!" I exclaimed indignantly. "I'm really sorry, Mischa."

Mischa narrowed her eyes at me before looking up at Shylah pleadingly. "Can't I just hit her a couple times?"

"I'm not saving you from Tisha and Caitlin when they find out you didn't forgive her."

"Fine. I forgive you, Tracey. Next time, though, just ask if you can use it."

I brightened. "Gotcha!" I moved to give Mischa a make-up hug, but stopped when I realized I was still in Itachi's arms. "As a straight girl, I can totally appreciate being held in a sexy man's arms, but I'd appreciate it if you'd put me down. I mean, I don't mind if you wanna hold me a little longer, but it might get a little awkward for everyone involved if Tish, Caitlin, Deidara, Hidan, or Kisame see us. We'll never hear the end of it that way."

"Hn," was Itachi's only reply as he set me down on the ground.

"Thanks," I told him, trying not to feel discouraged by his regression into one-syllable, monotone replies.

"Now that that crisis is settled…" Shylah muttered before walking off, waving away the 'thanks' I called after her. "Yeah, yeah. I'm amazing, I know."

Mischa rushed over to her origami paper. "Hm… Well, I can't make an army of scorpions with hearts all over them. What to do…?" Her eyes roamed the room before lighting on Itachi. "I've got it! Tracey, get your butt over here! I'm gonna teach you and Tobi all about the beauty of origami."

Tobi and I skipped over, both of us eager for some lessons. "Okay, now first you have to fold the paper like this… and again…" The instructions were kind of difficult, and we messed up a few times before our creations even resembled Mischa's first example. Finally, we had both assembled a near-perfect imitation of Mischa's origami weasel.

When Tobi looked at his finished weasel he giggled, and I scooted away a little bit because of the dark undertone his voice had gotten. Just as soon as it'd appeared, however, it was gone, and Tobi was once again his happy-go-lucky self. "Itachi-sempai! I have a gift for you!"

Itachi accepted the gift warily, taking it into his hands as he examined it carefully. After only one second, his face seemed to fall even flatter than it was before, and he stared at all three of us with a deadpan expression. "Hn."

Mischa cackled maniacally, throwing her head back in an imitation of a super-villain. "We made you an army of mini-'tachis, Itachi! Aren't our creations beautiful?"

"Hn," he replied almost sourly.

"Do I hear emotion~?" Mischa sang out.

"Hey, Trace?" Cat called from the door. Our heads all snapped to look in her direction. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, Cat!" I chirped, following her out of the living room and down the many hallways to her bedroom. When we were finally inside, I turned to face her, concern in my eyes. "What's up, Cat?"

"Nakano-san is dead," she whispered, just loudly enough for me to hear it.

I frowned sympathetically and wrapped my arms around her in a comforting hug – because everyone needs hugs – even as my heart fluttered at the thought of the dead body that the death had produced. "Aw, Cat, I'm sorry to hear. How'd you find out?"

"I-… One of her neighbors found her. Trace, we're not the only people who've just randomly appeared here from Earth."

"What?"

"Nakano-san… Yesterday, Nakano-san said that she was from Earth, and that she'd been living here since she was twenty. She was going to teach me all about this world, this world's history, how to survive… And she died. I don't know how, or why, but she was fine yesterday, and today… What are we gonna do?"

My mind raced, and I pulled away just enough to look into her eyes. "Did she say there was a way to go home?"

"Yeah, she said that in exactly one year from the day we arrived we'd just pop back into our old world. But that's not the point! She's met up with other people who got here the same way we did, and they all died! People from our situations in life weren't meant to deal with this! What if we die before our year's up?" Cat was starting to panic. I wasn't used to this. I was the one being comforted, not the one telling someone everything would be alright. What do I do?

"Cat, everything's going to be okay. Let's get Shy – she'll be able to figure something out. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Shylah?" I called uncertainly, knocking on the door to her room. I'd only ever looked for her there once, but she wasn't there at the time. It'd spawned a 'find Shylah' competition that no one had won because the base was huge and Shylah had probably spent most of her time wandering the halls, finding hidden rooms where she could enjoy complete solitude.

There was silence from within, and I was just going to leave when I heard a sigh from the other side. Shylah opened the door to her room and let us both in, shutting the door behind us and settling back onto her bed. "The one day I decide to chill out in my room…"

I grinned at her as Cat launched immediately into the same explanation she'd given me without any preamble. After a minute, she finished, and cast a forlorn gaze at Shy. "So I didn't get any information on how to survive, and I don't know where any other survivors are."

"Huh," was Shy's only response. It didn't look like she'd heard, but then again she tended not to react to anything. "Well, that's interesting. So you say that Nakano-san was murdered about three days after her grandson, who was murdered three days after his mom, who was murdered three days after Nakano-san's son was murdered. And you haven't realized that they were murdered by a serial killer and you're at risk for having discovered Nakano-san's body."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interrupted. "Cat said a neighbor found-" I stopped talking, taking in deep breaths to try to calm myself down. Shy tossed me a notebook to distract myself with, and I flipped through it, gazing at her various drawings that tended to center around either a boy, puppets, or both. Since when can Shylah draw guys? I thought she had trouble drawing anything but females if she didn't have a reference. I could still hear them talking in the background, even though I wasn't really focused on what they were saying.

"You were the one who discovered Nakano-san's body, weren't you?" Shylah asked. I found myself focusing intensely on the intricate detail of one of the puppets to keep my focus away from... whatever they were talking about…

After a few seconds, Cat hesitantly confirmed Shy's suspicions. "Yeah, I was. What makes you think I'm next, though?"

Shy sighed exasperatedly, and when she finally continued talking, it was with the overly-patient tone of someone talking to a small and slightly slow child. "Nakano's son found the body of a dead friend. Three days later, his wife found his corpse, only to be found dead herself three days after that by her own son. Nakano-san found her grandson's dead body three days after her daughter-in-law's death, and you found her corpse-"

"Three days later, I get it." A pause. "Sorry."

"It's fine, I'm used to it." Another pause, slightly shorter than the previous one. "I digress. My point is that this pattern has been going on since a few days after we got here. Tiamat's been hearing rumors, and if we've kept track of them correctly, there were already eight previous murders leading up to the death of Nakano's son. Quite ironic that you'll be the thirteenth death, don't you think?"

"So it's just a done deal? I'm dead? There's no way to combat this?"

"This village is under the leadership and protection of Pein-sama, a ninja so powerful that they all revere him as their god. He hasn't caught the killer, yet, although I have no doubt he's figured out the pattern. If that's not a seal of death upon your forehead, I don't know what is," Shylah explained before adding, oh-so-sensitively, "On the bright side, you have two days to make peace with your fate."

"Screw Fate, and screw your precious Pein-sama!-"

"I'd rather not; thanks for the offer, though."

"I'm not sitting around and waiting to die! If this village's god can't help me, he obviously isn't worthy of that title! I'm gonna find a way to stay alive, no matter what you think," Cat ranted, her voice rising hysterically.

"If your life really means that much to you-"

"It does!" A pause. "Sorry, sorry, I keep forgetting- Why am I apologizing to you when you just told me to give up on my life?"

Shylah sighed. "Will you let me finish?"

"Fine."

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, we don't have to wait like sitting ducks. There are certain precautions we can take."

"Like what?"

"I was getting to that. From what I can tell, none of the people who were murdered were in the same room as another awake person. To solve that problem, we'll have two people in the room with you just in case this murderer has developed a jutsu that can control people. We'll also have you sleep somewhere other than where you normally sleep on the night you're supposed to die-"

"I'm not gonna be able to sleep!" The conversation paused, and Cat groaned dramatically. "Get over it, Shy, we're talking about my eventual murder! If I forget myself and interrupt you, give me a break!"

"Fine. I was pretty much done with my planning anyway. Any recommendations for which guys you want to spend the night with when the time comes?"

"…You make it sound so dirty…"

"If you don't have any preferences, I suppose I'll just recruit Zetsu and Kakuzu to sleep with you."

"Seriously, stop making it sound so dirty! And I don't want to escape a murderer just to be eaten by Zetsu."

"Any other lovely insights?"

Cat stayed quiet as she thought about it for a few seconds. "I don't think I really trust Hidan not to be a weirdo, or even to care enough to make sure I don't die. The same could be said for almost everyone else, too, I guess, but I'll just leave the rest up to you."

"Okay. If that's the case, I might have one or two people in mind."

"Why do I get the feeling leaving this up to you is a terrible idea?"

"I assure you, I have no clue what you could possibly mean by that."

"That's what scares me."

Tish's P.O.V.

"Where's all the fucking food?"

I rolled my eyes and suppressed a groan as Hidan entered the room, complaining as usual. "In the kitchen, dumbass."

"Clever," Hidan replied, rolling his eyes. "Your mom must be fucking proud of you."

"Maybe if she'd bothered to do more than tell the orphanage caretakers my last name, she would be. I don't really give a shit either way. Besides, I'm way more clever than you could ever hope to be. And sexier." I made a show of looking him up and down and seeming disappointed with what I saw. "Yep. Way too sexy for you."

"Oi, fuck you, bitch! I'm the sexiest motherfucker you've ever seen."

"Would you two get a room and stop suffocating the rest of us with your ridiculously high amounts of sexual tension?" Kisame burst out from one of the other couches where he was lounging between Itachi and Emi.

Hidan turned to glare at him. "Maybe you should leave, instead. And take your little fuck-buddy with you, too."

Emi's face reddened until she looked like she was about to pass out from all the blood rushing to her head. I chucked a pillow at Hidan, which distracted him just long enough for Kisame to get the drop on him – not that he would've needed any help, since Hidan was so oblivious – and pummel him into the ground. I cheered him on from the sidelines while Emi made a quick escape.

Tiamat suddenly seemed to materialize beside me, and I jumped. "Holy shit, Tiamat! Don't scare me while I'm watching people beat up Hidan!"

Tiamat watched the proceedings with a delicately-poised raised eyebrow. "What did he do to incur Kisame's wrath, of all people?"

"He called Emi Kisame's 'fuck-buddy'. Normally, it would be funny, but targeting Emi is low even for him."

"I see," Tiamat muttered before suddenly flipping the coffee table into Hidan when Kisame started to back off. It hit him over the head with enough force to knock him out, breaking the coffee table in the process. "I believe that takes care of him. Kisame, I saw Emi making her way back to her room, although you should wait at least fifteen minutes before attempting to enter, since your presence at the moment would only serve to further embarrass her." Kisame made a pouting face, which Tiamat ignored in favor of inspecting the remains of the coffee table. "Come, Tisha. We have a coffee table to replace."

"Why do I have to go with? You're the one who broke it."

"Hidan broke it; I merely introduced it to a possibly-dangerous situation. That's not the point; the point is that there is a broken coffee table in the place of where a perfectly usable coffee table should be, and I now find myself saddled with a debt I would rather not be in possession of. As such, I have recruited you, one of my most trusted ser- friends, to help me see this through." Without another word, Tiamat turned and walked out of the living room. I sighed but didn't argue, since arguing with Tiamat was dangerous and tended to result in Tiamat's opponent somehow agreeing to a life of servitude to Tiamat's family. Trust me, I've seen it happen.

Self-preservation saw me following Tiamat into a furniture store. She was, at the moment, browsing their wares for an exact replica of the table she'd broken. For the next half-hour, we walked circles through the store until she was satisfied with the quality, price, and appearance of a coffee table enough to buy it. Then came the debating of the price, which was… interesting to watch. From an outside perspective, it would look like one had gravely insulted the other's mother. When the deal was concluded, they both did a one-eighty, smiling and bowing and otherwise seeming like best friends.

The final part of our little shopping trip was when I found out Tiamat's purpose for bringing me specifically. "No, it's alright, I think we can manage. Yes, Tisha is quite strong; she won't have any problem carrying this home."

I complied with her implied orders, glaring daggers into the back of her head. When one of the other workers moved to help me, I glared daggers into him, as well. He backed off without my having to say anything, and we were soon walking down the street we came through. Or we would have been if Tiamat hadn't stopped to inspect a food stand.

I huffed and put the coffee table down more carefully than I wanted to. That's when I felt it – a firm hand grasping my butt. Now, I'm not necessarily opposed to the compliment of a guy not being able to keep his hands off my bootay, as long as long as I know him and have given him some sign or permission that I'm okay with this. Whoever was groping my ass didn't have my permission, so I whirled around, prepared to smack the idiot who couldn't keep his hands to himself. "What the fuck do you-"

Standing in front of me, with a terrified look on his face, was a small child. He was thin to the point where the hollows of his cheeks were easily visible, and his skin was a sickly pallor. His ragged clothes were close to falling off his emaciated frame, and his hair was knotted and caked with mud. He backed away slowly, eyes wide with terror.

I instantly deflated and knelt down in front of him, casting a cursory glance around to make sure no one – especially not Tiamat – was watching. "Hey, kid, you should be more careful who you pick-pocket. Pick the people who don't have the mobility to chase after you, and wait until they're distracted before you make a move. My friend would have better advice, but she's not exactly here right now, so…"

The kid had calmed down at my soothing tone, and was now staring at me confusedly because he probably didn't expect me to be giving him any advice on how to become a child criminal. I sighed a little bit and mentally slapped my internal mentor. "Do ya want me to teach you by example?"

The boy's eyes widened as he stared at me, still slightly suspicious. At my encouraging smile, he nodded slowly and followed me as I made my way to an inconspicuous location on the side of the street. I surveyed the area, spotting a rich guy who looked vaguely familiar.

I leaned down to the street urchin I was now mentoring. "See that guy over there? He's a good target because his clothes are way too heavy for him to run properly in. Just because he's overweight, don't underestimate him, because that won't always mean he's a pushover. His guards are kind of a problem, but there's a way to get around them. Remember, everyone has a pattern. There's something they'll always do, every day, without fail. If you're looking to rob a house, it's that the owner always goes grocery shopping on a Thursday from one to three in the afternoon. If it's these guys, they always have a habit of synching up their movements to look in the same direction. I'll move to a position where I can bail you out, but you need to figure it out and make the move on your own."

I didn't wait for a reply as I moved around to the other side of the street, crossing as inconspicuously as I could manage – which, while not Cat good, was pretty damn good if I say so myself. I watched him circle around another way, eyes flickering between each of them way too fast to actually register when they synched their movements. I sighed as he moved in at the wrong time, using the distraction he caused to grab something from the hem of the rich man's sleeve that he kept checking on.

"Get back here, you brat!" The rich guy yelled as one of his guards made a grab for the boy. He cast a terrified glance back at me before taking off down a network of alleyways.

"Rule number two, kid: look out for number one, and never take anyone's 'help' at face value." I chuckled and turned to return to Tiamat. I barely took one step before I stopped and glanced back behind me. After a few seconds of deliberation, I took off down the alleys, looking for a place to intercept him. Trace's words echoed through my head, and I cursed her for trying to give me a conscience. Just because someone did it to you doesn't mean you have to keep the trend going, huh? I hate you, sometimes, Trace.

Finally, I found him. He'd actually managed to keep out of their reach, but it was obvious that he was getting tired. Like the amazing - and sexy - hero that I am, I burst across the section just in time to snatch him up and run off, my super-sexy long legs carrying me far away from the guards. The kid struggled in my arms, but he was so weak I barely felt it.

Sighing, I raced to the Akatsuki's base and set him down outside of it. "Just wait here for a sec, kid." I ignored him and his weak protests in favor of barging into the hideout and snatching a lunch box or whatever Emi called them from one of the kitchen cupboards. I filled it with food and a canteen of water before walking back outside and tossing it to him. "Don't eat it all at once; trust me, it's not a good idea."

He stared up at me in awe – because I'm amazing, obviously. Slowly, hesitantly, he picked up the box, and his face broke out into a huge grin. "Thank you, priestess!" He exclaimed, bowing and scurrying off.

Wait, what? I thought, standing still for a second before I remembered that I'd left Tiamat behind and running to where I'd left her.

Tiamat frowned at me, her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "Did you enjoy your little excursion?"

I rolled my eyes and picked up the coffee table again. "Whatever, let's just get this over with."

Shylah's P.O.V.

(Approximately thirty minutes after Tiamat and Tisha left.)

I entered the living room one step behind Kakuzu. While I was here to recruit someone for Caitlin-protecting duty, I wasn't going to select him because I'd already had the two people in mind when I'd mentioned it to Caitlin.

However, both of us stopped abruptly at the sight of an unconscious Hidan on the ground, Kisame in the sole rocking chair of the room. He would rock back, then kick Hidan as the chair rocked forward. It was an amusing sight, if a little strange. Kisame usually wasn't the type to enjoy beating up an unconscious person, if only because he couldn't hear their screams.

"Why is the coffee table broken?" Kakuzu asked from beside me. Clearly his priorities were a little skewed. Then again, since furniture costs money, I can see why that's the more important thing.

"Tiamat used it to knock Hidan out. She's out getting a new one with Tish," Kisame replied, landing an especially vicious kick to Hidan's groin.

Immediately Kakuzu's wrath deflated. "I see. Tell Hidan he has to clean up the remains of the last one when he wakes up."

Kisame's face darkened gleefully as he switched to kicking Hidan's stomach. "Will do."

I sighed and turned to Itachi. "Any chance you'd be willing to help me out with something?"

"Hn?"

"Y'know that serial killer who's been going around reducing Ame's population? Yeah, well, he killed Caitlin's friend; and Caitlin found the body, so she's next on the serial killer's list. I was wondering if I could enlist you to keep her safe."

Kisame glanced up at me, interested. "I think Leader-sama was planning on having us go out on a mission, soon. You'd have to ask him."

"Right. I was just hoping Itachi would be okay with me requesting him?" I informed, phrasing the sentence like a question as I looked to Itachi hopefully.

"…For someone who professes not to care about anything, you seem overly concerned for your friend." I didn't reply, so he continued. "Very well. If Leader-sama gives you permission, I will help you."

"Great! I'm also going to ask for Deidara, just so y'know."

"Hn."

"He says that Deidara's the one with the problem, not him," Kisame translated, a sharp-toothed grin on his face.

"I figured," I sighed, turning to leave. "Thanks." I didn't bother waiting for a reply, choosing instead to hurry to Pein's office. I wasn't worried about Deidara refusing to help Caitlin; as much as he'd deny it, he'd developed a crush on her and probably wasn't willing to let one of the only girls who actually agreed with his views on art be murdered by some deranged psychopath.

I arrived at the now-familiar doors shortly, and knocked a few times before waiting for someone to answer. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal Konan, who lifted the corners of her mouth slightly before resuming an indifferent façade and returning to the throne room – er… the office? The meeting room? The throffing room… Close enough.

Pein fixed his super-intimidating gaze on me, and I tried not to shudder. "I know why you are here."

"So you know my friend is probably going to turn up dead in three days and I want to politely request the assistance of your members? Cool. Do you also know your answer?"

"If they agree, and you pay a fee for their use, you may choose whoever you deem necessary, so long as I approve your choices."

"I'd like to request both Itachi and Deidara as her guards."

He gave no indication what he thought of my request aside from the prolonged silence. "I prefer to have Itachi working with Kisame and Deidara working with Sasori."

I nodded in agreement. "My reasoning for Itachi was to have an expert in dispelling genjutsu in case the murderer is capable of using it to incapacitate the people near his victims. I thought Deidara would also be useful, since he would know about strategies using the ground as a mode of transport (aside from Zetsu, but he scares Caitlin), and would therefore know how to best combat them. If you must keep them in their designated pairs, I would trust Itachi's and Kisame's skills to be able to subdue him or her better than Deidara or Sasori."

He dipped his head in affirmation. "Very well. I will leave Kakuzu to discuss the specifics of the required pay with you."

I bowed before exiting at his dismissal. Great. Maybe I can get Tiamat to bargain with Kakuzu, since she seems to like that. Well, only one way to find out, I guess.

Third P.O.V.

(With Pein and Konan.)

Nagato watched through Pein's eyes as Shylah exited the room, closing the doors behind her. He waited until her footsteps faded into the distance before addressing his lifelong friend. "She knows more about our society than can be explained by a distant land overseas." He paused, even though Konan would remain quiet unless she disagreed (a rarity), content with letting him reach his point in his own time. "It would be best to have them return home quickly – especially Shylah."

Here Konan interjected. "And yet, how would we accomplish this?"

"We could simply put them on a ship and let them fend for themselves." Nagato wasn't a soft man, having been shaped by the harsh world of shinobi, but at the moment it was pointless to send off girls with no way to defend themselves unless they proved to be more of a hindrance than a help. "They have been distracting our members."

Konan nodded, although she didn't really mind that part. While she was entirely loyal to Nagato's goals, and would never question him, she also liked that the new arrivals were easing some of the tension between their more violent members – if only slightly. "I would've thought Madara would be eager for them to leave."

"He's keeping up his persona. When he gets tired of us playing host to civilians, he'll begin to play a more active role in finding a way for them to get back." Pein paused, deliberating over whether or not what he was thinking was necessary. "We should have the Akatsuki earn their trust. I want to know what Shylah's keeping from us."

"They already seem to have begun the process."

"I'm ordering it more for Hidan's sake than anything else."

Konan suppressed a smile. Hidan was their most foul-mouthed, irritating, and dense (for a shinobi) member; even though he irritated her, his presence had become somewhat normal over the past month. "I see." Thinking back to the information Pein had given about Tish just before Shylah's arrival, she returned her contemplative gaze once more to the city they watched over. "They don't seem all that bad."

"That's what I'm worried about; they'll turn everyone soft. Good S-ranked nuke-nin are hard to come by these days." He paused, focusing on the orphan he could still see as the child ran to several other orphans and divvied up the goods he'd received from Tish. "Having Tisha as a priestess would be like having Hidan following me rather than his religion. I still can't decide if that's good or bad."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."

Pein had a sudden thought, and wasn't sure whether or not it should make him feel sick. "What if the villagers call all of them my priestesses? I don't trust any of them with the power that would place on them."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad as you seem to think, especially if it means they'll be following your instruction."

"How can they be my followers when they don't know of our pain?"

Konan nodded her head in a respectful bow. "That is cause for concern. Perhaps we should forbid them from leaving the headquarters?"

"And have eight stir-crazy girls shoved together with our seven stir-crazy members and a stir-crazy Madara? We wouldn't last another month." Maybe… "Maybe I could think of a use for them."

Next chapter is going to have the confrontation with the murderer that I've had planned (but not written) for several weeks. It'll be kind of anti-climactic, especially if I'm as bad at describing fights as I think I am. Don't worry; we'll survive. 'Cause I'm a survivor, I'm not gon' give up~... yeah...

Yes, I know what use Pein's going to have for them. It probably won't be too logical, but it should make more sense than letting them stay if they become the Akatsuki's personal maids. I hope.

I'm kind of surprised no one wanted to tell me who their favorite Akatsuki member is, since reviewers + favorite members = more screen-time for said member(s). Maybe you were expecting my favorite to be a dude, since I'm writing a romance FanFic about them...

Question: Who did you think my favorite Akatsuki member is, if you had any thoughts about that at all before I told you?

My Answer: Well, since I knew who my favorite was... I dunno; Tobito? I can see people inferring that from some of my chapters...

I got a new laptop, and it has bass when I play classical music. Flipping hilarious! XD I hadn't even realized until I came out of my story-typing zone to admire Tchaikovsky and realized The Nutcracker Suite had some sick bass going. Ah, I love my new laptop, even if I spent an hour trying to download a way to write FanFic-compatible software only to find that I already had it installed.