Karin's POV

A little bit after Sasuke left, Suigetsu and Kisame started talking until they got into a fight. I looked at Nue as she continued to sleep. What amazed was how she could sleep through all the noise that's going on.

"Take this!" Suigetsu shouted as he aimed for Kisame's head. I gasped when I saw Nue block the attack with her blue tails. Was she awake? No, she's still sleeping. Was she sleepwalking?

"I forgot the kid had a knack for getting in battles in her sleep. It was annoying at first, but it actually turned out to come in handy." Kisame said. Nue yawned in her sleep as her tails slowly retreated from Suigetsu's blade.

Nue frowned in her sleep as she began whimpering. "What's up with her?" Suigetsu asked. Before anyone could answer, Nue pounced at him and punched him in the face. "Looks like Nue is having a bad dream." Kisame said with a grin.

"A nightmare? In her sleep?" I asked as Nue sat on Suigetsu's stomach, continuing to punch him. "Her dreams seem so real to her, she has a tendency to fight in real life." Kisame explained. "Get her off me!" Suigetsu yelled before Nue punched him again.

Kisame chuckled before walking over to Nue. As she was about to punch Suigetsu again, Kisame grabbed her wrist. "You got him, Nue. You can stop now." He said to her. He let go of her wrist as she slowly lowered it to her side.

"The key is you have to convince Nue that's really is in battle and tell her that her fight is over." Kisame explained. "And that she believes that?" Jugo asked. "Sometimes." Kisame answered. Nue got off Suigetsu and leaned herself against Kisame's chest.

"She's a cute kid. She's also full of surprises." He commented as he held her against his chest. "What do you mean?" I asked. "It means what it means." He stated. Nue furrowed her eyebrows before slowly opening her eyes.

"Rise and shine, kiddo." Kisame greeted. "I'm still sleepy." Nue said, childishly.

"Then, go back to sleep."

"But... I wanna be awake when Itachi comes back."

Nue's POV

I pushed myself off Kisame's chest and rubbed my eyes. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked Kisame. "Not long. Speaking of which, what were you dreaming about?" He asked. "I don't wanna get into it right now." I said.

"You always say that." Kisame replied, bluntly. I levitated a few feet off the ground. "I think I'm gonna fly around for a bit." I said before flying towards the clouds. If I haven't slept that long, then that means Itachi isn't done with his battle with Sasuke.

I wanted to go help Itachi, but this was his battle, and I can't interfere. I miss Deidara. I wish he was here. Wait a second! Is Tobi even alive?! He was in the woods, too! Did he get caught in the blast?! Then, does that mean... have I lost another family member?

Suddenly, I got all these flashbacks of me having fun times with Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, and Deidara. I remember Sasori training me at night, Hidan and Kakuzu fighting over whether or not I should learn and follow the Way of Jashin, and Deidara and I being together as we gazed up at the stars until he fell asleep.

"Deidara," I stopped in the air and curled myself up into a ball. "Please... come back... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for leaving you behind. I'm scared... Please come back to me." I begged. I gripped my head in my hands as tears ran down my cheeks.

I jerked my head up when I heard lightning strike. "What was that?" I asked myself as I looked towards the direction the strike came from. Deciding to investigate it, I flew towards the direction I heard the lightning strike.

As I flew towards the direction, I saw complete destruction up ahead. "Did Sasuke and Itachi create this? Was their battle that huge?" I asked. I flew down to the ground and gently landed on my feet. I began to walk forward while looking around.

I walked a bit further until I spotted a corpse up ahead. "Itachi..." I said, realizing the body belonged to him. I ran over to him and fell to my knees before checking his pulse. "No..." I shook my head in disbelief as tears escaped my eyes.

"Wake up. Wake up." I told myself as I closed my eyes tightly while pounding my fists against the sides of my head. I opened my eyes as I wasn't dreaming. "Why...?" I hugged Itachi's body as I began to cry. "Why? Why did this have to happen? Why did I have to lose you, too? It's not fair!"

I yelled at the sky in anger as it began to rain. "Sasuke!!! This is all your fault! You did this! You did this!!" I yelled, angrily. I held Itachi's lifeless body close to me as I sobbed loudly while my wings and tails grew bigger and began destroying everything and anything in sight.

I kept this up until I was pulled away from Itachi's corpse and my eyes were covered from behind. I tried to move away, but whoever had hold of me kept me in place with their other arm around my stomach since their other hand was covering my eyes.

"Calm yourself, Nue." A deep voice said. "Pein?" I guessed, tears still streaming down my face. "Wrong."

I tried to move again, but I was kept in place. "You weren't supposed to see this, Nue. Rest." The unknown man commanded. "I... I can't. I can't!" I said as I tried breaking free, but to no avail. "You can... And you will." 

Suddenly, all the angry energy I had in me was drained and I felt sleepy, as if my energy was being taken from some kind of force. "Who... are you?" I whispered before blacking out. 

(A Few Hours Later)

I don't know how I was knocked out so easily, but I'm a little glad I was. I felt a bit more calm now. I rose from the bed I was lying on and looked around. Where am I? I jumped off the bed and walked out of the room. Is this another hideout? Who brought me here, and how?

I walked outside and began to explore the place. "This is the East hideout of the Akatsuki. But what am I doing here?" I wondered as I began to walk up a flight of stairs. "So, you're here, too, huh?" I looked behind me.

"Kisame? What are you doing here?" I asked. "Zetsu told me to come here." He said, sounding a bit angry. "Itachi's... gone." I said, sadly. "Yeah, I've heard." He said, sounding disappointed this time. "So, what are you gonna do now?" I asked him. 

"I think I'll just spread my wings and go wherever fate takes me." He answered. "Sounds like death to me." I mumbled. I looked towards the sky, noticing it was dark. How long have I been asleep?

"So, um, I needed to talk to you, Kisame." I looked past Kisame and saw Tobi. "Tobi!" I immediately hugged him. "I thought you were dead." I said. "That's what I was about to say." Kisame said.

"It turns out you will be the last to know. I'm sorry I had to deceive you, the person closest to me." Tobi said in a deep voice. I raised a brow before breaking the hug, looking at Tobi. "Tobi... Why does your voice sound different?" I asked, suspiciously.

I took a couple of steps away from him until my back hit Kisame's chest. "Nue, I'm going to need you to close your eyes for a moment." Tobi instructed. "Close my eyes? Why? What for?" I asked with a frown until Kisame covered my eyes from behind.

"Hey!" I whined. But I didn't bother putting up a fight because he'd win anyway. I felt Kisame stiffen. "Kisame, what's the matter? What happened?" I asked. "So, that's how it is. Heh, I had no idea. I never would have guessed you were Tobi." Kisame said.

"Hey. Someone tell me what's going on." I said, but was ignored. I tried to get Kisame to remove his hand from my eyes, but he wouldn't budge. Is Kisame saying that Tobi isn't really who he says he is?

"But I believed. If you're the one pulling the strings, that makes it easier for me, former Lord Mizukage. I mean, Madara." Kisame said. I knew he was smirking. 'Madara? Who the hell is Madara?' I thought. 

"I shall continue to count on you, Kisame." Tobi said in his deep voice. "The same goes for me." Kisame replied. "Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" I asked, getting annoyed. "You'll know all in due time, Nue. You'll understand soon enough." Tobi said.

I frowned at his answer. What happened to the giggling and childish Tobi I knew? More importantly, who is this guy and what does he plan to do? "How long have I been here?" I demanded as my eyes were still covered.  

"Only 24 hours. You really needed the rest. It seems like you've calmed down a bit." Tobi mentioned. "Tell me who you are." I commanded. "Like I said before; You'll know in due time." He repeated. "Let's go, Nue." Kisame said. "To where?" I asked as he uncovered my eyes.

When I could see again, Tobi was gone. Where did he go?