Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Kaliegh was leaning against the counter, eating dumplings. She should be helping her sister, but if Aaliyah was taking a break then she could too. All that she'd been allowed to do for almost three months was eat and walk. And she was barely allowed to do that. She's gained about fifteen pounds, which her sister insisted was fine. She didn't think so, especially since she held weight mostly in her thighs and breasts. So it just made all her shirts belly shirts and all her pants too small to fit over her hips.

"I gotta say, Fyuuki and Fjerion do better every time." Kaleigh stated, surprising Aaliyah. "The last time they revived someone's soul into another body it barely worked. But this... this is insane." She stood up and walked over to Aaliyah, thoroughly impressed, more with her sisters work than Kakuzu himself.

Aaliyah nodded to Kakuzu. She accepted his graditude without him having to actually thank her. She was good at what she did because she stayed silent. Especially around men like this. But Kaliegh did things quite differently, even though she wasn't supposed to be fighting, it wouldn't stop Kaliegh from running her mouth.

"Kaliegh!" Lillian chided. "Never mind antagonizing him."

Kakuzu slowly turned his gaze as the dark haired one spoke. She spoke with conviction, and wasn't afraid to speak her mind despite the fact that she was talking to a full member of the Akatsuki. Kakuzu didn't care who you were, talking like that to him took stones. She may still be an idiot, but at least she had some actual courage to stand on her own two feet with. There were few female kunoichi like that left in the world. Everyone seemed to insist that women either needed to be mothers or medics, there were so few REAL female warriors out there.

"And you would be?" Kakuzu asked simply as he looked towards the girl.

Kaliegh glared at her sister. "I'm not bullshitting him. I'm complimenting the work my sister's can do. And like I give a damn what he thinks, Lillian. Just because I'm not allowed to fight right now doesn't mean I can't." She was angry at her sister for forcing her to wait this long. it was over exerting herself that made her sick in the first place, but she'd been weak before and she;d overcome it, it wasn't a big deal. The longer she waited, the harder it would be for her body to recover.

Hearing Kakuzu address her, she turned to face him. "I'm Kaliegh." She answered simply, resting one of her hands on her hip. "I'd ask who you are, but you need no introduction."

Kakuzu continued to listen on to the conversation that the dark haired one had with the other woman. It was an interesting conversation, and one that Kakuzu could easily relate to. Apparently Kaliegh was unable to fight and also wasn't allowed to. Kakuzu had been there only an hour ago, had Pein not had those hearts ready Kakuzu might just be a paralyzed cripple right now. He would rather die than be without his strength.

She had a fire within her.

When Kaliegh made her comment Kakuzu raised an eyebrow curiously. "You know who I am?"

Kaliegh laughed at his question. "What're you high? You tried to kill the first Hokage, and you almost leveled Kakashi of the Sharingan. Of course I know who you are. I've broken into Konoha a hundred times. They hospitalized Kakashi for his fight with you. For almost three months. He lucky he's still a shinobi now. Not to mention, my sisters are the ones that gave you back your life, and I was one of the people that helped gather those men you killed. It's always better to kill the worthless shinobi so they don't go around fucking shit up for the rest of us."

"Almost leveled?" Kakuzu repeated as if he was surprised that such a statement would be made. "You should have been there, had it not been for my dumbass or a partner or the fact that he had ten shinobi backing him up I would have ripped his heart out easily," Kakuzu said as he recalled the battle perfectly. There were two times when he had Kakashi in his grip only to have someone else interfere.

All the same, Kakuzu was impressed that the girl's knowledge was so precise and thorough. "I suppose I should be honored that even two years after my death my record is still so easily recalled," Kakuzu commented as he crossed his arms and kept his green and red eyes focused on Kaliegh. "I believe you said it best, natural selection allows the weak to be killed off so that the strong can rise."

Kaliegh smirked at him. He wasn't like the others here. He recognized that she was more than what she was. No one else seemed to notice, especially Youki and Pein. Since she'd had her surgery, Youki had angrily waited until she could fight again. He wanted her power, but understood that she was unable to do battle.

"That natural selection you preach of would have cost you your life, Kaliegh, now come here and go back to making dumplings." Lillian warned. The way this man looked at her young sister concerned it. It was the look she'd seen men give women many times and she wanted to keep her sister safe. Of all the men for her sister to become involved with, this was not the one she would ever think to choose.

As Lillian interrupted the conversation, it seemed to cause Kakuzu to snap out of his thoughts that he was absorbed in. He shook his head for a moment before turning back to Aaliyah. "Once again, thank you for saving my life. I will not forget it anytime soon," Kakuzu said honestly before he turned and focused his attention back on Pein.

"Leader, I believe that I have taken care of everything necessary. With your permission I will now depart to Konoha."

Pein was quiet surprised too. Kakuzu had never given much attention to anyone before. Kaliegh was one of Youki's siblings that he knew next to nothing about. She wasn't much of a fighter, he had never seen her train, fight, or even pick up a weapon. All he had seen of her was cooking and eating. perhaps there was more to this woman than that. "You have my persmission." Pein nodded. "Whenever you wish to leave."

Aaliyah smiled at him, glad that he was willing to owe her a debt. Hopefully, she could find a way to collect on that, especially if it would keep Shino alive. She wished she could warn Konoha, but she was trapped here. They would figure out, very soon, that they had failed. Kakuzu lived.

Kaliegh, on the other hand, wasn't too pleased with her sister. As Kakuzu started to walk away, she sighed. "Hey." She said, wanting his attention, but wasn't demanding it. "When you go to Konoha, if you have some left over time after you kill and pillage, they have some of those really good fried wantons I like."

"Kaliegh! Those aren't good for you!"

The black haired woman laughed. "Lil, relax. What's the point of being alive if I can't enjoy it?" She put her hand in the pocket of her pants and tossed Kakuzu money. "If you can't bring me some, it's fine. But I'd appreciate it if you at least tried."

"I shall leave immediately. Konoha may be wondering how a body was stolen, but I can guarantee you that they won't be expecting me to show up," Kakuzu said with the very slightest of smiles. "I'll be making a stop to grab a few supplies that I think I'll need, but other than that I'll be heading there as fast as I can," Kakuzu said before turning and starting to walk out of the room.

Before he was able to completely leave the room he heard the girl call out to him. He turned to her only slightly before hearing her request. As the money was tossed to him he grabbed it out of the air with ease before thumbing it. Kakuzu knew his money and just by fingering it knew exactly how much had been thrown at him.

"Considering where I'm going I won't promise anything....but I'll see what I can do," Kakuzu said before turning and walking out of the room.

Lillian glared at her sister as Kakuzu walked away. Oh she was going to kill her.

"Can you make more of those little spicy origini things you make?" Kaliegh asked her sister as she went back to chopping, but was still eating.

Lillian sighed.

- - - -

A few days had passed since Aaliyah had taken Kakuzu's body, and things were tense. Sasuke was 'released' from the hospital and allowed to return home. Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke were still conducting secret meetings, usually with Suigetsu, and often times with Karin, whenever she wasn't with Kano.

Things were going well, Kano's infatuation with her was starting to show. He did everything for her attention and affection. Her playing hard to get was working and he was chasing her.

It had been about two days since Kakuzu entered in to Konoha. He had to admit that while he almost missed his old body, having a new one had its advantages. No one recognized him and no one was going to point out who he was anytime soon. He had been able to blend in with the crowds, using nothing more than acting casual as a means of deception.

He had found her by the end of the first day by staking out the hospital. After that it was just a matter of following her home and figuring out where she lived. She had a son but otherwise lived alone. It was going to be even easier than he thought it would be. Kakuzu was an operator, he hadn't been picked in to Akatsuki on strength alone. He was by far one of the more strategic members of the team.

After watching her for another day he figured out her basic pattern of life. It was upon this third day that he would make his strike. He used an earth jutsu to sink in to the ground before rising up in to the house, making it look like from the outside that no one had broken in at all. Now it was merely a waiting game. When she came home, she would be in for quite the nightmare that Kakuzu was all too willing to provide.

Ino hated working nights, so the fact she had been given the blessed day shift was amazing. Since Sakura was pregnant again, the two of them were alternating shifts to give Sakura some more time to rest. Since Ino had Deino, she was also given more days off and Shizune started to work more. Thankfully, Chouji had agreed to watch Deino, so she could work and get some sleep. She felt a little guilty not going to get her son right when she got out of work, but Deino liked talking to her whenever they hadn't seen one another for a while. And she wasn't up for listening. After sleeping for a few hours, she would be fine to spend the day with him until he had to go to bed.

She went into her house, not even bothering to lock the door once she was inside. She tossed her stuff on the chair in the living room and pulled down her long hair. It cascaded down her back, now reaching her hips. She shook her head, running her hand through her hair and started to walk through her house, toward her bedroom. Screw it. She could shower when she woke up.

The house was completely dark since Ino had only just gotten home. Darkness was a shinobi's best friend. It made the art of hiding, deception, and even intimidation so much easier to pull off. The moment that Ino opened the door to her room she would be greeted by a single message.

"Welcome home Ino Yamanaka."

Without any more warning a hand suddenly appeared before gripping Ino around by the throat. In the darkness it'd be hard for Ino to make anything out, even the fact that the hand appeared to not be connected to a body but rather several long black chords that might appear familiar to her if she focused long enough. Slowly the hand pulled her towards her attacker before the hand connected completely to the man's arm. Without hardly putting any effort the man lifted her in to the air.

"Hello, no chance you remember me do you?" Kakuzu asked as he stared right at Ino. With his other arm he reached over and turned the lamp on, wanting to get a good look at the fear in this girl's face.

Ino stopped dead when she heard a voice. A hand shot out and grabbed her, and she instantly recognized the sensation. Only one person had ever done this. before he even drew her close, she knew who he was. Aaliyah failed. She betrayed them. She screamed, and choking, holding his arm, scratching it, trying to get him to let her go.

She struggled against him, looking up at him, fear in her blue eyes. He wasn't strangling her, so that was a good thing at least. "Y-you..." she managed. "You're here... for D-Deidara." she realized, and the fear seemed to melt away from her features.

Well, Kakuzu wasn't sure what exactly to expect from Ino when she put two and two together, but she seemed more calm than anything. And how on earth did she know what he was here for? Did she so quickly realize that he had been brought back to life and now wanted to do the same of Deidara? He ignored her pitiful attempts at scratching him, he hardly felt it anyway.

"You seem rather calm, much more so than I expected," Kakuzu admitted as he narrowed his eyes. "Tell me girl, how did you know what I was coming for?"

"Four of our shinobi broke into the Akatsuki and heard your plan." She told him, knowing that it was stupid to lie. He probably already knew. "uchiha Sasuke pretended to be Itachi, and was even given missions from Pein. We knew what you wanted before your body was stolen. We don't know how it was accomplished." She gripped his hand a little tighter so she could breathe. "You want back the four men you lost, three, with the loss of you. Deidara and your partner are both here. You want them back." She said, staring up into those blue and red eyes.

Somehow, she didn't fear him now, as she had before. Maybe it was because she knew that he'd kill her for revenge. Or, because he would let her live and just wanted her to think that she'd die.

She was speaking quickly and told him exactly what he wanted to hear. Good, she wasn't going to try to bullshit him. She knew exactly who and what she was dealing with, that was going to make intimidating her much easier now at the very least. Kakuzu eased his grip to allow her to breathe, allowing her mind to believe that he wasn't here for the sole purpose of killing her. In truth he hadn't fully decided what he was going to do with her.

"My partner can wait for the time being, you will take me to where Deidara's body is now."

Ino hesitated for a moment, staring at him. "I want to see him again." She said, as if that was her sole motivation in all of this. "If he rises, just as you have, I want to see him. He died for me, so that I could live. As impulsive, and foolish, and childish as Deidara could be, he did something selfless and saved my life. I owe him so much more than just giving him back his life. I will take you to him, regardless, but I want to see him again." She said quietly. "And I know that you can tell him that, when he comes back." She said to him, holding his arm, since he had not yet put her down.

Kakuzu listened as the girl made her little plea towards him. So she missed the father of her baby and was willing to deliver the body to see him alive again? How cute, something that a naive shinobi of Konoha would want. Only someone from Konoha would deliver such a powerful shinobi to Akatsuki in exchange for so little.

Kakuzu released his grip and allowed for Ino to drop to the floor. "You will lead me to where he is, quietly. If I suspect that you are up to anything, I will not hesitate to kill you. Am I understood?"

Ino nodded simply. "I understand. But if you don't put me down and let me put my hair up, someone will know that something is wrong." It was rare for Ino to have her hair completely down, and she almost never went outside that way, simply because she had too much hair and it would be in her way and cover too much of bher body. The one time she did leave the house without it, everyone stopped to talk to her and ask her if she was alright, since she looked much different than usual.

Finally, Kakuzu put her down, and she put her hair up in a ponytail once more. She then hesitated for a moment, wondering if she could change, but decided it wasn't worth him watching her change. She grabbed the key to her house and left, as if it was any other day. Slowly, she took his hand when they were outside, not to draw suspicion to them.

Kakuzu waited until they were outside to put a smile on his face. All these Konoha shinobi walked around with the biggest damn grins on their faces, it pissed him off to see such ignorant people. He would act like them for the time being, but the sooner he could drop the act the better.

When Ino took his hand he looked at her curiously, wondering if she was used to dating random men. After all he didn't work at the hospital, so would people just assume that she was dating someone random that wasn't related to her work? From what Kakuzu saw she barely had a social life. Still, he wasn't going to complain. If this was her way of signaling for help it was a terrible one, with her hand in his he could kill her within moments. So for now he held that smile and walked alongside her, like he didn't have a care in the world.

Ino brought him just outside the village and lead him to something that looked like a small unmarked grave. "Konoha wouldn't let an Akatsuki be buried inside our walls." She told him. She knew that he wasn't interested in hearing about this, but it just made her feel better to talk to him as if he was a human being and she wasn't selling out her village to see the man she loved again. It just eased her own guilt, really. She loved Konoha, but she had loved Deidara too, and the chance to have him back, even just to see him was far worth any price she was willing to pay, even if it cost her the trust of the village - something she lost when she had Deino.

She watched him unearth the grave she'd made herself, and couldn't help but look away from what she was afraid to see.

Ino was right, Kakuzu didn't care that much about Ino's story. Deidara was clearly a fool that let himself get killed over something stupid. Kakuzu supposed that he really shouldn't be that surprised. One of the first times that Kakuzu had met Deidara in person, he heard about how Deidara had tried to fight Itachi. BIG mistake on that one. And another time Kakuzu had to reattach both of Deidara's arms because they had been ripped off by Kakashi. What a fool, would Akatsuki really benefit by having him back?

Kakuzu made a single hand sign and caused the earth surrounding the body to pull away. Yes, as Kakuzu suspected it was partially decaying already. That was easily fixed though. Kakuzu pulled out the summoning scroll and quickly performed the technique that would allow the body to be sealed within the scroll.

"You can look now," Kakuzu said as it was completed and he placed the scrolls back in his cloak.

Ino let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. she looked at him again. This wasn't over, and she knew that, but she felt almost weightless, as if she had already died. Having Deidara gone from this place was horrible to her. And she was saddened by it. "Is that all?" She asked, quietly. "Or are you going to kill me?"