I seemed to float in and out of a conscious state. When I was somewhat alert, I would make a weak effort to try and heal up the wound in my side, but would inevitably pass out from a mixture of pain and low chakra. I was being held, yet it was not an aggressive hold. It was as if I had fallen asleep away from my bed, and someone had gently picked me up and was taking me back to the safety of my room, yet I realized that I was not being carried to that safe haven that I once knew.

My eyes would flicker up to the being who held me. I was met by those strange red eyes that didn't seem angry, yet didn't seem at ease. He wore an emotionless expression and would occasionally glance down at me when I would slightly stir. The man, no he could only be a few years older than I, the teen seemed to try and put pressure on my wound in attempt to stop some of the bleeding. It did cause extra pain, but it also showed that they wanted me alive. For what reason, I still didn't have a decent idea.

I finally felt the ninja gently set me down on the ground with my back propped up by a tree. An hour or so after I had been let go, I was starting to come around and stay awake without passing, which was a good sign. I took my left hand and lightly placed it on the right side of my ribs. I winced in pain even with that soft touch, causing tears to form in my eyes, but I wasn't going to cry, not in front of whoever these Akatsuki ninja were.

I slowly reached up to my belt with my free hand and searched for some type of nerve disabling poison. Once I had found the vial filled with a tiny amount of pink liquid, I pulled the cap off using my teeth, because I wasn't going to let my left hand leave my ribs. I was already healing the area and if I let go, it'd only hurt even more. I quickly took the vial and plunged the small needle into my upper thigh and bit my lip as the poison started to race through my veins. Truthfully, it's a bit of a high, but it's also a bit terrifying. I knew the toxin wouldn't kill me, Hell I made it, but it would leave me numb for a few hours, which was a positive in the situation.

I soon felt the toxin start to do its work, yet it still hurt a bit. What could have I expected? I was taking normal medical ninjutsu and speeding it up by two hundred percent. It was a useful trick I had learned, it helped me get up to the top where I had been. What would a normally take an hour to heal; it only took me fifteen minutes. Of course there were the downsides to it; it took up an awful lot of chakra and caused a lot of extra pain, but it was worth it, especially when time was in short supply.

I began to feel the bones start to shift back into place, which caused me to bite down on the moonstone pendant that hung around my neck. I had worn that pendant since I was an infant. I had grown up in the Gypsy ways until the age of six, so I still showed a lot of the characteristics of a Gypsy girl in my appearance. My hair was long and never tied up. I still wore the multiple studs that were been pierced through my ears as a child. My back had the tattoos of the Gypsy tribe, which we received at age five. I wore the Gypsy symbol on a sash that was tied tightly around my hips, yet I taken a red slash to it to show my severance towards the extinct people.

I had been severed from my people since I was six along with my brother, Kane. We were taken into Suna and molded into their shinobi. Yes, we still kept some traits and ways from them, but we used them for Suna. Blood Possession and Blood Control were both only found in the Desert Gypsies, yet only a few had the skill and now only two are blessed and cursed with the Kekkei Genkai. It is why I had all of the curses carved into my arm. It was a powerful thing, yet… it could be hard to control.

I finally started to feel the pain subside in my side, and I felt that all of the bones had shifted back to their original places and now just needed some time to heal. I sighed and tried to stand up. It was a bit difficult considered that final explosion had most likely sprained my ankle, but I ignored it as I limped over to where the three ninja in cloaks sat around a small fire about ten meters away. I would have tried to run away, or even to kill myself, yet if I did that Hiro, the child, and Kane would suffer the consequences.

As I walked up to them it seemed as if it were just like a normal team of three at the end of a day, some small talk, but mainly just resting up. The one with the tail who was the so called "Sasori" was still all curled up and hidden by the cloak, yet stayed a decent amount away from the fire. The one with the red eyes who carried me was sitting on the ground leaning against a tree just simply staring into the fire. The final and third one who I had possessed earlier had thrown his cloak off and was now laying on the ground clutching the left side of his chest, which was expected… I had crushed his left lung.

I stood leaning against the tree about a meter back as I listened in on their conversation. "What…the Hell…. did she do, un!?" the blonde named Deidara whined as he winced in pain.

The hunched one just grunted, "Quit, you're whining. It's your fault. You deserve what you got." He muttered to the teen boy.

I frowned a bit. It wasn't exactly a pleasant trio. I did feel a small amount of sympathy for the boy. He was roughly my age, who knows he could have been in the same place I was currently in. I sighed as I started to walk toward the kid. "Come here. You're going to be ok." I spoke gently as I kneeled down next to him.

"HELL NO!" he snapped backing away from me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "I promise. You're going to be fine. You just need to come here, so I can fix your lung. I know what I did and I know how to heal it up. Please?" I asked as if I was talking to small child.

He just looked at me like I was insane, probably did. "…Another split personality?!" he exclaimed, but ended up clutching his chest again from the yelling putting too much strain on his one lung.

I sighed, "…No. I'm not bipolar or anything. I was just trying to protect what I needed to protect, and that called for me to be a bit aggressive. You all wouldn't think I was a threat if I acted like they I am now. Now will you come here? If that goes untreated, you will die of internal bleeding, and it will be very painful." I explained to the blonde. Did I like him? Nope. He had tried to kill me after I surrendered, but as a medical ninja, I was entitled to help as many people, even if they were criminals like this lot.

I felt the one with red eyes shift his gaze from the fire to me. He had probably already figured it out by the way I acted when I agreed to surrender if it saved everyone back home, yet I wasn't sure or not if he understood it. The blonde just sighed, "Fine, un… But if you try anything…" he muttered as he shook his head.

I gave him a smile, "You have your two accomplices here, so don't worry. Now just lay down." I told him as the chakra started the glow green around my hand. He did as he was told, but was still a bit leery considering I had almost been his murderer earlier and now I was healing him. I placed my hand over the left side of his chest and just left the chakra start its work. I looked up to the other two who were on the other side of the fire, "So, you just wanted me to be a medical ninja for this Akatsuki?" I questioned, tilting my head a bit.

The one who they called Sasori nodded, "Our Leader will tell you all that you will do. You will have to speak with him tomorrow. Itachi will be one who is taking you. Once you finish dealing with Deidara, we are going back to our other mission." he stated.

I nodded. So the blonde's name was for sure Deidara and the one with strange eyes and powerful genjustsu was Itachi. Itachi... that named seemed familiar, yet I couldn't seem to place it. I looked to him to see if that I saw his face clearly, that I could figure out how I had heard the name, but it was of no use. Eventually I'd remember, but for now, I shifted my eyes back the one who had just spoken, "Are you really Sasori of the Red Sand?" I asked him, genuinely curious.
"Why do you ask that?" he snapped right back.

I shrugged, "Well, if I remember the stories right, Sasori-sempai had red hair and brown eyes, and he left the village roughly 17 years ago. You don't have red hair or brown eyes and you certainly look older than someone who should be in his early 30's. Do you see why I am hesitant?" I explained.

He narrowed his eyes, "Time changes people, child."

I nodded, "Alright sempai." I was not going to question him anymore. I'd just accept the fact that he was one of the greatest ninjas that the sand had ever brought up and go on with my way.

I spent about 20 more minutes healing up the damage I had caused on Deidara and finally let him be. "Alright. You'll be fine, just don't do anything to hard and slow down if you feel a sharp pain or it is hard to breathe." I advised as I started to grab a package of blue pills out the small medical supplies pouch I kept tied to my leg, "Here, these are pain killers. Only take them if you really need them. One a day and it should get rid of any pain." I told him as I began to place the small container in his hand, but froze when I saw a tongue sticking out of his hand. "W-what!?... Huh? What is that?" I exclaimed and instantly shot backwards a couple feet. I slightly winced in pain from the sudden movement, but focused back of the fact that this kid had a mouth on his hand.

He just chuckled and smirked, "They help me with my art, un," he said proudly as he lifted up his other hand revealing a second mouth. "Watch," he ordered as he grabbed something out of a bag attached to his belt. I stayed my distance from him, because I had no clue what he was doing. The mouth then spit out a wad of clay and he started shaping it. Deidara then opened up the palm of his hand to reveal a small little bird similar to the ones he had attacked us with earlier. He then made a simple hand seal and the bird started to actually fly, like a living bird. He made one last hand seal and yelled out with a smirk, "KATSU!"

The bird then exploded into a rather large explosion considering the original size of it. So that was how he was creating all of those bombs back earlier in the desert… I simply nodded as I watched the lingering sparks die out in the sky, "That's what you call art, un." he gleamed at me with pride.

"Don't listen to him. Real art is eternal and doesn't disappear." Sasori snapped back sounding really annoyed by the comment Deidara had just made.

Deidara looked as if he was going to say something back to his teammate, but was interrupted by Itachi glaring at the two, "Don't you two need to get back to your mission... Fight when you are alone... not when you will bother others." he spoke in that monotone voice I had heard earlier.

"He's right, Deidara let's go. Our mission here is done." Sasori ordered as he started walking away.

Deidara shrugged as he grabbed his cloak, "He's impatient, but he is Sasori no Danna, un" he told me as I tossed him the small container of pills. "Thanks," he nodded before he walked away from the fire and caught up with his partner.

I just stayed there for a while watching the pair walk into the darkness, but I soon looked at Itachi who was still leaning against a tree. I tucked my hair behind my ear, because it was really starting to get in the way now that I didn't have my headband to hold it back. I walked over by him and sat down about 2 feet away and pulled my knees in close to my chest. "Are you going to keep your word about not going after Kane and Hiro since I came with you?" I whispered looking into the fire.

He just nodded.

I continued to stare at the fire. Was this my life now? Healing criminals? Everyone did deserve a chance to be saved, yet why did I have to be the one to save them? I bit my lip as my thoughts continued to wander. Would I ever get to see Hiro or Kane again? Did they even send a team out to search for me? Maybe Kane knew about the Akatsuki... Maybe he was smart enough to let me go. It would keep him and the village safe and that's all that matter, right?

As my mind raced with the thoughts, I felt myself start to fall asleep, yet I didn't try to fight it. I had fought enough for a while...

"Wake up..." the calm voice called.

I lifted my eyelids open to see the early dawn. The sun was starting to rise, streaking the night sky with beams of yellow and gold, initiating the beginning of a new day. The fire had died out, yet a small bit of smoke still lingered as it floated up into the atmosphere. I slowly started to sit up, still feeling pain in my side, but ignoring it. Itachi was leaning against a tree right next to me as he waited for me to wake up.

I still couldn't place his name, which bothered me a bit, because if I had seen a name from another village it either meant they were a serious criminal or a very well-known ninja. In this case, I was almost positive he fit into the criminal category. "We need to get going." He told me as he stopped leaning against the tree and stood up straight.

I nodded and got up. It didn't matter that I just wanted to make a run for it and go back home; I knew I was stuck there, and that it just wasn't even worth the effort. I looked down at my lower ribcage to see the large scar still covered in blood. I just shook my head and started to unwrap the blood red belt that was tightly wound around my waist. Once it was all undone, I started to rewrap it around where I had gotten hit to substitute as a bandage and to help hide all of the bright red blood that stood out well against my pure white dress and black vest. I was simply a bloody mess of black, white, and red.

Itachi started walking ahead and I quickly caught up to him. He was quiet and just kept on walking without paying much attention to me. Out of the three on their team, he had been the easiest to deal with. He had been the one to tell me what was going on and really didn't want to hurt me, but still… he basically had kidnapped me. For a while, the silence dragged on before I finally gave in as started to speak to him. "…Who are you?" I quietly asked as I looked to him.

"Itachi Uchiha." He stated not even looking back at me.

Uchiha…? That was a name from Konoha. I remembered that some of the officials were worried that when Suna invaded the village that they would have to deal with Uchihas, but then an Elder had spoken up and reminded them that they had all been killed except for two, one of which was the actual murderer of the clan. He had to be the murderer, but… he still was only a teenager…

I nodded. "I'm Kana the Healer of the Sand; er I guess Kana the Gypsy Healer of the Sand since you all know me as a Gypsy…" I frowned a bit. The Gypsy part of my title had been omitted years ago. I didn't like being known as only a Gypsy, but I couldn't change my background.

He nodded. About an hour passed before he spoke again, "…Your way now is different than from the way you were fighting earlier." He observed, most likely still curious as to why I acted the way I did last night compared to during the fight.

I sighed, "I know, like I said last night, if I acted like I did now, then you all wouldn't think I was worth the fight. It's not that I'm not opposed to fighting, I'll do what I need to do so that I get what I need, yet I don't really see the point in fighting in vain." I explained my thinking as I looked at the ground. "It's just… some people's personalities show when they fight, for example yours. You were calm and just wanted to get the mission done. Mine… just doesn't…." I murmured.

"…That's why did you treated Deidara like someone who was from your village?" he questioned as we started to reach a rather damp and rainy area.

I nodded, "Yes. It's just the disposition I have. I grew up believing in second chances, I see the ideal that everyone deserves a chance. It's simply my outtake and opinion. If I can help a person, then I will do whatever I can." I answered him.

"That's not why you gave in though." He commented looking back at me. "You didn't surrender so you could give second chances to people."

I just shook my head. "No, I didn't." I began as I started to feel a sadness come over me, "I gave in because you threatened the people I love. You said you would kill my teammate who I've known since I was a child and you told me that if I escaped you'd simply go after my older brother, and I will not allow that. He has already done enough for me and I'm not going to let you lot screw up his life… As long as they are ok; it doesn't matter if I'm dead, trapped, or lost… just as long as they are alright." I remarked, trying to convince myself that this was for the best…

He stared at me for a second. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but it didn't matter. We were now in a small and rainy town. We began walking toward a tall tower in the middle of the village that looked over the entire little town. Itachi lifted his eyes up to the top of the tower where someone sat at the very top on a balcony of some sorts. "We're here." He stated and continued to walk toward the tower.