Chapter 4: Pain

AN: Next chapter! :) whoo! haha, Hope you guys like!

~Aria

"The caged bird sings with a fearful thrill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom."

-Maya Angelou

-Konohagurke, Hokage Building-

Kunyai sighed and limped up to the Hokage's door. He didn't know how he was able to make it from that battle alive, considering all other members in his team had been killed… He himself had multiple lacerations to both his chest and arms, a few broken bones (his nose being one of them), and a nasty tear in his hamstring (hence the limp).
In the grand scheme of things, he was quite lucky…Most who went up against two S-class Bingo Book nin didn't come back to tell the tale...Kakashi had been a prime example of that not more than a few months ago...Regardless…That wouldn't stop Tsunade's wrath…

He knocked, "Lady Hokage?"

A voice called from inside. "Enter!"

Kunyai hesitated at the threshold, but pushed his way through the door nevertheless. "I have news, my Lady."

The blonde kuniochi looked up from her desk, weary and irritated. She'd been dealing with foreign affairs all day: The Village in the Mist was requesting trade with an outer Konoha farm, who couldn't quite afford the travel to and from each village, and now they were requesting for Jonin assistance; Kumogakure was starting an uproar about drought this summer, and had just put out compensation offers to nearby nations-the Land of Fire included; A foreign ambassador required escorts from the Cloud to the Sound, and requested the best of Konoha to do so; new graduates from the Academy needed to be inducted into the Genin rank, and she was required to attend…It'd been a long long day. "What is it?" She snapped.

Kunyai swallowed and met the Hokage's eyes. "There's been an attack at the West Gate of Konoha, my Lady, and a…kidnapping."

Tsunade stood from her chair, slamming her fist into her desk. "What do you mean an attack?" She walked around the table until she stood directly before the ANBU; if she hadn't looked angry before, well…she was fuming now…"Why haven't I heard of this before now?!"

Kunyai shifted nervously. "We've been trying to contain the situation, My Lady. Jonin and ANBU are currently at the gates investigating."

The Kuniochi rubbed the bridge of her nose. "What. Happened..?"

"S…S-rank ninja snuck into the village, My Lady, wanted Bingo Book fugitives Hoshigake Kisame and Uchiha Itachi. Once I heard of the news, I deployed both myself and my squad to head them off and buy time for reinforcements. Unfortunately, they were stronger than we expected…they bested my team and I came here to relay to you my findings."

"Are you sure it was those two?" She hissed.

Kunyai nodded nervously.

-"Shizune!"

The black haired woman in calling came sprinting into the Hokage's office, her face full of panic. "What is it, Lady Tsunade?"

"I want you to deploy every ANBU in this damn village and send them to the West gate. Then, I want you to send a squadron of Jonin and Medical staff to the location Kunyai is about to relay to you. See what you can do about his fallen comrades and his own wounds." Tsunade was fuming. "Who was their intended target?" She was looking at the stammering ANBU once more.

Kunyai grimaced. "The Azikuria twins, My Lady, ANBU Captain Ayame and Konoha Jonin Kiame."

"And did they succeed?"

"…As to my knowledge."

Tsunade sighed and walked back to her chair. This wasn't good. Jiraiya had warned her of those two criminals, and that bloody organization they were both members of…Akatsuki, was it? They had already made an attempt at kidnapping Naruto, just before she even became the Hokage, and now they've managed to take the Azikuria twins-right from under her nose. "Send a squad of Jonin to track them down. Kakashi Hatake will head the investigation, he's already fought with them once so he's our best asset; tell him he can assemble three others to aid at his choosing. I want him to depart immediately. Go."

Kunyai and Shizune both bowed, and took to their leave.

-Akatsuki Base, Unknown, 19:54 p.m.-

A vague sense of consciousness suddenly washed over me; I didn't quite feel like opening my eyes, partially because I was so damn tired, but also because I didn't really want to see what injuries I'd received from earlier.

"Kiame..?"

I took in a low, steady breath-testing how my lungs felt. I was vaguely aware of the voice now calling my name, but it wasn't of importance at the moment. Deep breath…Ahhhh…at least two broken ribs, no, three…cuts on my hands…hm, those hurt.

"Kiame, are you awake?"

Possible fractured wrist, probably just a stress induced sprain...chakra exhaustion…bruises to back…possible abrasion to back of skull.

"Kiame, wake up, now."

Hm…Definite abrasion…Owh...
Bruises, oh, the bruises…They made things worse. Those things hurt like crazy, no matter what way you moved or rolled, they would always ache, not to mention discolour…Great, not only am I going to look like a bloody tomato, but a blackened one at that…

"If you don't wake up Kiame, I swear..."

That voice. Man, that voice is getting really irritating. I just want to fucking rest, was that too much to ask? I mean, come on.

"I know you're awake, now get your ass up. We've been captured."

That's it. I reared back my leg, it took quite a bit of effort but somehow I still managed, and swung it towards the spot I'd thought the voice was originating from. "Owh! Damnit, Kiame!" I connected. "It's me you fucking baka!"

I clenched my teeth and moved to prop myself up, whoever it was needed to be taught some manners, apparently.
That was a mistake.

Upon sitting up, an extremely painful electrical shock radiated through both my arms and legs; from what I couldn't be sure, but damn...I screamed.

-"You are so stupid sometimes..."

I rolled my head to the side, careful not to move any of my limbs in the process. The main electrical charge stopped pulsating, but I could still feel minor waves tossing about on my skin-making the injuries from before sting all the worse. The room I was in was dark, from what I could tell, but in the corner I could vaguely see a silhouette propped up against the wall. "…Who?"

"Ayame."

A grin spread from one side of my face to the other, tears even threatened to well in my eyes. After being left to assume the worst, here she was; my sister was here-my sweet, smart-mouth, sister was here-with me, alive. "I'm not stupid…"

I could see a faint grin curl where her mouth should be. "Considering the fact that you just kicked me and tried to jump up with chakra harnesses around your ankles and wrists, I'd say you're pretty…ignorant."

"I am pretty though." I laughed, gently nudging her with my foot.

Her grin widened. "Sure."

"Soooooo," I squinted my eyes and glanced around the darkness; trying to make out what type of room we'd been put in. I couldn't really tell much, again, other than Ayame's position near, what I assumed to be, a wall. Like most cramped, prison-like rooms, there was a faint sound of dripping water and voices off in the distance, but because of the darkness I couldn't tell anything aside from that. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure," Ayame stated, "I lost consciousness when they were carrying us through some forest."

"They?"

"Yeah," She coughed. I'd taken assessment of my injuries, but I wonder what kinds she'd gotten..? "A blue guy wielding a sword and that guy I'd warned you about from my dream."

"So he exists!" I smirked.

Even in the dark I could feel my sister's eyes narrow. "Yes, Kia. He exists. And he kidnapped us, like he said he would. Again, like I had warned you about."

"Hmm." I rolled my head back over to face her. "So…we messed up?"

"Not entirely." She mumbled. "It was either fight and take a few risks, or run and put others in danger. We did what we could do in the time we had, that's all."

"I guess you're right…"

"Of course I am, I'm the smart one, remember?"

-Kumogakure Forest, Approx. 53 Miles from Konohagurke-

"Still no sign." Pakkun stated, circling around the crouching Konoha-nin.

Kakashi sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't been entirely keen on getting assigned this mission-he had only just recovered from one battle, and now here he was being rushed back into another; true, he had experience-but that experience could be a turning point be it the opportunity presented itself. Kakashi sighed; he was starting to believe his hair wasn't naturally gray…"I know. Any report from the others?"

"Bull hasn't called in, Urushi says there's no longer a scent his way so he's starting over towards the East, Shiba and Bisuke haven't found anything but are still searching. Akino is tracking something he thinks may be the girls, and both Guruko and Uhei haven't found the scent."

The silver–haired Jonin patted the pug and stood, wiping the dust from his uniform. "Good job, Pakkun. Tell the others to keep searching."

"Will do."

-Ayame-

I took in a sharp breath as I leaned my back against one of the clammy concrete walls. In our captors haste, they must have forgotten that both my sister and I were still wounded…Hmm…on second thought, that was probably intentional…Nonetheless-the wounds were still there, still hurting, still bleeding. I moaned and shifted again-there would be no comfort here...

"You devised a plan of escape yet?" Kiame mumbled.

"Not really." I stated, looking down at my sister. Our eyes were now becoming accustomed to the dark, so we knew we'd been here for a few hours at least. The room was small, too small for two people really, and full of damp, suffocating air. The walls seemed to have a constant film of water trickling down them, causing puddles to form along the floor and thus on our bodies, which didn't really contribute to the temperature in the room. Had I of been able to conjure any chakra, I could free us from our prison and we could be on our merry way, but with conditions being as they were and have been, escape didn't seem likely.

"I'm hungry." Kiame whined, rolling over to face me.

As if on cue, my stomach growled in response.
"Yeah, me too," I sighed. "I doubt they'll be feeding us anytime soon though."

My sister let out an exasperated sigh and turned to glare at the wall. "You son of a bitches better get in here and feed us!"

My eyes widened.
Oh no, no no no she wasn't…she WOULDN'T…. "Kia, Hu-"

"I'm fucking hungry!"

I rolled my eyes and nudged her with my feet. Kiame didn't really curse, and it was humorous when she did-seeing as she is my little sister-but still, this wasn't good. "Shut your mouth you stupid baka, don't provoke th-"

Deidara slammed his cup of sake down on the table and growled. "Would someone please go and shut those two girls up, hmm?!"

Itachi glanced at the eccentric artist then back down the hallway, in the direction of their new guests. They, too, were beginning to get on his nerves.

"Itachi and Kisame are the fucking idiots who brought those two here, it's their damn fault." Hidan snapped, stretching himself out on the couch. "If I had my way, we'd of already fucked and sacrificed 'em by now."

The shark-nin ignored the Jashinists crude comment and pushed himself up from their dining table, leaving Deidara to himself. "You'd think after all this trouble with hurrying to get these girls here, the least Pain could do is meet us and uphold his side of the bargain...I don't like babysitting."

"He'll be here soon enough." Itachi stated, glancing back at the rain now falling outside their base's window.

"Always so cryptic, hm…" The blonde-haired artist stated, poking at his now empty cup.

The Uchiha ignored him.

"One of you should go feed those screaming creatures." Kakuzu stated, taking his leave to the bedding apartments down the hall. He'd had enough excitement for one night. "Maybe they'll stop annoying all of us."

"You ought to do it, Itachi." Kisame smirked as he walked by his partner. "I already had to take it upon myself to take out your objective for you, not to mention carry them all the way here. You might as well feed them."

Itachi turned and met the Mist nin's drunken gaze with a glare. "Watch yourself, Kisame."

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you were growing soft, Uchiha, hmm?" Deidara cut in, smirking. "Kisame's having to finish your assignments for you now, after all?"

The Uchiha's eyes started to glow bright red as they met the eyes of the blonde. "When you can prove yourself a challenge to me, Deidara, then speak. Otherwise, learn to keep your mouth shut."

"HELLO?!"

"Kiame!" I snapped. At this rate, this silly girl would get us killed. "Will you please shut your bloody mouth?!"

"Hey!"

"Please, hush?!"

"Will you guys ever feed us?!"

"Do you want to die, you stupid girl!?"

The yelling suddenly ceased.

My sister sighed and rolled onto her side, staring at the wall. If it weren't for the fact that I was worried about what would happen after this little 'outburst,' I would have felt bad about yelling at her like I had…But, this was a different situation, and we had far more important issues at hand… "I'm hungry…" She whined, sniffling.

"I know…" My stomach growled in eager response. "They should feed us soon. They went through a lot of trouble to keep us both alive after all, so I would wager they will continue trying to keep it like that."

"Hmmm…" Kiame turned to look at me, all traces of sadness gone. "Why would they want us in the first place?"

I laid my head back against the damp concrete. My sister really was something… "You know, I don't really know…" I hadn't really thought about it. Well, that's a lie, I HAD thought about it, but I didn't really think it mattered-I was too busy trying to avoid destruction to the village and citizens. "Our kekkei genkei may be...something, but I doubt that is reason enough to kidnap the two of us like they did. Our heritage is no different than Hyuga or Uchiha, so I doubt clan politics are to blame either."

"Do you think it's anything to do with father? Did he owe these people money or something?" Kia asked.

I shook my head. "No, if they had a quarrel with father that would have been settled with his death. True there's revenge, but these people would have nothing to gain by kidnapping us, not with the clan being practically gone; no one would care. So, that is also out of question."

"What about mother?" I looked down at my little sister, surprised. Neither of us had ever met our mother, and no one ever seemed willing to share any information about her either. She was a complete mystery; name, origin, life, death…It was a stretch, but it could also be an option…"Could she have gotten mixed up with these people before she died?"

"Perhaps."

"You doubt it?"

"I don't necessarily doubt your idea, it just seems unlikely to me." I was really beginning to hate the musty feel of this room-it was giving me a headache. "At what point could a woman of her status have left Konoha to seek men like this out? And even if she HAD been able to, be it through travel or a secondary method, I don't think they would have left either of us be for as long as they had-mind you, that would have to have been a good eighteen years ago..? That's a long time to wait before seeking revenge, in my opinion anyway…Even if we had the clan's protection, it would still have been six years or so."

"You have a point." Kiame mumbled. "C…could someone in the village of wanted us gone?"

"Hmmm…It is also possible. Enough people hate us." I chuckled at the thought. "But again, unlikely. If anyone had even of had the balls to go to someone like this, they either would have been apprehended by some branch of the ANBU for suspicious behavior-and I would have been notified of it-or killed after the transaction and claimed as missing. There's tons of scenarios, really. Besides, even if they had had more than one member of some party wanting us dead, it would have made it even more likely that they would have been stopped and apprehended-Konoha security is too tight, especially when UNDERGROUND is concerned.."

"Good point…I should have thought of that…"

"I guess that's why you're the pretty one and I'm the smart one?" I sent my sister a grin.

She replied with a warm laugh. "I guess so…"

"Kiame," I moved my head so I would look my sister in the eye. "We will get out of this. And I promise you, we will get some damn good food when we do."

She laughed once more. "I'll hold you to that."

AN: I know it's a little short...:( ...sorry readers...but time hasn't (not like it ever has been) on my side, so, updates are going to be a little slow, I'm afraid...But i'll try my hardest! Believe it! ;D The next few chapters start to get interesting...OnO...I hope..."OnO...so yeah.

Uhm...Thanks for reading and checking out the chapters all you peoples, tis makes my dreary day, lol. :) Hm, If you happen upon the time, Reviews por favour. :)

Otherwise, happy fallz and (soon-to-be) Halloween! :[
Hopefully I'll update before then...[:'(
well, Bye!

~Aria