~~~~~

When Kana woke up, she found herself in her bed, still wearing her mission clothes. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes before throwing off the covers and sitting up. She changed out of her battle kimono and put on a simple red T-shirt and black sweatpants, along with her sandals.

She left her room in search of Itachi, or anyone for that matter. She wasn't sure what time it was and she still had more training to do. She was giddy to tell Sasori that she mastered tree/wall walking.

"Kana, great timing!"

Kana turned around and smiled when she saw Konan. The woman smiled back and gave the girl a gentle hug, patting her messy hair.

"Pein-sama wants to see you." Konan said.

"Pein-sama?" Kana repeated. "Am I in trouble?"

"I don't think so, but don't worry, I'll be there with you." Konan promised.

"Okay, let's go." Kana nodded.

They walked in silence to Pein's office, down the dark hallways and stopping at the office door. Konan didn't even need to knock before Pein called out in his low rugged voice. After being welcomed in, the two girls stepped into the dimly lit office, their eyes already used to the dark thanks to the always dark interior of the base. 

"I know this is a little soon," Pein sighed, keeping eye contact with Kana. "But I'd like you to tag along on another mission, Kana."

"Who will I be going with?" Kana asked. "Is it Sasori and Deidara? Or maybe Kisame? Konan?"

"No," Pein answered smoothly, folding his hands together on top his desk. "You will go with me."

"Just the two of you?" Konan asked. "Am I going as well?"

"You cannot come with us," Pein grumbled. "I need someone to remain in charge while I'm gone."

"Alright, I'll stay here and be in charge," Konan sighed. "But at least tell me where you two will be headed."

"Into the area surrounding Takigakure." Pein replied.

"What business do you have in Taki?" Konan asked incredulously.

"This is about that conversation we had about funding," Pein replied. "We now have more members, more things to buy, including food and tools. At least Kana doesn't require food, less to buy." 

"So who are you recruiting?" Konan asked.

"Kakazu of the Jiongu." Pein replied.

"The man rumoured to have immortality?" Konan gasped. "You do realize that even Taki isn't sure that he is alive, right?"

"I am aware," Pein replied. "If he is alive, he would be very old by now, probably pushing almost ninety or a hundred."

"What evidence do you have that he is alive?" Konan asked, crossing her arms.

"A man has been spotted turning in bounties for money at bounty stations at the edge of the Land of Earth, Kusagakure, and even the Land of Fire." Pein explained. "He has already shown that he is quite good at bounty hunting, he will rein in the funds."

"While this is a great plan and all, you do realize that Kakazu is known to be quite violent, along with the fact that he doesn't get along well with others." Konan sighed.

"Which is why we will have to find him an unkillable partner." Pein reasoned.

"Another immortal?" Konan sighed. "I hope you realize that immortals don't just fall out of the sky."

"Which is why I've already begun looking into a possible partner." Pein replied.

"What haven't you already thought of?" Konan sighed.

"I haven't decided on which team will retrieve him," Pein grumbled. "To be safe, we all may go. He is immortal after all, wounds will not slow him down."

"Who the hell is this guy?" Konan scoffed.

"Tell me, Konan," Pein said, leaning forward. "Have you heard of Jashinism?"

Konan froze. Just where the hell was this conversation going?

~~~~~

Kana watched in complete and utter confusion as Pein and Konan spoke back and forth, asking and answering questions. Words were constantly being tossed around, words that she didn't understand. Taki? Jashinism? Jiongu? Immortality? It was all a blur of unknown words. However, the conversation did eventually end.

"Kana, go meet Sasori for training, after that you will go pack for the mission." Pein ordered. "Pack enough of all you need for about a week, maybe a bit more. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Pein-sama." Kana replied, listening carefully.

"Good, we leave the day after tomorrow," Pein said. "Use your spare time wisely."

Konan and Kana promptly left the office after that, the little girl wondering what questions she should ask.

"Can I ask you some questions, Konan?" Kana asked.

"Once we get to your room, we have to comb your hair and get you ready for training." Konan replied.

"Okay," Kana huffed.

~~~~~

Her hair now sat in a neat ponytail on her head and a pouch of kunai was settled around her waist. She passed Itachi in the hallway and waved, stopping to give Deidara a hug when he nearly cried. Kisame and Kana shared a friendly fist bump as she went on her way, making sure that she didn't make eye contact with Zetsu when he popped out of nowhere. Thankfully, she made it to the training room, where a slightly annoyed Sasori stood with his arms crossed.

"Finally, I thought you were skipping for a while there." He sighed.

"Sorry, Pein-sama wanted to see me." Kana replied.

"What did he need?" Sasori asked.

"He wants me to go on a mission with him." Kana shrugged.

"Another one?" Sasori huffed. "You just got back though."

Kana just shrugged, bringing Sasori's attention back to her training.

"Anyway, I want you to go stand on the ceiling," Sasori ordered. "I need to see how well you're doing."

Kana nodded and set to work, concentrating on directing the flow of chakra to her feet just enough so that she would stick. She planted one foot on the wall and gave it an experimental tug, when the foot didn't come free, she put her other foot onto the wall. She walked up the wall until she reached the ceiling, where she now hung upside down by her feet. Sasori looked up at her, his eyes full of pride.

"Well done," Sasori praised her. "Now for the next steps of your chakra control training."

"What's next?" Kana eagerly asked.

"Water walking, and my favourite skill..." Sasori paused, building the suspense. "Chakra strings."

"What do chakra strings do?" Kana asked.

"Lot's of things really," Sasori said, just as a kunai wriggled out of his pouch and hovered above him. "Like this."

The kunai span horizontally, until it was just a gray blur. Suddenly, the kunai flew into a wall, burying itself up to the hilt in the wall.

"Or something like," Sasori unfurled a scroll and a puppet popped out. "This."

The blank wooden puppet, about the size of a doll, twirled around like a dancer, leaping and bouncing as if it were alive.

"Teach it to me already!" Kana exclaimed. "What's first?"

"First, you need to touch an object and push chakra through your fingertips and into the object," Sasori explained, demonstrating with a kunai. "Slowly move your hand away, and when you think you've got it, drop the object and hold the string."

Another kunai float next to Sasori, but this time, the string was visible. Sasori overcharged the string with chakra to make it visible. Sasori snatched the kunai and the string vanished, he then tucked the kunai away and looked to his student.

"What are you staring at?" Sasori scoffed. "Get to it!"

A/N

This is very off topic, but I need to vent right now. My family is having a bit of a fight and I wrote most of this while hiding out in my room. I apologize if the chapter seems to be lesser quality than usual, but it's hard to write tame stuff when you feel nothing but sadness. I know we will get past this fight, but it still hurts. I don't need sympathy, these things happen in life, you don't have to care either. I'm just ranting. I hope you're all having a lovely day though! DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT!