The next day, I was outside near a waterfall. I cupped my hands together, scooping the water up and splashing it on my face. "Eita." I turned my head as Tobi and Itachi walked over to me. "How did you guys find me?" I asked with a frown.

Nobody, not even Pein knows about this place. "Because we always know where you are, Eita!" Tobi cheered. Itachi sighed. "Tobi said that you might be here." He answered. 'Must've been from that time when he found that one time.' I thought to myself.

"So, what do you guys want, anyway?" I asked before splashing more water on my face. "Konan was wondering where you were, so she asked us to go looking for you." Itachi said. "Well, you found me. Now leave me be." I said, coldly.

I closed my eyes as I remembered my sister's voice. She always used to sing to me. One of my favorite songs from her was 'There's No Place Like Home'.

"No place like home, huh? Not anymore." I mumbled.

"Y-Yikes!" I heard Tobi yelp. I rolled my eyes as I thought that he saw a spider or something. "G-G-Ghost!" He said.

"Yeah, right. There's no such thing as ghosts." I said, standing to my feet. I turned around and faced them as I noticed Itachi looking at something near the trees. "What? What are you looking at?" I asked. Itachi didn't answer as he continued to stare at something in the distance.

I followed his gaze and spotted a young woman. "A girl?" I mumbled. I examined her from head to toe. "I can't see her feet, and she's not touching the ground. Is she floating?" I wondered. "Then, she really is a ghost! She's come to haunt us!" Tobi yelled, dramatically.

I rolled my eyes. "I sincerely doubt that," I faced the girl as she held no emotion on her face. "Hey, are you lost?" I called to her. "Hurry..." The young woman spoke. "Hurry... Find me..." She said. Her voice was soft and it kind of echoed.

The young woman raised her hand and beckoned us over to her. "What do you think she wants?" Itachi asked. "Please... Find me... Hurry..." The young woman repeated as she continued to beckon us over. I took a small step forward and she floated back two centimeters.

"She wants us to follow her." I informed. "T-T-Tobi's not so s-sure about this, E-E-Eita. W-What if Ghost Girl leads us into a trap?" Tobi stuttered. "Then, go back to the base. I'll handle this on my own." I said, walking away. I followed the young woman as she floated backwards.

The more I followed her, the further back she floated as she continued to beckon me. 'Just where in the world is this woman leading me?' I thought with a small frown. Whatever it is, it seems pretty important to get me to follow her all the way out here.

The young woman suddenly disappeared in thin air, and I looked around. "Where did she go?" I mumbled. I glanced back when I heard a twig snapped from behind me. Instinctively, I spun around and took out a kunai knife.

The tip of the blade was just inches from Itachi's face as he stared at me with a calm expression on his face. "So you decided to come along after all, huh?" I said as I put my kunai knife away.

"I figured I'd come along and see where this girl was leading you. Tobi got too afraid and ran back to the hideout." He informed. "I don't give a damn where that scaredy-cat ran off to." I said, coldly.

"I just thought you should know."

"Whatever."

I turned away from him and began walking forward as Itachi followed behind. I pushed past a couple of bushes and spotted a small house in the distance.

The walls were badly crumbled as if the whole building would collapse at any moment and the windows were cracked while some were broken. "Looks pretty abandoned from a distance. Wonder if anyone's living in there?" I said.

"Let's go take a look." Itachi said, already walking towards the house. "Don't go crying to me when you get yourself killed." I muttered as I followed him.

The two of us entered the house and began looking around. "From the looks of this place, it definitely looks abandoned." Itachi said. "What's your point, Uchiha?" I asked, coldly. "So, why would the young girl lead us all the way out here to this house?" He asked.

"How the hell would I know? I don't personally know the girl!" I snapped. I spotted a flight of stairs, so I began to climb them. Itachi followed behind me and we entered an old-looking room. Spider webs were everywhere and it was dusty.

"Gross!" I quickly covered my nose with my hand. "What's that awful smell?" I asked. "And more importantly, where is it coming from?" Itachi asked as he scammed the room. "Over here..."

I looked towards my left when I heard that voice. "Huh?" Where did that come from?

"Here... I'm over here..."

I looked towards a closet and gave a suspicious frown. "Hmm..." I hummed to myself. "What is it, Eita?" Itachi asked. I didn't answer and walked over to the closet door. When I opened the door, a corpse came falling out.

I screamed as the corpse fell on me and brought both of us to the ground. I quickly crawled back until I bumped into Itachi's legs. The corpse was decayed and smelled horrible. "This must be hers. The young woman's corpse." Itachi said.

"So, that means... the woman was really a ghost?" I asked, in which Itachi nodded his head yes. "That's why she wanted us to follow her. She wanted us to find her body." He explained. "I see..." I stood to my feet and saw the woman appear by her body.

She looked at it, then back at us. She floated over to us and smiled before giving a bow. "Thank you..." She said, softly. She lifted her head and gave us a closed-eye smile before her spirit floated towards the ceiling and disappeared. "She's gone. She's moved on." Itachi informed.

"Yeah, I saw it." I said, sarcastically. We both looked up when we felt the building shake. "This place is going to collapse. We need to get out of here." Itachi said. I went to move until I stopped to look at the woman's corpse.

I frowned and went back for it. "Eita, what are you doing?" Itachi asked. "I'm not leaving her here like trash. She's a human being." I said, picking up the corpse. "Fine, but we have to go." Itachi said.

We exited through the window and landed on the ground just as the house collapsed. All that was left was a huge pile of wood, bricks, and dirt. "That was a close one." I said.

"Well? What do you plan to do with the body? Why take it out of the house when it was going to crumble along with the house?" Itachi asked. "Because..." I looked down at the decaying corpse in my arms before looking back at the remains of the house.

"Because she deserves a proper burial. There's no way I was letting her be buried in that stuff." I said. I placed the corpse on the ground and began digging a grave with my hands. "If you're not going to help, then go back to the base." I said as I continued to dig.

Itachi stood there for a moment, then began helping me dig the grave. Once it was done, I placed the corpse in the dirt, then buried her. I got two sticks and made them into a cross before placing them on the grave.

After I prayed for the dead woman, Itachi and I began walking back to the base. "So?" Itachi asked. "So what?" I said, returning the question.

"How do you think she died?"

"Excuse me?"

"The woman you buried. How do you think she died?"

"The hell would I know?"

I thought about it and remembered that I spotted stab wounds on her back. "She was stabbed," I said.

"Three times, I think. I don't have all the details to why she was murdered, but I know she was stabbed three times, then died from blood loss. Whoever did it must've panicked and didn't have time to think. So, they hid her body in the closet to cover up their crime."

"You think she was murdered?" Itachi asked. "What do you mean by that? Of course she was murdered. You think she did that to herself? Clueless Uchiha." I said, walking ahead of him.

Once we got to the base, I walked down the hall. "Where've you two been, un?" Deidara asked. I didn't answer as I made my way to my room. "What's his problem?" Deidara asked. "Why bother asking, Deidara? You know the kid's always been distant." I heard Kisame say.

Once I got to my room, I closed the door behind me and laid down on my bed.

"You're a big softie, you know that?" Inari mentioned. "What makes you say that?" I asked. "I was in phantom form. I saw how you went back for that girl's corpse, then later buried her. You have a nice heart, Eita." She said.

"And?" I asked. "Yet, when it comes to the Akatsuki and everyone in it, you're all cold and heartless. Not that I blame you. I hate it here, to. Always have, and always will." She said.

"So, what's your point?"

"I'm not making a point. I just haven't seen that soft side of you in a while."

I didn't reply as I stared at the ceiling. "It's been a long day. I need a nap." I said, turning on my side and closing my eyes.

Hey, everyone! Kureiji here! First off, Merry Christmas! And second, I need your guys' help. I'm thinking about doing a yaoi pairing with Eita and someone from Naruto, but I don't know who. So, I'm going to put the names of the characters below and I'd like you guys to pick which person should be with Eita. It would help me out a lot.

Itachi

Kisame

Deidara

Sasori

Tobi

Hidan

Kakuzu

Or for a change a pace, you can also choose:

Naruto

Sasuke

Kiba

Neji

Please help me decide who should be with Eita by voting on the members of Akatsuki above. I didn't put Konan's name on the list because I don't ship her with Eita. Anyway, please choose.

See you next time, and once again, Merry Christmas!

Kureiji out~