Chapter 10

Intimidating. Menacing. Scary.

Nozomi could do nothing but stare at the man in front of her. Everything about him screamed dangerous and it felt like if she even attempted to look away, he would kill her on the spot. It was like her mind had drawn a blank as he stepped closer to her; what was she going to do? Seeing the others leave the room out of the corner of her eye, she silently willed for them to stay.

"Nozomi Shidou, correct?"

She didn't even realize her throat had gone dry when she tried to respond. Nodding slowly, she let out the breath she was holding so she could answer him properly. "Y-Yes, sir…"

"I am Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki." His deep voice filled the room as he moved closer to her. His footsteps echoed loudly in her ears, no doubt a result of her heightened senses due to the adrenaline rush she was feeling. The man squatted down in front of her and, automatically, Nozomi shrunk back and squeezed her eyes shut. She could feel his cool hands brushing against hers before the strain of her wrists suddenly lightened. He was… untying the rope?

"I would advise you not to run. I'm not going to hurt you unless you force me to."

Cracking open one of her eyes, she peered into those of Pain's. The rings were mesmerizing, as if he was going to put her under hypnosis or something. "How will I know you won't?"

"It's my word against yours."

Once her wrists were free, she held them in front of her and rubbed the slightly bruised skin. Although Pain stood up and stepped back away from her, she didn't try to move. "Please, sir, I really don't know anything. I didn't even know the Akatsuki was a group or something to that extent. I thought it was a person this whole time, I swear-"

"I'm not here for that."

Nozomi blinked in surprise at his words. So he wasn't going to torture her, kill her, then leave her body to rot with the maggots in the middle of the forest? Her body wanted to relax but she was far from that state. There were still too many variables. That didn't mean that the other people who left earlier wouldn't come back to finish the job.

"C-Can I ask why I'm here?"

Pain looked down at the little doe in front of him. It was evident that she was scared and she posed no threat. What did Kakuzu see in her that allowed her to stay so close to him? "I apologize for your previous treatment. One of your experiences has piqued my interest, so I would like to have a conversation."

The female thought about what he said as she slowly stood up. Conversation as in just words? Maybe if she cooperated and talked to him, he could possibly answer some of the questions she had. "Okay."

"To my understanding, you know of a jutsu that can bring back the deceased? Explain it."

Memories rushed into her head as she thought of his request. Looking down at the floor, she clutched her shirt by her chest. Never did she think that she would have to relive those moments. Of course, she had thought about it everyday since it happened, but when she dove too deep, she would pull herself out and close the door. Speaking up, Nozomi started from the beginning and explained in as much detail as she could.

"I'm not sure if he created it or if he altered a known jutsu, but my father figured out a way to bring back the dead by placing their spirit inside a host. I don't know about all of the ins and outs, but the preparation involved thousands of bodies of men, women, and… children. It was horrifying and disgusting..." Flashes of the scene invaded her mind as she spoke; it felt as if she was back in that crater seeing her family again for the first time in a while. "He formed a few signs and all the chakra that was trapped in the bodies was released and gathered into a ball. Once that was done, the chakra ball swallowed the host whole and after a few more hand signs, everything went dark."

"What were the hand signs?"

Nozomi raised her hands to try and show him since she didn't know the names but they were shaking badly. This was the first time she allowed herself to see through the whole story. Biting her lip to try and force herself to calm down, she showed the hand signs the best she could remember. Visualizing her father doing these same actions, tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

"So, the jutsu revolves around a substantial number of sacrifices…" Pain mulled over the thought, ignoring her emotions for the time being. Overall, the idea sounded very rudimentary. Seeing the state of the female in front of him, it was obvious that she was heavily involved in the process. "...and I assume that you were the intended host."

Nozomi's bangs shaded her eyes as she nodded silently. "My father and brother were trying to bring back my mother, and they succeeded. It was so cold and dark being there by myself. Just like that, I was replaced and honestly, I would've rather died. All those years, I wasn't wanted but it's mind blowing to realize the lengths people will go to fulfill their dreams or sick, twisted fantasies. But even now, I can't blame them. At first, I had come to terms with my fate and… I wanted to die so badly…" Nozomi was silent for a moment, basking in the words that had so easily escaped her lips before she gasped and looked up at Pain.

"I-I'm so sorry. I went on a tangent…"

"It's alright. You can continue."

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Nozomi went back to the story at hand. "I'm assuming that once the jutsu is complete, the host dies too but I was still there as a spirit. I could see and hear everything, but no one could see me, besides my mother. I had to pull myself together and talk to my mother to get back in my body. My father, on the other hand, was weakening by the second and it looked like he was aging a year a minute."

Pain was silent once she finished talking. The jutsu was unstable and most likely a rush job out of sheer impatience which resulted in its failure. There was potential, but too much research and ground work would be needed for a more developed end product. Age acceleration was an undesired consequence, but it isn't unreasonable. After all, you were defying the laws of nature.

"Thank you for the information, Ms. Shidou."

"You aren't going to try it, are you?" Nozomi stepped towards Pain, ignoring her earlier feelings of cautiousness. "That jutsu is very dangerous and it's not beneficial for anyone. It only ends in suffering." Her hands dropped to her sides as she frowned. "Contrary to popular belief, hell is a very cold place…"

"Do you act the same way with Kakuzu?"

Nozomi's eyes widened. Looking away from Pain, she pondered her thoughts before answering him. "Kakuzu-san is the sole reason why I'm alive right now. I owe him everything and I'll do anything in my power to make sure I don't cause him any more trouble than I already have."

Pain raised an eyebrow at her words. "Are you insinuating that I am troubling him?"

"N-No sir!" Nozomi immediately shook her head. "I didn't mean it that way! I just want to stay by Kakuzu-san's side! He means that much to me."

"I see."

The room became silent once more and Nozomi grimaced as she fiddled with her fingers in nervousness. She had done it now… Everything was going fine, but she just had to open her big mouth and overshare like she always did. The only thing was, everything she said was true. Kakuzu was all she had left and she didn't want to do anything that would cause her to be all alone. Her hell, she'd been there before. It was empty and unforgiving and she wouldn't wish it on the worst of her enemies - not even her father or brother. Despite everything, she regretted the last words she had uttered to her father, which were spoken out of sheer rage.

"We are alike in some aspects, Nozomi Shidou." Pain started talking again.

Nozomi furrowed her brows in confusion. "...We are?"

"I would like to extend to you an invitation to become a citizen of Amegakure." He continued. "As a civilian, you can start over, live, and grow."

She was awestruck. He was giving her a chance to start over? Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of the aspect of having a home again. The first vision that popped in her mind was the apartment and Kakuzu. A smile tugged at the ends of her lips and she quickly bowed to Pain. "Thank you so much, sir! I'm very grateful!"

Pain nodded as she stood up straight again. "To address your previous thoughts, the Akatsuki is an organization that is created for world peace. As Kakuzu is a member, it may be hard to be by his side as you say, however citizenship in Amegakure can possibly lighten that burden."

An organization for world peace… The words lingered in Nozomi's mind for a moment before she pushed them aside. She was ecstatic that she could truly start over, however there was still a problem at hand. Frowning, she glanced out the window behind her at the glowing moon. "My family still owes a hefty debt to Kirigakure. I doubt they will be so willing to let me go without payment."

"I assume you weren't going to utilize Kakuzu as a resource."

"There's no way I could do that." Nozomi shook her head sadly. "Especially after everything he's already done for me." Not to mention the fact that she still owed him his bounty payment too. As a thought hit her, her eyes averted from the moon to the yard. "Mr. Pain, may I ask you a favor?"

Pain watched the female intently. "What is it?"

"Can you supervise me digging in the yard? My father stashed some of his funds there and I could really use them to help pay back the debt." She looked him the eye so he knew she was telling the truth. "I promise I won't run away. You have my word."

"I will hold you to it." She wouldn't be able to run regardless. The moment she stepped outside the property line without his permission, she would cease to exist. However, she knew that already.

Finding a shovel outside of the house, Nozomi went to work digging hole after hole.Tirelessly, she worked her way from the back of the house to one side to the front and to the other side. At some point, Pain had disappeared along with a callous Zetsu, leaving Kisame and Itachi to watch over the female with orders to return her back where they found her after she was done.

Nozomi stopped to catch her breath and leaned against her shovel as she looked at the progress she had made. The sun was starting to rise in the distance and there were randomly placed holes littering the yard. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she could feel dirt covering her body from flinging it everywhere. Where was it? Did her father lie to her? Honestly, it wouldn't be that unbelievable considering everything that he did to her. Giving herself a little pep talk, she let out a sigh and started digging again. Maybe she would have to go through the holes again and dig deeper…

Suddenly, the clang of metal hitting metal surprised her and Nozomi let out a squeak from the shock. Dropping to her hands and knees, she laid the shovel to the side and started scooping dirt with her hands until she could see a silver box begin to appear. It took her a moment to finally uncover the entire box, which turned out to be a briefcase. There was a lock on it and groaning, Nozomi sat back on her butt.

Father's birthday? Nope.

Hideki's birthday? Nope.

Mom's birthday? Nope.

Her birthday? Nope.

1-2-3-4? Absolutely not.

Nozomi rolled her eyes as she started to get frustrated. Unlike Kakuzu and Hidan, she couldn't use brute strength to just rip it open. Tossing the briefcase to the side, Nozomi eyed the shovel and an idea popped in her head. Picking up the tool, she began to slam its head against the briefcase. She used all her strength and even put her back into it, like Hideki constantly teased her about, but it was to no avail. It was just four numbers. What was the stupid code?

Staring at the break of dawn, Nozomi held in a breath as she thought before letting it out. Maybe it was… Slowly, Nozomi picked up the slightly bent briefcase and held it in front of her. Her thumbs pushed against the dials until she entered the last digit and heard an audible click.

Of course, Mom's death day.

Opening the briefcase, Nozomi's eyes widened as she looked at the contents. Looks like her father's gambling addiction was worth something after all.