I stood up, trying to listen to anything that might have been said outside of the door. I could barely make out Deidara's voice, he sounded irritated. I backed away from the door when I heard someone walking down the hallway. I shot Kiara a glance, she pursed her lips and nodded, quickly sitting back in her hiding place. I laid on the bed, feigning sleep.

The door opened with a quiet creak, it took a lot of willpower to stay completely still. I didn't even let myself breathe, worried I would begin to hyperventilate. I heard Deidara curse in irritation, shutting the door again. He began speaking, I assumed to Sasori. "Where did you hide her, yeah?" He demanded. "I haven't hidden the girl anywhere, I'm not her babysitter. It isn't my concern where she goes." The redhead replied in a monotone. I inhaled slowly as there was a dull thud, had Deidara just hit the wall?

"I know she's here somewhere." Deidara muttered, I heard footsteps storming off in another direction. I remained immobile for a second before the door slowly opened. "Kiara?" I slowly sat up as I recognized Sasori's voice, Kiara stood up, relief in her eyes. I was getting more nervous every minute we were here. Sasori couldn't protect her forever, he couldn't be with her all of the time. Deidara was pissed and I knew it was only a matter of time before he found Kiara. Even then, it wasn't guaranteed Sasori could keep her safe.

"You both look a little pale, is something the matter?" Sasori asked as Kiara climbed over the bed to stand in front of him. We glanced at each other before she shook her head in reply. "Nothing's wrong." She said, her voice steady. I was impressed with her ability to act. Sasori cast a glance over his shoulder before turning his attention back to us, beckoning Kiara towards him. She hesitated. "I don't want to leave Amaya alone." She said firmly. I very nearly completely agreed with her. Fuck being alone in this place.

"Go with him, he has a much better chance at keeping you safe." I quickly said, giving her a hug goodbye. Honestly, as morbid as it sounds, I acted like each time we said goodbye might be the last we saw each other. Because it very well could be.

Sasori took her arm, careful not to hurt her. She pursed her lips as if she might argue, but she decided against it as he pulled her out the door, shutting it behind them. I sighed as silence washed over me, sending prayers to every deity I could think of that Kiara would be able to stay safe. I looked up when the door opened, ice encasing my heart for a split-second.

I sagged in relief as Itachi stepped through the door. I narrowed my eyes in confusion upon noticing his usually crimson eyes were…completely onyx. "Are you all right?" His soft voice was calming, in a way. "Yeah…" My voice was unconvincing, and he clearly didn't like the answer. "Hidan came in here earlier." I murmured, rubbing my arm. Itachi's eyes flashed. "What did he do?" He walked up to me, standing above me as I sat on the bed. "He didn't get a chance to do anything. Someone called his name before he got to me. He was angry, though." I kept my voice calm, not trusting him enough to mention anything about Kiara or the knife Hidan had thrown.

"He's on a mission with his partner, I don't think he'll return until at least tomorrow. I asked our female member if she would mind finding clothes for you and your friend, so you won't have to wear that for much longer." I nodded, still looking away from him. I had no idea how I should feel about him, I'd seen two sides and I wasn't sure which one was real. We'd had sex, for fuck's sake, how were you supposed to go about talking to a stranger that basically kidnapped you and…I just didn't know anymore.

I glanced from the corners of my eyes as I heard him move, watching him open a drawer on the dresser he had in this unusually barren room. I folded my legs beside me, wondering where I was going to go once he decided to go to bed and remove me from his room. Was I going to be forced to stay in Hidan's room? I felt bile rise in my throat at that, swallowing anxiously. I snapped into reality when Itachi's voice broke the silence.

"How well is your aim?" I took a moment to respond to the arbitrary question, wondering why he asked something like that. "It's all right, I guess." I replied. I was clumsy as hell, but my aim was fair enough if I was trying to hit something. "Leader-sama agreed to them keeping you, but if you show an ability worthy enough to be valuable to him, he might allow you to fight as a part of us." How badly did I want to be branded as a criminal, though?

"Follow me." He said, walking out. I stood, crossing my arms over my chest as I quietly padded after him down the corridor, glancing around us warily. We walked past the numerous doors and down a short flight of stairs, where he pulled open a heavy looking metal door. I glanced inside as he walked into the room, it appeared like some sort of storage.

He moved silently, to my displeasure, as he startled me when he appeared right in front of me from the darkness of the room. He handed me a bow along with a small set of arrows, my eyes widened in shock at the weapon. "If I help you practice with this and you become sharp enough with it, our leader might decide you're worth keeping alive. It won't do anything against Hidan, however." I swallowed dryly, recalling with bitter horror about how little effect the knife had on him. "Your friend… She will have to learn how to protect herself as well." I nodded, knowing she was determined enough to learn how to fight.

"Thank you." I said on reflex, looking up at him. He shook his head slowly, his eyes drifting away from mine. "I've done nothing good for you." He said, walking past me to lead me back upstairs.

No, he hadn't, exactly.

But surprisingly, he soon was going to.

AUTHORESS NOTE:

Bow and arrow is the best thing ever, damn I miss archery class. Fuck guns. We should all just go Katniss Everdeen style.

I wrote a short chapter because I'm hardcore multitasking right now and just can't think of much else, sorry! And I'm… Cryptic as hell, but I swear I'll explain things soon.

MzPearlz: Kiara said she doesn't speak German (but would like to learn) and I only speak a couple of sentences and specific words are all. Sorry!