Just a heads up! This chapter has some continuation of Tobi and Zoe's conversation on the roof in chapter 16.

I do not own Naruto!

FIRST PERSON- Zoe

My bare feet hit against the pave on the road, my breath shaking with every long stride. I ran as fast as I could possibly go, injuries considered, attempting to make it back home.

"I can make it," I motivated myself, pushing myself to run faster as I heard traffic approaching behind me. I avoided any possible means of being seen, rushing through someone's lawn, jumping their fence, and continuing barefoot through the woods, twigs and rocks digging into my sore feet. Every step felt more excruciating; I felt like my legs were going to give in.

"Why don't you stop running, Zoe?" An all too familiar voice hissed.

Tears welled in my eyes as I pushed myself to go faster, trying to ignore the pain, 'I can't let him catch me,' I convinced myself. 'Don't let him catch you.'

"Your legs hurt. You're shaking with every step- why don't you see that I'm going to catch you either way?" He wondered. I didn't see him around me, the blur of trees passing as his voice followed me. "I love you, Zoe. I promise it wont hurt anymore if you stop running."

Lies.

"Just let me help you," He begged.

I kept running, seeing my tree house vaguely above me as I rushed, knowing the house was just minutes away. "Please keep going," I begged my feet as I continued running, "I can make it."

"Can you?" He asked in disgust. Suddenly my legs stopped, and I was in front of him, frozen. He lifted a hand up to my cheek, "Can you make it without me?"

"Fuck off," I gasped in a whisper, my breath hitching as I woke up. I craned my neck to look around the room in a complete panic, pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth to stop myself from whimpering. The sudden movement hurt more than expected, sending pain pulsing through my injuries.

Sasori sat in my desk chair, his head resting in his hands as he slept soundly. I could hear the rest of the Akatsuki downstairs chattering and laughing.

Deciding to try again, I shifted my position to get up, and immediately regretted it as a sharp pain flashed through both my torso and my left leg. Hissing out in pain, I ripped the blanket off of my leg, noticing the stitch work going all down my thigh from my hipbone. "Why me?" I muttered to myself as I prepared myself to move again.

"You shouldn't be straining yourself."

"I'm not exactly the 'lay in bed all day' type," I sighed, turning to face Sasori who had come next to me. "I hate being immobile."

"He did some real damage, unfortunately," Sasori frowned, looking to my left wrist. "How does your hand feel?"

"It all hurts," I admitted quietly, adverting my gaze from his. I felt embarrassed- embarrassed it had happened, and embarrassed that they had watched me get thrown around so easily. I hated being so weak. "I just need some painkillers. Could you ask Beth to get me a few?" I asked, my eyes glistening at him.

He nodded to me, standing up, "Of course."

As soon as the door clicked shut, the breath I didn't know I had been holding in rushed out of my mouth, letting a huge weight off of my chest. I knew I couldn't hide the state I was in from him, but knowing that he had seen me like that… It bothered me.

I looked down to the stitches on my thigh again, thinking about how much time it took the criminals to take care of me, and help me. A lump formed in my throat as my finger lightly trailed down the stitches, despite the discomfort.

"Yes, Madara?"

"We need to talk about your impact on my organization."

I'd thought a lot about how I'd helped them when I was laying there on the floor. I'd given them a place to stay, eat and sleep in a world they knew nothing about; but would this be considered a hindrance? Would Tobi kill me over this?

"Of course, Madara," I nodded as he let me out of his arms and onto the top of the roof. I looked up to him, swallowing my fear.

"I don't want more any obstacles in my plans. Being here in itself is a huge one," He sighed in annoyance, narrowing his one visible red eye at me. "I don't need the Akatsuki any more attached than they already are. In my opinion, so far they are proving to be incompetent S-Ranked criminals," he scoffed, looking into the streets where the cars raced by, most going faster than they should. "For instance, I would've killed you all had it been just myself and Zetsu here. And we would've already tried to find a way home." His gaze shifted back to me, glaring, "However I suppose having your knowledge will be helpful, for now."

His statement sent shudders through my body, despite myself biting my tongue to try to keep my cool. "I understand," I finally said after what felt like minutes of silence. "I will keep out of your way."

He nodded curtly, looking back towards the trees where we had emerged from minutes before, "Good. Don't prove to be a problem, or I'll dispose of you and your friends like one," He spat, a dark chuckle rumbling from his chest. My breath hitched, before his persona seemed to switch and he giggled, "Just a warning, so you know I'm serious, Zoe-chan!"

"Zoe?" Konan's voice cut me out of my daydream, though it felt more like a nightmare.

I looked up from where I had been staring blankly at my leg. I had scratched a few of the stiches out, and boy could I feel in now that I had clued back in. Konan swiftly came around to the left side of my bed, placing the bowl she had with a cloth and water on my nightstand. She put a hand over my thigh, allowing it to glow green and heal me. I smiled at the warmth it emitted, "I didn't think any jutsu would work on us," I admitted breathlessly, watching her heal my leg in awe.

"I doubt genjutsu would," she admitted, taking the cloth she had brought in and placing it gently on my leg. "I think your lack of chakra would block it out."

I nodded, not saying anything else as I watched her check on my wounds. I observed as she carefully took my sore wrist into her hands and started healing it the same as she did my leg. I was thankful, of course, but I kept Madara's threat in the back of my mind.

"I don't want any more obstacles in my plans."

Third Person

Tobi giggled excitedly, stabbing his fork down into his 5-pancake-stack (as he called it) and bounced up and down, mouth oozing at the syrup covered mess on his plate. Though no one could see it, he had a big smile on his face; excited to dig in to his breakfast he had asked Onyxcia to prepare for him. "Thanks for the breakfast, Onyx-chan!" He cheered, lifting his mask just enough so he could fit the fork underneath of it. "It's super yummy!" He giggled, mouth full of pancake.

"Thank you, Tobi," She smiled from her place at the counter as she cooked for the rest of the organization, bouncing on her heels to the radio she had cranked.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Tobi, hmm!" Deidara exasperated, huffing in annoyance. "I'm so glad you wear that mask, yeah. At least it serves as a spit guard."

"Sorry, senpai!" Tobi choked out, mouth still full of food.

Hidan roared with laughter at the blonde, "You sound like a fucking angry teen mommy Deidara! Teach your fucking kid some manners," He teased, continuing to laugh at his own jokes.

"Shut up you bastard, yeah!" Deidara snarled, pointing his syrup covered butter knife in Hidan's direction. "At least my mother taught me some manners, hm. You have none," he snorted, rolling his eyes at the Jashinist as he thought about how true his statement was.

"Oh boo-hoo Dei-chan," Hidan continued to taunt, not caring about anyone around him getting annoyed. "Who fucking need manners when you get everything you want by scaring people shitless?"

"Shut up Hidan," Kakuzu sighed, looking up from the newspaper that had been distracting him as much as possible before. "You're giving me a headache."

"You guys are all whiny bitches!" Hidan declared loudly, glancing around the room. He quickly looked away from Itachi when he noticed his eyes gleaming red, but continued to aggravate the stitched elder. "You're probably just getting a fucking headache from bitching so much, Kakuzu."

The man twitched, his fingers tightening around the thin paper he still held. "Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

"Aw guys, please no fighting in the house," Beth squeaked nervously from in between Kisame and Deidara across the table. "Zoe's still not well, I don't want to wake her."

"She's already awake, but yes she needs rest," Sasori nodded as he walked swiftly through the swinging door. "Beth," He started, turning towards the brunette, "Do you know where Zoe's painkillers are?"

"Mm-hmm!" Beth nodded, mouth too full to respond. She chewed, standing quickly and rummaging through the 'medicine drawer' as Zoe called it while Sasori got the Zoe a glass of water. The shaking and rattling of many bottles of pills rang throughout the kitchen before Beth pulled up a big bottle of pills. Handing it to Sasori, she smiled, "There you go. Make sure she's okay for me?"

Sasori nodded, turning on his heel quickly and avoiding all of the gazes he caught from around the room and left as fast as he had shown up.

"I guess she's really not doing well," Kisame frowned, finishing the last of his pancakes, watching the puppeteer leave. "I never see Sasori focus on anyone else than himself, and his puppets. I hate to say it, but it's kind of sweet," He mused.

"Zoe hates being the damsel," Onyxcia sighed, flipping the last three pancakes she had made and turned the stove off. Over 15 fluffy pancakes sat proudly on the plate in front of her, so she decided to stop cooking for now. She could make more if she needed to. "It's sweet to see him being kind, but I guarantee she hates it," She sighed, grabbing a plate for herself finally.

"I like Danna like this, yeah," Deidara said, looking towards the young girl, "But I don't like the circumstances. It's weird all of us being up before Zoe, un. She's too rowdy to be hurt," he quickly added, noticing Beth frown.

"All of us have changed, in one way or another," Itachi said, thanking Onyxcia quietly as she placed his coffee in front of him. His fingers curled around the hot mug, slowly taking a cautious sip.

"Yeah, you're even more of a fucking pussy now Uchiha!" Hidan said without a beat, not caring about who he was irritating anymore.

Itachi stared at the Jashinist blankly as Onyxcia pulled out the seat next to him. "Are you looking to get killed, or are you really just that loud mouthed?" He asked, placing the piping hot drink back on the table in front of him.

Before Hidan had the chance to respond, Kakuzu's hands flew from his arms, quickly pinning him to the wall by the throat and hitting him repetitively. Hidan let out a few pained shrieks, hissing at Kakuzu to fuck off which only irritated him further. Kakuzu threw Hidan to the ground, head first, promptly knocking the loud zealot out.

"Finally," Kakuzu grumbled, opening his newspaper from where he'd slammed it, and continued to read. "Some quiet."

Sasori made his way up the stairs, ignoring his comrades as they gossiped behind him. Frowning, the redhead pushed Zoe's door open gently, watching as Konan tried to reduce her pain.

He felt guilty. It made no sense to him, of course. A ninja of his ranking has no need to feel guilty- he'd lost comrades in front of him who he'd known much longer than he's known her, and didn't bat an eye at it. So, why did he feel so guilty seeing her like this? Why did this woman have such an impact?

"I have the pills," Sasori assured her, shaking his thoughts away for now, walking a big glass of ice water over to her nightstand. "How many do you need?" He wondered, opening the bottle.

"Two please," Zoe asked. Her voice made him twitch- her voice raspy from the pain she was feeling. Konan frowned at him, noticing too as she stood up and walked towards the door. He rolled the pills out of the bottle and into his hand, helping Zoe sit up.

"Pein-sama will likely come check up on you," Konan reassured Zoe from the doorway. "For now, rest, and if you're feeling better then Sasori can help you downstairs later."

Zoe's face twisted at the proposition, but nodded anyway as she was in no place to refuse. The very thought of laying in bed doing nothing made her feel sick, even if it was what she needed to feel better. Panic raced through her thoughts, trying to plan how she was going to move when she needed to.

Sasori frowned, brushing her stray hairs out of her face and scaring her out of her thoughts in the process. "It's going to be okay," He reassured her, noticing her panic. "I will make sure we get out of this room, but you need to rest right now. I can't move you until you rest," He whispered softly, kissing her forehead as he gently laid her back down.

"Can you stay with me?" She whispered, gently tugging on his hand.

He smiled, lying next to her with a nod. "I'm here," He murmered, running his hands through her hair to calm her

"Is she awake?"

Sasori looked down to the girl curled in his lap, snoring softly. For once, she looked calm, "She isn't, Pein-sama," He admitted. "Do you need me to wake her?"

"It's fine," Pein dismissed, letting himself fully into the bedroom. He stood over Zoe's bed, looking over her injuries. "Is she feeling any better?" He wondered

The redhead shook his head, "She's still in a lot of pain. As soon as the painkillers she took hit her, she fell asleep." He looked back down to her, "I'm hoping the sleep will help her recover, so I can let her go downstairs tomorrow."

Pein nodded, "She is a tough girl. Even without chakra, I believe she will be fine," he observed. He turned back to Sasori, "However, don't get too attached. I'm sure Kisame would come watch her for a bit so you could get a break."

Sasori almost scoffed at his leader, but was thankful he thought twice, "It's alright, Pein-sama," he dismissed respectfully. "I've eaten, and honestly I prefer being away from the rest of them downstairs."

"Very well," Pein nodded, making his way for the door. "We're going to go train outside in an hour," he informed Sasori. "We have a place to train, so we will. Being here won't slow us down."

Sasori nodded to his leader, "Of course."