Ryoshi pov:

Morning came rather quickly. I was wary of the new guest that I had in my home. The girl, Mio was the one Lee Jae nii sama had asked me to take care of. I had blindly agreed just considering how much I owed to him, but now I felt that I should have tried to get more details before bringing this girl home.

After all, nii sama had just said a girl would probably come near the village from Iwa. I didn't know if this girl was the person nii sama knew. She could be a spy, acting to be nii sama's younger sister so she could raid this poor village.....not that she would get much out of these people anyway. But I could tell she was decent in fighting, she had said so herself too. Maybe I had been too trusting.....I should have tried to get to know more about her before letting her sleep in the spare room.

Perhaps I should have asked nii sama to at least describe her. Talk about her looks or the way she talked or even about her fighting skills. Nii sama hadn't told me anything and I couldn't be 100% sure I this girl really was the one I was supposed to have saved. After all, Iwa wasn't the type to let people escape from them so easily. Maybe she was really a spy from Iwa and I was just being fooled.

She had woken up some time ago and I could hear strange sounds from around the house. After debating for a while, I too had gotten up, gotten dressed for the day, a kunai hidden in my shirt to use in case I found her doing something out of the ordinary.

Taking a breath and preparing for the worst, I walked out of my room and to the kitchen where I could hear noises. When I reached there, I was quite surprised to see that she had set two plates, two cups of water, steaming and rather delicious looking food served on the breakfast counter of the kitchen. She was still wearing my clothes, a baggy shirt and a pair of baggy pants. I have to say, it did look sort of comical, but she didn't seem to mind it much.

When she saw me enter the kitchen, she smiled. "Good morning, Ryoshi! Did you sleep well? I sure did! Oh, I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to use your kitchen and make breakfast. I was getting hungry." She smiled sheepishly and motioned for me to take a seat as well. At least she had made breakfast for me too.

I sat down at the table, opposite to her and glancing at the strange food. It smelled good but I was a little wary of the way it looked. I hadn't seen this kind of food before.

Mio seemed to notice my hesitance and she chuckled as she began to eat. "I'm a pretty good cook, if that's what you're worried about. In fact, Ki bim bap is one of my specialties....its kind of a mixed vegetable rice." She said as she continued to eat her share. She couldn't have made the food separately. The number of vessels, the way the food had been put onto the plates....she had served herself first. I suppose I could eat it since it wasn't too suspicious....

I picked up the chopsticks and took the first bite. Surprisingly, the food was good. I looked at her as she ate and chuckled to myself. I guess she wasn't really something I had to be worried about. But I knew, I had got my hands on a strange one.

Mi Ho pov:

I've been here living with Ryoshi for two days now. This village is quite a peaceful place, with friendly villagers who accepted me when i was introduced by Ryoshi.

But I can also tell the Ryoshi has been getting a little restless lately. I am after all and outsider who randomly popped up outside this village and who he took in. He hasn't asked me any details about myself, blindly trusting oppa's request to help me. Then again, oppa hasn't visited since I got here so Ryoshi seems to be getting a little uncomfortable with a stranger being in his house like this.

I guess things have been a little hard on oppa too. After I escaped from Iwa, there was probably a lot of commotion and confusion happening in the village. After all, the did lose me and I was quite an asset to them. Hey, I didn't want to be some kind of tool that people could randomly throw around from place to place! I'm a human being! I have rights and feeling and freedom and emotions!! They cannot treat me like I'm some inanimate object!

I sighed for the umpteenth time today. Jeez, when was oppa going to turn up? If he didn't turn up soon, I was sure Ryoshi was going to get super suspicious and probably not believe that I was actually oppa's friend!

I guess I spoke too soon. The minute I thought that, I heard someone knock on the door and Ryoshi went to open it. And voilà! Oppa was standing there with a box of fruits as he walked in. "Oppa!" I called put, getting up from the couch to walk to him. I couldn't stop myself from glomping him I a tight hug which he responded immediately. "Mi Ho ya! Charesso? [Have you been well?]" I let him go with a big smile and nodded. "De...charrissoyo! Thanks to you, I was able to escape safely." I said and Ryoshi stood there, not quite understanding what we were saying.

"Ryoshi! Have you been well?" He looked at Ryoshi with a smile. Ryoshi immediately bowed deeply showing his complete respect to oppa. "Yes nii sama, I have been well thanks to your well wishes." I chuckled and oppa walked in.

Itachi pov:

"I wish this was a killing mission....its boring to have to just spy and kidnap someone, isn't it, Itachi san?" Kisame complained as he walked beside me. I didn't react, but in reality I wanted to sigh. "Leader sama is the one who decides our missions. I don't think it is necessary to complain as long as we get to do something." I told him and he shook his head. "I cant beat you, Itachi san...." Kisame sighed.

The girl we were supposed to bring back to the hideout was someone who had rather strange abilities. She could sense danger around someone and she could head peoples thoughts. But because of the seal that Uchiha Madara had placed on her more than a hundred years ago, she could not use it. And now Madara who had somehow survived all this time wanted to get her back in his possession and use her to achieve his so called plans. But I wasn't able to figure out what it is he wanted to achieve. He was good at keeping it a secret.

We finally reached a small non ninja villages on the outskirts of Iwagakure. It was bustling with its scanty population and as we passed by, we were greeted with hushed whispers and uncomfortable stares. The people form this village probably didn't know much about the Akatsuki, but I'm sure they would have heard pieces of information as ninjas passed by here. Besides, our cloaks were enough for them to figure out who we were.

I could sense a unique chakra from one if the small houses close by. Kisame and I lowered our chakra ro make sure the people in the house besides the one with the unique chakra didn't sense us. "Kisame, lets have a look inside the house before we kidnap the girl. I don't want to stir up unnecessary trouble." Kisame sighed at my suggestion, but he agreed and we jumped up to a ledge in front of a window.

When we looked in, there were two men, two women and one child. One of the women, who was younger was holding the child in her arms and talking to him in a strange language.

"Aigoo! Jincha joachi? Mare, hmm? Mi Ho noona? Noona? [oh my! You're really good, aren't you? Say it, hmm? Big sister Mi Ho? Big sister?]" It looked like she was coaxing the child to say something. The child was looking at a toy in his hands with a slightly shy expression. "Bi Ho doona...." He mumbled out and the girl holding him squealed. "Waah!! Moshinne!! Ije poppo jo! Poppo? [waah! So cool! Now gimme a kiss! Kiss?]" She then puckered her lips out and the child kissed her lips innocently. "Aigoo gwiopda!! [oh my so cute!!]" She kissed his cheek once grinning from ear to ear and put him down on the floor as he squirmed in her arms.

"Oppa, he's so cute!! I wish I was there when he started talking and walking! That would have been so adorable!" She was watching the child as he walked around the house, touching things curiously. She was the one with the unique reiatsu but she didn't match the description that we had been given. The thing about her being violent, talking back to people without any respect....she didn't look like that at all.

"Hehh? She's the one? She doesn't look all that sassy to me." Kisame said lifting his Samehada onto his shoulders. "Kisame, we will come at nightfall after they have turned in for the night. One of them is a ninja and he will probably cause an uproar calling his comrades if we are discovered." I said and jumped down from the ledge. "Hai hai, as you say, Itachi san. Leader sama did say you are in charge of this mission." I sighed softly as we walked to the forest to take shelter temporarily.

The girl looked innocent and I didn't want her to get dragged into the war. And I had lead Kisame away because I didn't want the child and those civilians to get hurt. After all, I tried to avoid any sort of fighting whenever I could. I just hope I wouldn't have to hurt any innocent people here either.

Mi Ho pov:

"Waah!! He's so cute!!" I stretched my arms over my head while sitting on the couch. Oppa had lft just a few minutes ago and I remembered Jin Hae kissing me so cutely! He had grown up so quickly, especially because of the time lapse that has happened when Madara pinched me in the gut and sent me to the future. That moron...it was still annoying when I thought about it.

But I was happy that things were finally settling down a little. I looked at Ryoshi who was sitting opposite to me with a peaceful and barely visible smile on his face. I chuckled softly and he looked at me curiously. "I guess you finally believe me huh? I could tell that you were still uneasy about a random girl popping up at your doorstep." I said and he widened his eyes slightly. Well, that was a dead giveaway that what I had said was right. "W-well, the thing is....I...." "I don't mind it. It's okay to be cautious. After all, back at home, I did train to be a person to protect her country. Even though I didn't follow my parents footsteps in the end, I still understood the importance of being cautious and protecting people."

He gave me an apologetic smile. I got up, giving another good stretch for myself. "Well, I'm going to sleep now. Its past midnight and playing with Jin Hae sure drained my energy!" I bowed and headed to my room. I washed my face and changed into my night clothes.

I could make out that Ryoshi too switched off the lights in the living room and went to his room to sleep. A few moments later, I heard the click of a switch and him shuffling around in his bed. I switched off my room light as well and sat on the bed, scooting towards the window and opening it to let in the cool night breeze. I sighed and looked out the window, gazing at the stars in the distance. It was a beautiful night and despite being sleepy, I wanted to watch the stars for a while; remembering the past that seemed so long ago.

Music, dancing, parties.....they all seemed so out of reach now. Was I ever going to see all that again? I hope so....

"Jung Mio?" I nearly jumped as I was pulled out if my thoughts by a slightly deep and airy voice. I turned around with a frown and noticed two people standing in my room and watching me. The shorter one had the sharingan and it glowed in the darkness; which was rather creepy, I might add. The taller one had beady eyes and I could tell he was grinning widely at me; which was also very creepy.

Frowning more, I crawled across the bed to switch on the light again. When I turned back to them, I saw an Uchiha; the distinct black hair, stoic expression and sharingan. The taller one looked like....a shark? Okay, that's strange....he was light blue in complexion, he had gill like slits on his cheeks and he had sharp triangular teeth. Both of them were wearing similar cloaks that were black with red clouds.

I narrowed my eyes at them but I didn't move. "Who are you and what are you doing in my room? And how did you even get in?" More than that, I was wondering why I didn't even sense them when they invaded the house. "I am Uchiha Itachi and this is Hoshigaki Kisame. We are from the Akatsuki. We need you to come with us." "Akatsuki?" I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "Kimakyo [unbelievable]....oi, don't you know that its rude to come into people's rooms without knocking? Especially of its a girl? And what makes you think I'm going to follow you silently? I could scream and just wake up the whole village." I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Heh! It seems you do live up to your reputation of having a loud mouth!" Sharky commented making me narrow my eyes. "Well, it doesn't matter! You can go ahead and scream for help like a wimp! All we'll do is kill all those weak brats and take you by force!" I didn't like the way he was talking. Something about the aura around these guys gave me the message that they were strong......really strong. And someone at my level or even Ryoshi's level wouldn't be even worth fighting.

I narrowed my eyes as I stayed alert. "What do you want from me?" "Finally understanding your place huh?" Sharky asked again but I stayed undeterred by his attempt to mock me. "We need your powers to achieve our goals." This time the Uchiha spoke and I closed my eyes with a sigh. I relaxed slightly figuring that they weren't going to hurt me because of my importance. I opened my eyes again and looked at them.

"I'm not a tool, okay? I'm not some piece of equipment that can be lugged around and used and thrown whenever people want to do so. So why don't you give me a more convincing and better reason for me to follow you?" I leaned against the wall as I watched them seriously. Itachi narrowed his eyes at me. "The leader of our organization, Uchiha Madara wants you to return."

I straightened up at what he said. "Uchiha Madara? He's....he's alive?" I asked though roughly surprised. "Yeah.....dunno when that b****** actually started pulling the strings. Our real leader sama isn't the leader anymore." Sharky huffed annoyed, but I was more concerned about the part of Madara being alive. "Rewind please....Madara is alive?" I asked again and Itachi frowned. "Yes. He is. So will you go with us without a fight?" He asked and I sighed.

I bit my lip, thinking for a minute. I rubbed my eyes, burdened by the situation. Well, duh I wanted to see him.....but leaving oppa? And this Akasuki or whatever organization these guys were talking about seemed suspicious. I thought through the confusing mess in my head for a few minutes and finally snapped.

"Why do these things have to be so complicated?!" I made sure I didn't actually scream it out because I didn't want to wake up Ryoshi. I sighed deeply and got off the bed. I pulled out a shrug and put it over myself. "Alright, here's the deal. I'll go with you and meet Madara. But after I talk to him, I'm going to be the one to decide to stay in your organization or not, got it?" I glared at them.

"You may do as you wish. After all, Madara sama's decision is final. Whatever he allows you to do, we will also follow that." Itachi said and I sighed. "Jeez...." I shook my head and walked behind them as they walked out of the room and the house. They were really good at keeping quiet and Ryoshi didn't even seem to stir as we opened and closed the front door.

This better not be a trick, because if it was, I don't care what these guys would do, I was going to kick their butts! I don't care even if I had to bite them on the head or something! But if Madara really was alive, he was in some serious trouble too! I had a load of questions to ask him and I wasn't going to let him off until I got all the answers. I'd probably tie him up, more like gift wrap him up with his hair and yell at him for everything that happened!

Oh he so deserved that!! Okay, Mr. Hot Stuff, its time for you to fess up and give me some answers!

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