Violet's POV

Kankuro was the person who found Kiba.

I was rounding my millionth corner, on the verge of swearing for the first time in my life. Ari was the big cusser in our family, and Scar cursed sometimes. Me? I didn't want a potty mouth!

But my mouth dropped when I found Kankuro dragging Kiba by his ankles through the streets, with the Inuzuka only half dressed.

"Kitty!" I admonished as I ran up to him. It was close to dawn and I was tired. I felt like I was gonna collapse any second, and I was swaying on my feet. But I still managed to pout angrily when Kankuro looked up at me.

"What?" was all he said.

I crossed my arms and frowned at him. "We do not drag people around against their will!"

He shrugged and released his hold on Kiba, who promptly fell onto his butt in the dirt. He groaned, his eyes only just fluttering open.

"Wha' happened?" he slurred.

I smiled brightly despite my fatigue. "Sorry, Kiba, Kankuro doesn't have any manners. Did we wake you?"

"....Yes."

"Sorry!" I chirped. "But we need your help...." My smile slipped then, and I could feel the tears welling up in my wide eyes. Kiba went slack-jawed at the sight and quickly scrambled to his feet. Before he could ask what was wrong, however, we all the heard the sound of high-pitched barking, and Akamaru came barrelling out of nowhere and leaped for Kiba's chest. The two of them went sprawling in the dirt. You know, again.

"Hey buddy! Sorry I left. Some... friends needed my help." Kiba, his hand smoothing through the Ninken's soft fur, looked up at me quizzically, gently prodding me to go on.

I swallowed tightly. One hand came up to cover my mouth as a sob built up in my throat. I fought it back down and focused on the obviously worried boy in front of me. "Kiba.... can you track Ari's scent for me?"

"Ari?" He perked up immediately, getting to his feet faster than most people would've thought possible. "What happened to Ari?" His voice was as tight as mine, but his throat was closed from anger at whoever had caused my sister possible harm.

"I.... I don't know," I whispered.

Kiba didn't need further encouragement; he threw back his head and took several deep whiffs of the air. While he searched in a way only an Inuzuka could, I inched closer to Kankuro. Being so tired only made the worry weigh on me more, and I think he noticed me slipping. His arm came around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. 

I would have been suprised if I wasn't so out of it.

Suddenly, Kiba jerked around, muscles poised to run.

"That way," he growled.

I looked up at Kankuro, who was already watching me. "What about Temari and Gaara?"

"We're here!"

Temari glided down from some high building on her fan, which she strapped to her back the second her feet touched the ground. Not a second later, Gaara swirled into existence to the left of me and Kankuro. I gave him a small smile, knowing how torn up he must have been about Scar. He may not have shown it on the outside, but he cared for my sister. I knew it, Ari knew and maybe Scar did too now. 

He glared at the ground and refused to meet my eyes.

With I sigh, I edged away from Kankuro and motioned for Kiba to lead us to where he'd picked up Ari's scent. He took off like a shot, and the four of us were left to follow. 

Ari's POV

~I have my mother's dreams 
I have my father's eyes
You can't take that from me
Just go ahead and try
The crescent city sleeps
While giants in the sky
Preparing to unleash
Let loose a mighty cry

Can nobody save us?
Will anyone try?
The pyre is burning
The cypresses has said
And all along they're saying

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
One by land - two by sea
Right there in front of me
Help is on the way

Five thousand feet below
As black smoke engulfs the sky
The ocean floor explodes 
Eleven mothers cry
My bones all resonate 
A burning lullaby 
You can't take that from me
Just go ahead and try

She stands at the shoreline 
With hands in the air
Her words pierce the dark night 
Does anyone care
And all alone they say it

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
One by land - two by sea
Right there in front of me
Help is on the way

Right here! Right here! [x3]

Choking on the black gold
Upon which we rely
We keep actions in the attics
To see cameras in the sky

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)

We were told just to sit tight
'Cause somebody will soon arrive
Help is on the way
But it never came! 
It never came! 

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
One by land - two by sea
Right there in front of me
Help is on the way
On the wa--

 The battery on my iPhone finally died...

"Aw man!" I whined. "It cut off before the song ended!"

"I would offer you mind," Scar said, "but it died while I was trying to block out Vi's singing during our punishment."

I just glared at the now black screen of my phone. It was useless. Completely fracking useless. Frustrated, I chucked the dead weight against the opposite wall of our cell; it shattered with an auidble crack, splitnering into a thousand little pieces I didn't have the patience to put together again.

"As upset as you are, that was really a very uplifting song. For the most part," Scar added, referring to the line about how the help "never came". "Rise Against, correct?"

"Yeah, you know they're my favorite," I sighed. "Yours too, huh?"

"Yes. I particularly like The Good Left Undone."

"That's a good one."

Rise Against was my favorite punk rock band back in reality. I liked them so much, I even used one of their songs for a project for school. See, it had been anti-bullying week, and we had to do something--write a paper, a poem, do a skit, whatever--to show how we were against bullies and what not. I got up on stage in front of the entire seventh grade and sang Make It Stop (September's Children). I sounded pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

I got a D-.

But whatever, they didn't totally kill my self-esteem or anything. Cause I knew I was still a better singer than Violet.

I tipped my head back against the wall we were leaning on, another sighing puffing from my lips. "Can't we just meet Pain already?" I groaned. "These guys' hospitatilty sucks." I shifted one foot, and the sound of metal scratching against earth echoed off the stone walls. 

"I know how you feel," Scar said. She sounded grouchy. Maybe because we hadn't slept all night? "I'm not sure I even care what happens. I just want to end this ridiculous torture. Really? Chakra-stealing cuffs? They act as though we could defeat eleven S-Class criminals all by ourselves!"

"It'd be fun to try though, huh?" I grinned over at her and she returned it with an unimpressed look. "What?" I demanded innocently.

"Your definition of fun worries me a bit, Arianna."

"Oh don't pull the whole name card on me Scarlette!"

"You two don't know anything about hiding information, do you, un?"

Oh. I knew that speech impediment. My grin stretched from ear to ear as Scar groaned and buried her face in my shoulder. I raised a brow at her, but soon shook it off and turned to see none other than the blonde bomber himself standing outside our cozy little cell.

He, unlike Sasori, who stood next to him, was decked out in his Akatsuki cloak. He looked hot. I don't know why people always mistake him for a girl; he's manly. Sorta. Too bad he died... Well, he went out with a bang like he always wanted!

I shrugged in answer to his question. "Scar says I don't know how to keep my mouth shut," I told him, grinning all the while.

Deidera just sweat dropped.

Sasori, on the other hand, was smirking. At my sister.

Kami, I smell an epic Sand Village love triangle going on here!

"You guys here for a reason?" I asked casually, suppressing my inner urge to fangirl over having the two players in my SasoDei fantasy.... Right. In. Front. Of. Me. "Or are you just gawking or something?"

"Leader-sama wishes to see you."

"And he's too high and mighty to just come down here himself?"

"He is "God" after all," Scar muttered to me. I hid my smirk with a hand, afraid I'd crack up laughing and give the blonde a terrible first impression of me. Ooh, was it too late for that?

Deidera and Sasori didn't see the need to answer my very good question. They unlocked the cell and threw open the door, before padding inside. Deidera undid the chains on our ankles and hauled us roughly to our feet. I muttered some unfriendly words under my breath at the harsh treatment, but didn't feel like getting blown up, so I made sure neither man heard. Scar was passed (unsurprisingly) to Sasori, who took her by the arm and started walking her out into the open room of the dungeon.

But I saw the weirdest expression on Scar's face as she looked down at the hand holding her...

Oh well. I'd ask her later.

The two of us were blindfolded (no idea why). Then we began the long, long, long trip to wherever Pain had his office. 

I was surprised no one had mentioned how much I looked like Konan....

"So, un," Deidera began after we had walked for maybe ten minutes in absolute, horrifying silence. "Do you like art?"

"Please don't," Scar begged in a tired voice.

Too late!

"Of course I love art!" I exclaimed gleefully, bouncing on the balls of my feet. "And I think real, true art is fleeting. Beauty is in that second before it disappears, ya know? It's really burned into your memory when it isn't there to be stared at anymore."

Sasori let out a groan somewhere off to my right, along with Scar.

And yet, Deidera was ecstatic. Like I knew he would be.

"See, Danna!" he practically shouted. "That is true art! Not your creepy little puppets, yeah!"

"Listen brat," Sasori shot back monotonously, "that girl obviously doesn't know what she's saying. She's probably suffered head trauma from when you knocked them out."

Deidera was there too? How unfair! I never saw him!

"Is it too much trouble to agree to disagree?" Scar sighed. "In any case, isn't art something that becomes something different to whoever looks at it? It's meant, I believe, to hold different meanings. Art is not static; it's ever-changing, and will always be that way. Though, I'll admit I prefer art I can see with my own eyes whenever I'd like. It seems unfair to create something beautiful only to have it disappear a moment later."

(Note from Scar: No, I did not say that to gain Sasori's attention, as Ari did with Deidera. That is my true belief about art. Don't judge me as just another fangirl who will say or do anything to look good in front of her obsession.)

"Danna, you brainwashed her! Yeah!"

"I did no such thing." There was a smirk in Sasori's voice, I could hear it! He was definitely impressed by Scar's answer. "This child appears to have brains, unlike you, brat."

"Yeah! Scar's really smart!" I interjected. Even though I couldn't see it, I knew she was glaring blood-stained daggers at me. I mentally shrugged; I was bored. "She used to help me with homework all the time. And she reads a lot, which I don't really get. Reading's a little boring for my taste."

"Ari," she hissed. "Quit the foolishness and keep your mouth shut."

"I would have to agree," Sasori added. "As... interesting as this conversation is, Leader-sama will most likely kill you if you speak out of turn. So be silent."

I rolled my eyes (an effect that was totally lost with the whole blindfold thing), but complied and zipped my lips. There was the sound of a door being pushed open, and then Scar and I were pushed inside a room.

It felt really spacious.

The blindfold fell away from my eyes, and I blinked in the sudden light. It took a minute, but I was finally able to readjust, and everything came back into focus.

Including the violet-haired woman, standing beside a man with orange hair and a hell of a lot of piercings. 

Pain sat behind his fancy wood desk. Stacks of paper were spread around him, along with some scrolls, brushes and a few other assorted items I couldn't be bothered to look at. His hands were linked in front of his face, his ringed purpled eyes trained on a document just in front of him. Konan was at his side, also peering down at the paper. She was the first to look up when we came in.

Her eyes widened as she took in my appearance, but she didn't say anything about it.

Damn. I wanted her to go all freaky on me and start screaming that I stole her look or something. Woulda made my day!

She lightly tapped Pain (Really Nagato in Yahiko's body. It was kinda creepy, but I thought Yahiko was a lot better looking than Nagato, so I wasn't complaining) on the shoulder, and he looked away from his paperwork to see us standing awkwardly just inside the doorway.

"Thank you, Sasori, Deidera. Wait outside so that you can retrieve them when we've finished."

Good God, I loved his voice.

Sasori and Deidera nodded and went back out the door, closing it securely behind them. Well darn, that ruined my epic plan of running away into the hallways I couldn't remember, to an exit I wasn't sure even existed.

Caught me red-handed, Leader-sama.

"Do you two understand why I've had you brought here?"

"You wanted to adopt some orphans?" I offered.

Scar slapped a hand over my mouth. Again.

Pain's emotionless look didn't waver at my outburst. Though I thought Konan might've cracked a smile. She was going to be my big sister. It was my new mission.

"No," he said shortly as he propped his chin up on his intertwined fingers. "We've been observing you these past few weeks. Along with your sister."

Scar and I both tensed up at the mention of Violet.

"We noticed how close you've become to the Ichibi."

Scar bit back a gasp.

"You've become the perfect hostages in order to draw out the One Tail."

Shit.

"No harm will come to you, as long as you don't cause trouble among the rest of the organization," he went on, like he hadn't just stabbed us in the hearts. "But know this: The moment the Ichibi comes to us to fetch you, all of you will die. The Ichibi will be removed from its host, and we'll be one step closer to our goal. Feel proud that you are helping a new age come to the Shinobi world."

With that, he recalled Sasori and Deidera and instructed them to place us in a vacant room. The blindfolds were forgotten and we were shuffled from the room, only to be forced into another. It was sparse, with only one bed, and no windows. Nothing else was in there.

I collapsed onto the bed, my legs having given out from shock.

What the hell?!

Scar remained standing, head turned to the still-open door where Sasori stood. Deidera had gone off the moment he was done with us.

"He won't come." She was lying through her teeth. We both knew what the Sand Siblings would do to get us back. They didn't show it, but they loved us. And even if they for some reason didn't, Vi would be here the second she figured out where we were. Which was just as bad. If Gaara didn't come and she did, we'd all just be killed.

But if he did come....

All it took was Deidera in the anime. Only one Akatsuki member was enough to defeat Gaara, after the two or so year time skip. 

"It seems you're selling yourself short," Sasori replied as he turned away. Over his shoulder, he added, "Even monsters are weak to their pitiful emotions."

The door slammed shut, and was locked from the outside.

That was the first time in eight years where I saw my sister cry.