Nue's POV

"Healing sure does suck when you have many open wounds. It hurts like hell." I mumbled as I lazily down on my bed, in my room. After I was done healing, I was locked away in my new room, eating sweets while laying on top of my pillow.

"Tobi sure can be a pushover when he wants to be. But that's not Tobi. It can't be. Well... Of course it's not him. Hell, his name isn't even Tobi. I've never even heard of a 'Madara' until today." I complained.

"Nue, where are you?"

"Ugh... Great. Just what I needed right now," I sighed and rolled on my back so I was looking at the ceiling. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Pein? I can't remember the last time we spoke to each other. How long has it been?" I asked, calmly, as he spoke to me while using mind communication.

"I don't know. Come back to the base. We have some things we need to discuss." Pein said. "Roger that." I replied. I sighed while closing my eyes.

"This job is starting to become a real pain in the ass. Why the hell does Akatsuki need me for, anyway? What's the point of even staying? I couldn't even bring myself to kill Orochimaru to get my revenge. Why don't I just leave the organization?" I asked myself.

I got out of bed and left the hideout, heading towards the Hidden Rain Village. "Then again, I have nowhere else to go. If I leave Akatsuki, where could I go? Back to the Leaf?" I said. As I was approaching the Rain Village, I noticed an area that looked a bit messy; like a battle just went down.

The curiosity got the best of me as I flew down to the area, gracefully landing on my feet. "What the hell happened here?" I asked. I walked along the water while looking around. 'A battle definitely went down around here. But who was fighting? And who won?' I thought to myself.

I traced my hand along a cracked wall and jumped slightly as my eyes suddenly changed purple. I saw something. I saw Pein... and Jiraiya? I tried to see more of what was going on, but the image ended there.

"What was that?" I mumbled. Was that some kind of premonition? Well, Pein and Jiraiya were definitely in this area. Does that mean they were fighting? I can't be sure. For all I know, it's could've been someone else who was here and was fighting somebody else.

I walked forward until I started to feel uneasy. Actually, I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't eat anything, so why do I feel this way? I kept walking forward until I stopped while looking down at the water. I stared at my reflection emotionlessly before blinking my eyes.

When I did, I saw Jiraiya's reflection. "Jiraiya-san?" I said in disbelief. I immediately fell to my hands and knees, my hands splashing on the surface of the water. "What is this, Jiraiya-san? What kind of jutsu is this? What are you doing here?" I demanded, angrily, while staring into the reflection.  

He didn't answer as he just stared at me. Why is this happening? What is this? Why am I seeing Jiraiya's reflection? Why won't he answer me? I gasped as I saw his reflection slowly disappearing. "Wait!" I called, but he was already gone.

I frowned and made my eyes change purple. I looked through the water as I noticed a figure down there. "What the hell? What is this?" I mumbled. I took a closer look at the figure until I recognized it, making me gasp in shock.

"Jiraiya-san..." I whispered. I stood up, taking a few steps back, then flew off to the base. I needed to talk to Pein and get to the bottom of this. "Welcome back, Nue. How have you been?" Konan greeted, once I got to the base.

 "I need to talk to Pein." I said quickly, walking past her. When I got to Pein's office, I walked in without knocking. "There you are, Nue. We're about to start our attack on the Leaf." Pein said. "What happened to Jiraiya?" I demanded.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. "Nue, this isn't the time to-"

"I'm not leaving until I get an answer. I know Jiraiya was here. Why was here? What happened to him? Tell me." I demanded. "We'll talk about this later, Nue. Right now, we-"

"We're talking about it now! Tell me what happened!" I snapped, pounding my fist on the desk. Pein stared at me, saying absolutely nothing. "Tell me. Now. What was Jiraiya doing here?" I repeated with gritted teeth.

 Pein sighed before speaking. "You're right. Jiraiya-sensei was here. He and I had a battle." He explained as he stepped out from behind his desk. "Jiraiya-sensei?" I repeated. "You knew him?"

"Yes. Both Konan and I knew him when we were kids." Pein answered as he stood in front of me. "Pein, please tell me. Did you... kill Jiraiya-san?" I said, looking at him. He didn't answer as he stared at me with his purple-ringed eyes.

"Tell me! Did you kill him?! Answer me, Pein!" I urged while grabbing the front of his cloak, shaking him slightly. He stared at me a little bit longer before answering, "Yes." He answered without any emotion.

My eyes widened in terror. "No..." I took a few steps back. "Please tell me you're lying... that you're playing a cruel joke on me." I pleaded. "I'm sorry, Nue." Pein apologized. "No..." I whispered, shaking my head with tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Nue, please don't think unlikely of me. I had to do it." Pein said as he rested a hand on my shoulder. "No, you didn't. You didn't have to kill him... He wasn't a threat! He didn't have to be killed!" I told him in an angry tone while grabbing the front of his cloak.

"You didn't have to kill him... You didn't have to..." I trailed off as my hands slid off his cloak before bringing them to my face.

"You didn't have to..." I began to sob quietly while Pein brought me into his chest and held me, my hands still in my face.

Pein's POV

I think I messed up. Now that Nue knows I killed Jiraiya-sensei, she could leave Akatsuki. For good this time. I can't let that happen. "Nue, I had to kill him. He was going to hurt you." I lied. "What do you mean?" She asked, her face still hidden in her hands.

"Jiraiya was going to kill you. He said, a creature like you is dangerous in this world, that all of your kind had to be extinct for the sake of the Leaf village." I said. Nue stiffened a little when she heard this. "That's not true. There's no way he could've said that." Nue convinced herself.

"It's what he told me. I've told you before not to trust them. This is how far they will go just to kill you. They hate you. They want you gone, Nue." I told her. "That can't be true. It can't be..." Nue said.

Nue's POV

There's no way he wanted to get rid of me. There's no way Jiraiya came all this way just so he could kill me... right? "Nue, look at me." Pein commanded. I slowly rose my head and looked at him. "This is what Jiraiya-sensei was going to use in order to kill you." He said, holding out a knife I've never seen before.

I took the knife in my hands. "Ow!" I dropped the knife and it clanged when it hit the floor. I looked at the palm of my hands as they had burn marks on them. "What... was that?" I asked as I stared at my palms.

"This weapon was designed to kill your kind. This is what Jiraiya had on him when he was looking for you." He explained, picking up the knife. "As you can see, it only brings damage towards your kind, but has no effect on humans." Pein mentioned.

"Jiraiya... really was going to kill me..." I said in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Nue. I'm afraid the Leaf will never change for you. They will never understand your pain." Pein said as he rested his hand on my shoulder. Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared at my hands while they slowly began to heal.

I can't believe I thought the Leaf would change. "Why won't they ever understand? I'm not a freak. I'm not a monster. I'm just... different." I said. I lowered my head and turned away from Pein. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you." I apologized before walking towards the door.

"Nue, wait." Pein said, stopping me. I turned around as he approached me. "Here," I looked down at his hands as he held out a nicely wrapped box. "For you. Your birthday present." He said. I took the box from his hands, unwrapped it, then opened the lid.

Inside, was a well-crafted wolf mask.

"Thank you, Pein." I thanked while bowing my head. I could use this mask to hide my emotions, and my face of course. "I'm going to wash up." I informed before heading to my old room, taking my mask with me.

I set my mask on my dresser, then went into the bathroom and turned on the water before stripping out of my clothes. I stepped in the shower and let the hot water fall on me as I watched the water go down the drain.

"Why, Jiraiya-san? Why did you try to kill me? You told me you had no reason to fear me. But all that was a lie, wasn't it?" I said. I frowned before punching the wall beside me as the water ran down my back. I wanted to cry, but I also didn't want to because it made me feel weak.

"You... the Leaf... You'll never change. No matter what, everything will stay the same." I mumbled.

"Don't trust him." I rose my head a little. "Konan?" I called. I pulled the shower curtain back and looked around the bathroom, but no one was there. I frowned slightly, then closed the shower curtain, finishing my shower. I closed my eyes, washing my hair until I heard the voice again.

"He's lying."

"Who's there?" I demanded. I know it was Eun talking because she hasn't talked to me in a while since I locked her up. I placed my hand over my curse mark and I heard the voice again. "Don't believe him."

I gasped when I finally recognized the voice, then frowned while gritting my teeth. "Orochimaru." I murmured.

Pein's POV

"The Six-Tails is finally ours." Madara informed. "Now we can go on a hunt for the Nine-Tails." I said. "Yes, that's a good idea. Because you killed Jiraiya, the Leaf will set their sights on you. The more time that passes, the more likely the they'll have a plan set in motion. We should take more action before it becomes more difficult." Madara suggested.

"Pein is invincible. So no matter what happens or what they plan, we will capture the Nine-Tails." Konan said with confidence. "Just one more tailed beast remains." Madara mentioned. "Not two?" She asked. "Sasuke has already captured the Eight Tails." He stated.

"I see." Konan said. "How is Nue feeling?" Madara asked. "I can't say she's feeling her best at this very moment." I mentioned. "Why is that?" He asked. "She found out I killed Jiraiya, then convinced her that he came here to kill her." I explained.

"How were you able to do that?" Madara questioned, and I took out the knife that burned Nue's hands. "Ah, the Blade of Kiragani. The only weapon that is capable of killing Nue's kind." Madara said, impressed.

"I was holding onto it for precaution. With this, I was able to convince her that Jiraiya was going to kill her with the weapon." I explained. "Smart. Now that she's convinced the Leaf Village will stop at nothing until she's dead, she won't go back to them." He said.

"I wouldn't get too excited about her decision to stay here. The Leaf will stop at nothing to try and persuade her to come back." I mentioned. "Nue is a confused and scared creature. She doesn't know who to trust at the moment. She believes we are using her and she believes that the Leaf is trying to kill her. So, what do you make of it?" Konan said.

"Hmm... I'll can take care of that." Madara said. "How?" I asked. "Let me worry about that." He said. "Right. Konan, make all the preparations. We leave now for the Hidden Leaf Village." I said before heading to Nue's room.

I opened the door and found her asleep on her bed, her faced stained with dry tears. Now I felt bad for confusing the poor girl. "Nue, wake up." I said, shaking her shoulder. Her curse mark flashed a yellow/orange color before quickly fading back to black.

I raised a brow, wondering what that was about. "I..." I looked at Nue as she began to mumble in her sleep. "I hate those who lie to me." She said. Nue opened her eyes and looked at me. Her eyes were cold, but at the same time, sad.

"Are you all right?" I asked her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She said, emotionlessly, while rubbing her left eye. "Your face is stained with tears." I mentioned. Nue swung her legs over the edge of the bed and quickly wiped her face.

"I'm sorry. I just... just had a bad dream." She said, but I knew she was lying. "You have nothing to be sorry about." I told her while resting my hand on her cheek. Nue closed her eyes with a soft smile while resting both of her hands over mine.

"Your hand... It's so soft, and makes me feel warm inside... Makes me feel that I'm not alone in this world." Nue said, quietly. A ghost smile appeared on my face as I looked at her, my thumb gently wiping away a tear that escaped the young girl's eye.

In a way, during Nue's time in Akatsuki, she's always been like a daughter to me. She's a confused and scared child that needs to be protected. One that I will protect forever. "Pein?" Nue said.

"Yes, Nue?"

"Would it be okay... if I hugged you?"

I looked at her in a bit of shock as I didn't expect her to ask me that. "Please?" She requested, looking at me with those crimson eyes of hers. I smiled warmly at her. "Of course." I answered. Nue smiled before quickly hugging me, her face buried in my chest.

I smiled and gently wrapped my arms around her, one hand gently resting on her head while my other hand was wrapped around her upper back. "You're warm." Nue mentioned as she turned her head to the side. Her eyes were closed as a smile was plastered on her face.

I closed my eyes as I continued to hold her. "Don't worry. I shall protect you from this day forward. Forever." I whispered with a small smile.