"Move faster or I'll hurt you."

Koraru huffed loudly, her muscles tense as she slid to the left quickly, followed by a quick backflip and leading into a sweeping kick. Kakuzu had been awaiting her that morning as Konan had said he would, and hadn't wasted a moment in jumping into their training, attacking her almost on sight. She had already suffered more than a few blows, a gash across her chest allowing blood to run freely down her torso, staining the clothing Konan had left for her. The navy blue sleeveless crop top zipped up to her neck, and until Kakuzu had sliced it open, it had held her chest much tighter to her body, allowing her better movement. Her shorts were simple, now torn in a few places they matched the colouring of the top, starting from the hip and stopping at her mid thigh. The outfit was simple, tight to her form. Nothing flew free to create drag or be grasped in a fight, and the stretchable fabric provided her with a much better range of movement. Not that it seemed to be making much of a difference. She was no match for Kakuzu. He was faster, he was stronger and he was merciless. He blocked her kick, brushing the force of it off as though it hadn't impacted him at all, before throwing his own leg forward, his sandal colliding with her ribcage, the bone cracking loudly as Koraru cried out in pain and fell back into the dirt below her. Kakuzu scowled in annoyance. He knew she was capable of more than she was demonstrating. He had seen Mizutenshi in combat, they were ferocious and they were vicious, but Koraru seemed to be lacking that killer instinct.

"Get up."

She coughed once, blood splattering onto the earth as she willed her body on to its knees, the sharp pain in her side causing her to wince even as she held it tightly, It was definitely broken. She swayed as she focused on the man standing across from her proudly. There wasn't much she could do against him, she couldn't land a single hit. Her eyes defocused as she squinted slightly, she had to at least try. She sucked in as deep a breath as she could muster with what was likely a punctured lung, her chest puffing out. She focused her thoughts onto her vocal cords, vibrating them in the notes required until she felt the cold tingle amongst them, the extra chord, her sirens cord, activating. She commanded it as she had many times before, she needed it, now more than she had in a long time. She opened her mouth, releasing the cacophony of sound which she had been building. Kakuzu sneered at the ear shattering song, his hands flying over his ears quickly. Never had he heard such a sound escape a sirens lips. It was loud and screeching, piercing into him, every muscle in his body convulsing tightly and painfully, his thoughts unfocused and strained. Koraru seized, her body convulsing as the chord almost immediately began burning, the searing heat racing down her throat and grasping tightly at her heart, squeezing and burning it all at once as she ceased her call, a deafening screech of pain escaping her as it seared agonizingly. Kakuzu's brow furrowed further as he removed his hands, and slowly he made his way towards her, his footsteps echoing in her mind as she lifted her head to look at him. Her vision was beginning to blur, the form approaching her become distorted as her eyelids became like lead, her skull following. Her head was so heavy. Her broken ribs stung painfully, the punctured lung causing her to wheeze as she struggled to take even the shallowest of breaths. The gash across her chest still bled profusely, her abdomen soaked in her own blood, her garments unable to absorb anymore, her chest was weighted, the failure of the failed song squeezing and tearing at her heart tightly. She fell to the side slightly, Kakuzu catching her with his foot.

"I said, get up!"

He throw her forward quickly, Koraru's world falling dim as she impacted with a nearby tree, her body falling limp to the ground, eyes open but mind closed. She could only feel her lids as they closed over slowly, the world around her falling into abyssal darkness, the excruciating pain fading away to nothing, the sound of her own breaths quieting to a whisper before falling silent.

"What were to trying to do kill her?"

Koraru attempted to groan, but no sound left her lips. Her eyes remained closed, her mouth dry and tongue swollen. She could only lay still as she tried to regain control of her aching form.

"I was training her, as I was instructed to do."

"By beating her within an inch of her life?"

She recognised the voices as belonging to Kisame and Kakuzu, making an attempt to creak her eyes open she scowled at the bright lights, this time her groan successful and silencing the bickering pair as the sound drew their attention. She took note that the pain coursing through her body was although lessened, still intense, and couldn't help but wince as she sat up, looking around her. She was in the medical bay of the Akatsuki base, laying on one of the beds, Kakuzu and Kisame sitting beside her. Her eyes rose and she locked them with Kisame's for a moment, before pulling them away from him, focusing onto her dirtied and bloodied fingers. Kisame's brow knitted, his frown deepening. He had told Oruka he wouldn't allow Koraru to get hurt, and on her first day that promise had already been broken. Kakuzu had gone at her full force, and considering the amount of time it had been since the siren had been in battle, it wasn't surprising that he had overpowered and obliterated her so quickly.

"I was told to toughen her up, and I will."

Kisame's eyes flashed in annoyance, but he remained silent as Kakuzu stood from his spot, dusting himself of before heading towards the open doors. He stopped at the doorway for a few moments.

"Come and find me when you have a few minutes, I want to talk to you.."

Koraru rose her head to look towards the doorway, momentarily locking her eyes with Kakuzu. She nodded in acceptance of his request, the man returning the gesture.

"Yes. Thank you Kakuzu-kun."

His footsteps echoed as he left the medical bay, Kisame's eyes trailing after him until he turned off down the hallway and out of his line of sight. He snapped his head towards Koraru, catching her gaze and what seemed to be an all too calm expression dawning her features. That was too close. She needed to get better, and she needed to do it quickly.

"Why did you let him bat you around like that?"

A heavy sigh escaped the woman, her shoulders sulking as she closed her eyes softly.

"I tried."

"Well try harder. Kakuzu wasn't playing around with you today and neither will Sasori tomorrow. It doesn't matter to them that you're beautiful, they'll kill you. I can only protect you so much. Why didn't you fight back?"

Koraru's eyelids remained heavy as she cracked her eyes open, the pink orbs focusing onto the dried patches of brown settled across her aching digits.

"I tried to use my song...and it...it..."

She rose her hand up slowly, placing it over her heart gently. She had known long ago, the moment the news of Mangetsu's death had been delivered to her, that her song was no more. She could feel it, like a missing piece, the extra vocal cord within her darkening, refusing to allow her access to its full potential. Never had she tried to summon it forth since that day, but to have what she already knew finally confirmed to her was was more than painful...

"It's really gone..."

Kisame sighed as his brow unfurrowed, sitting back slightly in his chair and crossing his arms as he watched Koraru carefully. He appreciated what she had been through, and he knew that saying 'just get over it' wasn't going to really help anything, no matter how much he wanted to. He had brought her into the Akatsuki, and he had promised Oruka nothing would happen to her, but he couldn't watch her all the time, she needed to be able to look over her own shoulder at least a little.

"You're going to have to learn how to fight without it."

Koraru blinked a few times, before glancing to Kisame, their eyes locking tightly. A siren battling without her song was like a dog biting without its teeth. A near impossible task for them, they were raised to work with their tonal abilities at any and all times, their village eager to have the full capacity of their song available to them as young as they could.

"How?"

He smirked to her in response, before leaning forwards in his chair once more, and folding his long fingers together.

"The same way the rest of us do. Use what you have. My chakra allows me to wield Samehada, as well as perform my jutsu. Itachi has his sharingan. You get it?"

She continued to hold his gaze for a moment, her mind ticking over quickly as she contemplated his words. Use what you have. Her song wasn't available to her, so she would have to come up with another way to utilise her abilities in combat. She wanted to purse her lips, to ask him just what he was expecting her to do, and how she was supposed to weaponize long eyelashes, but she knew that wasn't what he wanted, nor what he needed to hear. Kisame had to know that bringing her here wasn't a mistake, and she would do what it took to reassure him of that. She returned his smirk, pushing her doubts down deep within her and nodding to him.

"I think so."

Her smirk melted into a small smile as she turned on the bed, placing her bare feet against the floor and pulling herself up from her seated position. She dusted herself off, biting her lip in annoyance that the clothing she adorned had been torn so badly and restitched already. A sigh slipped past her lips before she pulled her head upwards, smiling to Kisame.

"Thank you, Kisame-kun."

His smirk remained in place as he stood, turning towards the doorway and beckoning for her to follow.

"Let's get dinner, you already missed lunch."

Koraru shook her head no, as much as she wanted to get something to eat, she had a much more pressing matter to attend to.

"I will catch up later Kisame-kun, right now though, I should see to my internal bleeding."

Kisame's smirk fell, before his eyes narrowed.

"We really do need you as a medic, were lucky Kakuzu hasn't lost any of us yet. Don't forget to come and get something when you're done."

She chuckled to him before bidding him goodbye, waving to him as he disappeared from her view, leaving her standing alone in the medical bay. Her fingers ran slowly over the stitched wounds, a frown tugging at her lips. It wasn't that the workmanship was shoddy, in fact it was rather impressive, it was just unnecessary. Carefully she sat herself back onto the small bed, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. She rose her hands before her, pressing her palms together and taking a deep breath as she focused her stolen chakra. It coursed through her strongly, Koraru easily able to sense the blue stream within her, she locked onto it, diverting the flow within her to the tips of her left fingers, warping and bending the life giving substance to her will as it travelled to its destination. Her eyes snapped open, a short sigh escaping her as she ran her orbs over the glittering lilac glow emitting from her fingers. Gently she ran them across her bloodied right knuckles, sighing in relief as the aching within them immediately faded into nothing. She ran the digits slowly across the gash in her chest, groaning in pain as the wound sealed closed seamlessly, leaving nothing but Kakuzu's sticking as proof it had ever existed. It took her little more than a few minutes to work over all the wounds on her body, closing up each one from the inside out until nothing was left. She smiled to herself in smugness as she straightened up, before walking towards the assortment of items laid out on the sterile table, and plucking the scissors from their place. Carefully she cut the stitches free from her skin, sighing in relief that none of them had been too deep, she had experienced enough pain for the day already, and the thought alone of having to pull the wire free from her muscle or fat tissue was enough to cause bile to rise up in her throat. Finishing up she carefully placed the scissors aside for later sterilisation, before setting her fingers onto the small wounds left behind by the sutures. They would heal quickly without her tending to them, and her genetic composure meant her skin would regrow as smooth and flawless as the original, no scars. Her body's capacity to care for itself, when she had chakra that was, was something that had always amazed her, although it would be of little use to her if she were dead. Her mind drifted to her fight with Kakuzu or should she say her recent pummelling. She had thought before that she would be a little behind them but to be this far...she couldn't even get one effective hit in, he was three steps ahead of her at all times and the force of his attacks was completely overwhelming...she didn't stand a chance against him...against any of them. Her lips pursed together, her eyes flashing in thought as she bit down on her inner cheek softly. Kisame was right. She had to do something, anything, to help bring her up to their standard faster. There was no way she was going to be able to overpower them, so she would have to outsmart them, every strike would have to count, and every hit would have to land. To bring to the table something she never had before, to make them see that accepting her wasn't a mistake.

All she had to do was figure out how.