Naruto's POV

"Ugh... My head..." I groaned as I sat up. I rubbed my head as an unbearable pounding was there. "How much did I drink last night?" I said. I looked over and saw Eita asleep in my bed. His eyepatch was still covering his right eye as he was curled up in a ball.

"What the hell?! Eita, what are you doing in my bed?!" I yelled. "Keep it down. You're too loud." Eita mumbled. "Why are you in my bed?!" I screamed. "You don't remember?" He sat up and rubbed his left eye.

"Last night, you asked me to sleep with you." He said. "Say what?!" I yelled. "Not in the way you think. We just slept side by side together. That's all. Nothing else happened." Eita assured me. "Are you sure?" I asked. "I'm sure." He confirmed.

"Oh... okay." I said. "Go and take a shower. I'll get breakfast started." Eita said as he hopped off the bed. "You can cook?" I asked. "Uh-huh. Learned it from my sister." He said, leaving the room. I hummed to myself, then hopped off my bed, heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

After my shower, I got dressed in my clothes, then walked into the kitchen as Eita had breakfast ready on the table. "I can't believe you made all this." I said, amazed. Eita turned around and smiled at me. "Eat up before it gets cold." He said.

"Yeah." I agreed, smiling. I sat down at the table and began eating my breakfast. I looked over at Eita and noticed he was pulling on his jacket. "Are you going somewhere?" I asked with my mouth full. "Just on a small walk; I like to go walking in the morning." He said.

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

"I will when I get back. See you in a bit."

"See you soon!" I called. Eita waved at me, then left the house for his walk.

Eita's POV

I walked around the village for a bit with my hands in my pockets. "It's so quiet out today." I said to myself. I walked into the woods and did some exploring until I heard a, "Meow~," I

turned my head and noticed the stray cat from yesterday was following me. I left him go yesterday because Naruto scared him by yelling at him.

"Hey, there, little guy." I said, fully facing him. I kneeled down and held out my hand to him, in which he approached. "I'm sorry Naruto scared you yesterday. He's not much of a cat person." I apologized. He licked the back of my hand and purred.

"You're so cute." I said, smiling. The cat flinched, then started hissing. "Hey, what's the matter?" I asked it. It continued to hiss until it ran away. "What was that about, I wonder?" I mumbled.

I gasped when something scaly and rough wrapped around my neck, then pulled me back, sending me soaring through the woods until my back hit a tree. I fell on my hands and knees and started coughing. "What the hell was that?" I asked as I continued to cough. "Did you really think you could get away from me, Eita?"

I lifted my head and my eyes widened in terror. "Orochimaru..." I whispered. "In the flesh, my dear boy." Orochimaru confirmed with a smirk.

"What... What are you doing here?" I asked. "It should be obvious. I'm taking you back, Eita. And this time, I'll make sure you won't escape." He said. "No!" I kicked off the ground and charged at Orochimaru.

"I'm not going back with you! I'm never going back to that place! You can't make me!" I yelled as I threw punches and kicks at him. Orochimaru either dodged or blocked them all until he drove his knee into my stomach.

I coughed up some spit as my eyes widened. Orochimaru stepped aside, allowing me to fall on the ground. "Your training hasn't gotten any better, Eita. In fact, I say it's gotten ratger sloppy. You can't even defend yourself against me." Orochimaru said.

I breathed heavily as I shakily stood on my hands and knees. "Ah!" I cried out when Orochimaru grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me up so I was sitting on my knees. "

But it saves me the trouble of having to fight you and become a real bother. Come, it's time for us to leave, Eita my dear boy." Orochimaru said. "No!" I shoved him away and landed back on the ground. I turned around so I was facing him and glared at him.

"Stay away from me, you creep! I'm not going anywhere with you!" I said. Orochimaru stared at me with a bored look, then sighed.

"Unfortunately..." He punched me in the jaw, then threw me over to a tree. I coughed up blood when my back made impact with the tree and I slid down the tree until I landed on the ground. But he wasn't done with me yet.

Orochimaru grabbed the collar of my shirt and held me up in the air, then slammed me on my back, making me cough up more blood.

"You don't have a say in the matter, Eita," Orochimaru approached me and grabbed the back of my hood. "You're coming with me now." He said, and began to drag me away.

Blood ran down my chin as I felt weak all over. I can't leave with him. I don't want to leave with him. I don't want to go back to that place. I can't...

"Not so fast, Orochimaru." I heard a blast and I felt my body being moved. "If it isn't the the Rain Village's Angel." Orochimaru said. 'Angel?' I thought. "Let him go." I heard a female voice say. "I think not. You see, there's still many tests I have to run on Eita, regarding his powers." Orochimaru said.

"I'm not letting you take him."

"Oh? Is that a fact?" I could hear the smirk in Orochimaru's voice as he let go of my hood, letting my body fall to the ground. "Eita, you need to get up! Hurry and run away!" Inari said. "Right." I agreed. I managed to get on my feet and started running.

"I didn't say you could leave, boy!"

I gasped when a snake wrapped around my ankle and swung up in the air. I was thrown through three trees and I heard a sickening crack come from my ribs. I fell on my stomach as I held my ribs in pain. "Eita!" I heard my name being called.

I closed my eyes as the pain in my ribs wouldn't go away. My body was picked up, so I had to opened my eyes. When I did, I saw that I was in the air. I turned my head and saw Konan was carrying me. "Konan..." I whispered.

"Just hold on, Eita." She said. Exhausted, I closed my eyes.

*****

"Why the hell is there a kid, here?"

"Is he even alive?"

"Can I turn him into a puppet?"

"How much money is his body worth?"

"I wanna sacrifice him to Jashin!"

"He's so young, un."

I slowly opened my eyes as I was surrounded by strangers. Where am I? What is this place? Who are these people? I sat up and grunted as pain struck my ribs.

"He's hurt." Someone said. "He looks pretty beat up. Hey, kid. Who did you get into a fight with?" Someone else said. "Oh, great. The Akatsuki." Inari mumbled. "You know them?" I asked.

"Who wouldn't? Let me introduce you to the assholes. I mean, members. That's Hidan. Kakuzu, Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, and Tobi. Of course, you've also got Konan and some guy name Zetsu." She said. "Do you know what he looks like?" I asked.

"No, not really. But I'm pretty sure they have a leader somewhere around here."

"If that's true, where is he?"

"The hell would I know?"

"Well, you know everyone here, which scares me."

"Hey, who are you talking to, un?" Deidara asked. I looked at him, but didn't reply. "So, you're not gonna answer? You were just talking a second ago, yeah." He said. I blinked at him and continued to keep quiet.

"What, has he gotten mute all of a sudden?" Hidan asked. "Leave him alone, will you?" Some plant guy said. "That's Zetsu." Inari informed. This is Zetsu? I didn't think he'd look like this. "Come on. Konan wants to see you." Zetsu said.

"Hey!" I yelped when he picked me up by my hood. "Let go of me! Put me down!" I yelled as I squirmed.

"Stop squirming, you little brat!"

"Give him a break. He's just scared."

"I don't even know why Konan brought him here in the first place."

"I'm sure she has a reason."

"She better."

"Let me go!" I yelled again.

"Can't we just knock him out?"

"I don't think Konan will approve of that."

"I don't care. I just want him to shut up."

"Come on, give him a break. He's a kid, and he's scared."

Why is this guy talking to himself? Split personality, maybe? Finally, we got to a room and I was rudely tossed onto a bed. I sat up as Zetsu approached me. "Stay away from me!" I yelled. "Calm down, kid. We're just gonna treat your wounds." He said.

He got out a first-aid kid started treating my wounds. "This may sting a little." He warned. I hissed when he cleaned my cheek with a cloth that had alcohol on it. When he done, he moved onto my ribs.

"Your ribs look pretty damaged. They're not broken, just cracked." Zetsu informed. "Great." I said, sarcastically. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but did you get into a fight with someone?" Zetus asked.

I didn't answer as I looked down. "Zetsu," I looked towards the doorway as Konan stood there. "Have you treated his wounds?" She asked. "Yeah, we treated him. Now what the hell is he doing here?" He asked. "I'll explain later. Now go." Konan instructed.

Zetsu obeyed and left the room. "Are you all right, Eita?" Konan asked, once Zetsu was gone. "I'm okay, I guess," I answered. "But what am I doing here, Konan? What is this place?"

"You're in the Akatsuki hideout, and I want you to stay." She said, straightforwardly. "Stay?" I repeated. "Eita, you're not safe in the Leaf Village. Don't you understand? Orochimaru will stop at nothing until he has you." Konan explained.

"Tell us something we don't already know, lady. Why the hell does she care all of a sudden?" Inari mumbled. I shushed her, then looked at Konan again. "Konan, I appreciate your concern, but I can't stay here. I have to go back. I have family and I need to be there for him,"

I hopped off the bed and made my way towards the exit. "Thank you for saving me." I said. I walked out into the hallway while looking back and bumped into someone. I looked up, noticing I had bumped into Itachi.

My vision started to get blurry, so I rubbed my eye. When I did, Itachi turned into Orochimaru. "What?" I shook my head and Itachi's image again. My vision blurred it again Itachi's image switched from his to Orochimaru's, then back to his.

I shook my head again and placed my hand on my head. Am I hallucinating? I must be. "Are you okay?" Itachi said in Orochimaru's voice.

"Get away from me!" I yelled, and pushed past him. I ran into a random room and hid myself in a corner.

I stayed there for a few seconds until the door opened, revealing Konan. She walked over to me and kneeled down. "Eita, are you okay?" She asked.

"No, I'm not okay. I'll never be okay," I stated as my face was buried in my knees. "Even if I try to forget, even if I try to move past it, I can't! He'll always be there! Orochimaru will still haunt me, even when he's not there!"

My eyes widened when Konan expectedly hugged me. "I know. That's why I'm offering you to stay here in Akatsuki. I've already talked it over with Pein and he agrees that you should stay. Orochimaru won't be able to find you here. Therefore, he won't hurt you." Konan explained.

"But..." What about Naruto? I can't just leave him behind. He needs me. "Konan... I can't. As much as I want to stay, I can't. Because... I still have someone to look after. He still needs me." I said, breaking the hug. Konan looked at me with a bit of sadness and disappointment, but smiled.

"I understand. If you ever change your mind..."

"I know. Thank you," I smiled a small smile at her. "Inari, take us home."

"Rodger that." Inari used her powers and teleported us back to the Leaf Village. "Surprisingly, you didn't teleport us in the middle of nowhere." I teased. "Shut up. I'm still getting the hang of this, you know?" She said.

"Right." I felt a cool breeze against my face, making me smile.

"Let's go home."

"Yeah."