Jesus fuck I am so sorry guys. This was supposed to be up a long time ago, I know. Go and hate me all you want. But here it finally is. I know I promised fast updates all around, but I'm starting to lose inspiration I guess. I dunno, I love my story, and I love all of you reviewers and fans, but I'm just drifting away from this. I'll keep updating though. If I were to completely give up on this, I wouldn't leave you guys in the dark. I'd let you know first, then hand my story to someone I know would take care of it. But for now. I'm back.

I still don't own anything involved with Naruto. I only own my OCs.

As soon as they found a good spot, Crysta threw off her shoes. While the girls didn't give two shits, they expected this from her, the guys were just a little confused. Kakuzu pinched the bridge of his nose."Why did you throw your shoes off?" He deadpanned. Crysta shrugged."Hate shoes." She admitted nonchalantly. When Kakuzu went to question, Keira cut in, "She has always hated shoes with a passion. She prefers to be barefooted."

Crysta grinned at Kakuzu."Do as you want. But it's your fault if you cut your feet open." He said."Don't worry, I got bandages over my feet, remember? I'll be fine. I even brought extra in case these ones need to be changed." She explained.

The group then proceeded to set up their camp. Itachi and Aeryonna were in charge of setting up tents, Keira, Dawn and Deidara firewood, leaving Crysta and Kakuzu to survey the area.

Crysta's POV

I followed the path before me, deciding to explore the woods a bit. I felt my "nature girl" counterpart kick in as I got the urge to climb a tree. I sighed, leaning against a tree and inspecting my feet. I don't know if the bandages could handle the rough wood of the branches, not to mention that it would hurt like a bitch if my stitching splits. Again.

I remembered that Kakuzu also said to not do anything stupid. But let's face it. He should've known I wouldn't listen.

I found a tree that was pretty low with branches extending all over the place, low enough for me to reach. I reached and grabbed for a particularly thick branch above me, using the trunk as support and hoisting myself up onto it. I continued to climb up branches until I reached as high as I could go without going on a branch that wouldn't be able to support my weight. Putting my trust in the branch I was currently standing on, I carefully sat down, leaving back against the trunk, and inspecting my feet. Surprisingly, the bandages were only really dirty, and not coming loose yet. In fact, I think since I used so many bandages to cover my feet at once, that they're acting as a shield of some kind. Sure, my toes and the heels of my feet could get dirty or a little hurt, but who cares. My stitches were protected. I grinned to myself.

Maybe I could pull this off without permanently destroying my feet.

I then took the chance to survey the area; my original job. The trees surrounding me were incredibly tall, the short one I was on was in a small clearing. Behind me was the path I followed from our camp site, and looking forward, the path still stretched out into the woods. There were no signs of civilization anywhere nearby, and no signs of any previous campers. None that I could see, that is. Some trees, however, had large claw marks on their trunks. Signs of animals, but no campers.

I leaned back on the tree again, relaxing. A cool breeze blew by, causing the trees and grass to sway in the direction it was going. Somewhere far in the distance, a wolf howled. I grinned to myself. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I let out a howl of my own, hopefully loud enough for the others to hear back at our campsite.

I could just feel someone facepalm.

From the campsite, I heard someone howl back. By how it sounded, I assumed Dawn.

I sighed as I realized I had to report back to our camp. Howls wouldn't be enough for Kakuzu. So I glanced to the ground to see how far of a jump it would've been. I don't know how high it was, but I definitely wasn't jumping. I felt like a cat. I didn't know how to get down. I didn't even want to try, either. I was okay with climbing up things, but I could get terrified of climbing down something. I sighed shakily as I stared down at the ground. It wasn't too far of a drop, maybe seven, eight feet, but I still didn't like it. I took a deep breath.

Gotta be a strong ninja bitch.

I turned and wrapped my arms around the tree trunk, then slowly pulling my leg over the branch to quickly wrap my legs around the trunk as well. So far so good. Nonetheless, I seemed to be frozen there, gripping the trunk for dear life as I didn't want to try moving downward. But I had to keep going. So I slowly inched downward, trying to ignore the tree bark scraping against my stomach as I made my way down. Soon, I hit another branch. I carefully pulled myself over until I was right above it, the inched down so I was sitting on it. I sighed with relief, then glanced down. Now only about four feet high. This was a little more comfortable jump for me. So I pulled my legs over the edge of the branch so they dangled, then slowly eased myself off the branch until I fell and landed on my feet, stumbling a little before standing up straight.

Nailed it.

When I returned to the campsite, Kakuzu surprisingly wasn't back yet. In fact, only Aeryonna and Itachi were there, finishing up with the tents.

So I went through a mentally scarring experience because I had to climb down a tree for nothing. Just great.

I sighed, plopping down on the ground. Walking around barefoot for a while then climbing a tree was starting to catch up with me. Even though my feet were starting to get sore, at least my bandages still weren't ruined. The outer layer was just dirtied up, not even tearing yet. Kakuzu may be cheap, but I guess medical supplies had to be the best. These were some tough-ass bandages. Aeryonna climbed out of a tent, sighing. She stretched and cracked her neck before noticing you."Oh, hey, back already?" She asked, coming over and sitting in the dirt next to me. I nodded."Yeah. I didn't really find much out, really. All I learned was that if you follow that path farther into the woods, the trees get easier to climb since some are really close to the ground, have a shit ton of branches and are really bunched together. And we're kinda close to some animals' marked territories, so we just gotta watch where we go." I explained. She nodded."Itachi and I finished the tents in no time at all. So now we just gotta wait for everyone else to get back." I nodded. I then reached down and rubbed my sore feet.

"Feet are sore, right?" Aeryonna deadpanned. I sighed, "A little, yeah..."

"Well, that's what happens when you walk around barefoot with only bandages to protect your feet." Aeryonna scolded. I scoffed."That may be the case, but these are some tough bandages. The outer layer of wrapping is starting to get filthy, but that's really it. No tears, no rips, no dirt getting on my actual foot. These are quality bandages." I said. Aeryonna nodded."Fair enough." She admitted. I stood up again."I'm gonna explore some more. Tell Kakuzu what I said, and then that I'm out walking again." I told her. She saluted."Yes, ma'am."

I descended down the path once again. I saw a figure jump through the branches back towards the camp. Kakuzu, I assumed. He didn't even notice me as I kept walking. I eventually reached the tree I climbed before and walked past it, traveling deeper into the trees. I noticed that the claw marks started to get more frequent, and there were signs of fights; clumps of fur in the bushes, patches of dirt dug up, scratch marks all over the ground.

I was walking into a bear's territory.

I stopped for a minute, studying the area more closely. The claw marks definitely weren't old. And I definitely wasn't stupid. Time to leave. I turned around, quickly starting to walk back to the camp. As I walked, getting close to the camp, I noticed that there was a second path I somehow missed that branched off to the right; the path I was on went left. I smirked to myself. Since I couldn't go any further on this path, I might as well explore a little on the other path. So I turned and started to travel down the second path. As I descended deeper into the woods, the trees were getting noticeably higher up. I shrugged it off, thinking it was nothing. And speaking of nothing, there was nothing around. Only the thick patches of trees. But down the path, there was a ray of sunlight.

And that was something interesting. These woods are dark as dicks.

I quickened my pace to get toward the sunlight coming through. As I got closer, I started to hear water running. I was practically running toward it. My curiosity was peaked! When I finally reached it, there was more than just some sunlight.

I was in a large clearing, almost like a meadow, the tall trees circling around. But there was a large opening, so naturally sunlight was shining through. The grass was a brighter green, and there was a small crick flowing. There were small patches of flowers dotted around the area; roses, lillies, narcissus flowers. It was cheesy, but it was just...beautiful.

I walked into the clearing, probably having a stupid awe'd look on my face. This was where the path ended, there were no other paths anywhere else. You'd just be aimlessly wandering through trees after passing through this clearing. But honestly, that was okay with me. This seemed like a place worth staying for a bit. I walked through and stopped at the small crick. I plopped onto the ground, glancing down at my feet. It won't kill anyone to soak my feet a little. I thought, reaching down to my feet. I started to unravel my bandages, needing to check my stitching anyways. When it was off, I was surprised. My foot looked like it wasn't disturbed at all. And since Kakuzu's stitchings were waterproof, I didn't have to worry about them getting ruined in the water. I slowly lowered my feet in the water, which was actually warm. Not a gross-feeling warm, more of a soothing warm. I sighed in relief.

This camping trip wasn't going to be bullshit after all.

Beside me, a frog jumped out of the water. I glanced down at it, narrowing my eyes."Are you working for Naruto and/or Jiraiya?" I questioned. The frog gave me this bored look, croaking at me."Don't pull any bullshit, froggy. I'm going to trust you. If it turns out you're some fucking spy or some shit, I'm going to be pissed." I warned. Again, only a bored stare from the creature. I gave it a suspicious look a few seconds longer before cracking a smile and laughing a little. I was starting to really lose it. But hey, I talked to animals any other day as it is.

I held out my hand to the small frog. It kind of stared, taking a step away."Alright, I get it. You don't trust me now. But I won't hurt ya' little buddy." I said as if it could understand me. It took about two minutes before it reluctantly got closer to my hand. Finally, it jumped onto my hand, barely big enough to fit in my palm."There, see? Now you're officially my little buddy." I said to it. Then, I said, "And I'm assuming you're a boy. Because you're kinda small, and that's how most animals work."

A ribbit in response.

I tilted my head, curious to see if it would let me pet it. I extended my index finger, lightly brushing down his back. He didn't react at all. So I assumed he just didn't care."Your name is Squishy." I stated, getting the idea from the slimy feel of his back. Of course, I don't think I'd be able to keep him. He was a wild frog, and Pein would think that having a dog in the base is enough. He deffinately wouldn't let me have a frog. But I decided to give him a name because, why not. I sighed. It would be pretty awesome if I could've kept him, though.

"I bet I'm befriending one of Jiraiya's toads." I said to myself, taking another glance down at the frog in my hand. Not even a movement from the frog, other than his breathing. I lifted him up to look at his eyes."If you do belong to Jiraiya, then whatever. I'll admit to being the one that screwed us over." I paused. I was about to start a full-on conversation with something that wasn't even going to give me any responses.

I did talk to myself as it was. So talking to a frog wouldn't of been too different.

"Well, Squishy. I'm kinda conflicted. It's really hard being in a secret organization of crazy people. We always have to hide, I'm always stuck at our base, and sometimes, it can get fucking boring as hell. I want to see Suna, I want to make buddies with everyone at Konoha. I love my organization to pieces, holy shit being a criminal can get really fucking awesome most of the time. But at the same time, I gotta be all sneaky and stealthy, and dumb bullshit like that. I suck dicks when it comes to being sneaky. I'm all about going on offense. And I just want everyone to be bros with each other. Maybe some of them will even become fuck buddies, but let's not get into that. Point is that I love being part of my criminal organization, they're my family, and one of them is my true love. But I'd also like to see what it'd be like if we ended up being part of Konoha, and not the Akatsuki, you know? Like...a plot twist in a bad fanfiction." I drawled. Squishy barely even made an effort to blink at me. I sighed, smirking a little.

"Can't believe I just full-on ranted to a frog..." I muttered, shaking my head at myself.

"Crysta."

I jumped at the sudden voice, nearly squeezing the frog in my hand. I turned to see Kakuzu looming over me. I jumped to my feet, now standing in the calmly running water. He glanced down at the discarded bandages at the edge of the crick, inches away from falling in. He then looked at the dark green frog in my hand. Finally, he looked up at me."Were you just talking to a frog?" Kakuzu deadpanned. I grinned nervously."Maybe... And he's not a frog. This is Squishy." I corrected. He gave me a look."You named it."

"Yes."

"Why."

"Why not?" Kakuzu shook his head at me."Whatever. Just put Squishy back in the water, and sit down so I can check your foot." He ordered. I sighed, pouting down at Squishy."Well, see ya' later little buddy. It was fun." I said, kneeling down and carefully placing the frog at the water's edge in the mud. I then sat down in the grass, turning and pulling my feet out of the water. Kakuzu kneeled down and lifted up the foot with stitching. I smiled as I saw his eyes widen slightly."Shocked that I'm actually responsible, and didn't let my stitching split?" I said, giving a mischevious grin. He sighed."Although I'm impressed that they aren't, these bandages won't last much longer since you took them off. We'll have to change them almost immediately now." He said, having just a hint of amusement in his voice. I smiled at him."Does that mean I get to be carried to the camp?" I asked. He sighed again, "Yes, I suppose it does."

I squee'd in excitement like a little school girl, making Kakuzu roll his eyes as he lifted my bridal style.

Once back at the camp, Kakuzu was wrapping new bandages around my feet. I could've did it myself, but I always wrapped them too loose, and they eventually started slipping off."So, what did you guys do today?" I asked as everyone else sat around us."Well, Itachi and I got the tents up fast, so we had enough time to set up traps in the trees that only you guys can detect." Aeryonna said."Traps for what, hm?" Deidara wondered. Itachi, who I haven't heard say a word all day, looked up and said, "Shinobi. We won't get caught this way."

"What if a bird or something gets caught in one?" I asked. Aeryonna shook her head."Itachi assured that a bird wouldn't be heavy enough to set it off." She said. We all nodded."Deidara, Kiera and I got enough wood to last the few nights we're going to be out. And it took some damn effort to get it all together." Dawn said.

"I found no traces of any other ninja, so we have the ability to go pretty far without too much risk of getting discovered." Kakuzu said."And I found that if you go down the path until you find the spot it splits and go left, you'll end up in a bear's territory. If you go right, you'll eventually end up in a big clearing with a crick and a shit-ton of flowers." I said. Keira snorted."That sounds really fucking cheesy." She said. I nodded in agreement."Yeah, it is."

"But it had to of been nice." Aeryonna noted. I also nodded at that."It was, actually." I admitted.

We pretty much dicked around until it was finally dark out.

I was sitting on the ground, watching the fire flicker before me."No, you can't burn anything." Kakuzu said beside me."I wasn't thinking that!" I claimed, making the others laugh."Yeah, I was thinking that." Keira said. Deidara raised his visible brow."Since when were you a pyro, hm?" He asked, snickering a little. Keira shrugged."Pretty much always was. Burning shit is fun." She admitted."I expected Dawn to be a pyro." Aeryonna said. Dawn openly laughed at her statement."Nah, burning things isn't my style. I'm more of the murdering type of person, you all know that." She said."Very true. That's what Hidan saw in you." I said. She smirked."Yeah, and the fact I'm too damn sexy for him to handle."

"Yeah, okay Dawn." Keira said sarcastically. We snickered at the glare Dawn was giving to her. Aeryonna sighed, "How do you think we would've ended up if the Akatsuki never came?" We all kinda fell quiet, the three Akatsuki men waiting for our answers. I answered first, "Well, I guess I'd end up continuing with my schoolwork. I would hope that I'd end up in a good college, and was aiming to be a vet."

"You wanted to be a vet?" Kakuzu asked, almost sounding dumbfounded. I nodded."Yeah. It's a good job, and I love animals. So...yeah, it makes sense." I said. I looked to Aeryonna."Where would you end up in your life?" I asked her. She shrugged."Not sure. My grades were starting to slip since I just...stopped caring, I guess. We were planning to permanently move to New York, so who knows where I could've ended up. I wanted to be a hair stylist for a while, but that idea kinda sounded stupid after a while. I didn't know what I wanted to do." Aeryonna explained. Keira sighed."I probably would've ended up in fucking prison for burning something down. Since I kinda had a shit life with my dick parents, I would've started to do stupid stuff to make myself feel good about myself." She said. The air was in a tense silence a few seconds before Dawn broke it, "I wanted to be a tattoo artist, and that probably would've got me nowhere. And if I did the wrong thing, I'd have the police up my ass again."

The silence fell around us once again."Well, shit got awkward fast." I said."Yeah, no fuck." Keira said. I decided to bring up Squishy. That might ease the tension."I befriended a frog today." I stated."How do you befriend a frog, yeah?" Deidara asked, looking at me like an idiot. I smirked."I just did. I named him Squishy, and I just talked to it for a while. He never responded back, though..." I said, making the others laugh."You're such an idiot sometimes." Dawn said. I shrugged."I know."

"Yeah, I befriended a bee today. Her name was Leila. She stung me when I tried hugging her." Keira said sarcastically, making us laugh harder."Ah, fuck you guys." I said. Kakuzu glanced at me."Not in the middle of the woods, Crysta. Maybe when we get home." He said with humor in his voice.

Kakuzu made a joke? This world was definitely coming to an end.

I did blush a little at what he said. And of course, practically everyone but Itachi kept pointing it out."She's thinking about it, Kakuzu. She wants the D." Keira said. I glared at her."Shut up!" I snapped. Dawn smirked."Yeah, and Kakuzu needs some vitamin C." She said, sounding pleased with herself. I flipped them off."Fu-Go fuck yourselves." I said. Dawn's smirk grew."Gladly."

"Aw, Dawn, really?!" Aeryonna said. Dawn shrugged as if this were nothing. I had to start laughing myself. This was why I loved this organization.

Done. I know, I'm full of shit for taking so long. So I'm gonna try to make the next few chapters long just for you guys. And I will try to get them out before school starts.

A: That's practically all I watch on YouTube. Achievement Hunter/Rooster Teeth, Markiplier, Yamimash, Pewdiepie, Cryaotic, CinnamonToastKen, RPGMinx, SkyDoesMinecraft. There's a lot I watch. If you have any suggestions for someone I should watch, feel free to let me know.

Q: When does school start for you? If you don't know, then how was your day? c:

Well, I don't have much to say. My laptop is having a lot of issues, so sometimes I can't log into FFN. And it's bullshit. I get mad, so I stop trying. But I'll try my best to keep it working, and keep inspiration. Have a lovely day.