Disclaimer: KISHI, WHY YOU NO GIVE MEH TOBI?! I WOULDN'T ABUSE HIM, LIKE YOU'VE BEEN DOIN' LATELY!

Warning: Fluffy-ness and implied genocide.

First Beta: featherstofly

Second Beta: Lavendor Queen

Editor: Sansho

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(Third Person POV - Sakura)

Sakura carefully studied her two teammates as she followed them into Mia's apartment. She was most familiar with Mia's apartment. She had often visited Mia whenever she was in a sour mood and in sore need of someone to listen to her. Over time, she became rather fond of Mia. When Mia had first introduced Sakura to Anko-sensei, Sakura had to admit being skeptical of the woman. And after the first training session, downright terrified.

But through sheer persistence and insistence (on Mia's part), Sakura managed to persevere.

She was beyond grateful that she had. Through Anko-sensei she had managed to find confidence in herself and her abilities. She was the Top Kunoichi of her graduating class, a title she had worked extremely hard for and was pleased with herself in earning. She had to confess it was a difficult plight, but she managed it.

When Mia had first suggested switching PenPals, Sakura was a little hesitant. Sakura didn't dislike her original PenPal, but she wasn't particularly fond of them either. However, Mia had yet to let Sakura down, so she went with Mia's suggestion and was yet again pleased that she did.

Sasori-kun was an amazing person, in Sakura's objective opinion. She knew that she wasn't supposed to give out personal information in the PenPal program, but Sasori-kun had freely given his name and Sakura only felt it reasonable that she gave him her real name. How Mia found out Sakura had, she would never know. Sakura could still remember the concerned expression Mia had given her, before lecturing her on the dangers of freely-given information.

Since then, Sakura was careful not to give out too much, but she knew she could trust Sasori-kun. Sasori-kun was a very mature PenPal who always held the most interesting views. He was passionate about art and knew quite a bit about poisons. Sakura learned nearly all of her poison skills - as well as wielding senbon, from Sasori-kun.

While Anko-sensei was indeed her first sensei, and Mia was a precious person, Sasori-kun held the majority of Sakura's opinion.

Some time ago, Mia had commented on how Sakura was becoming more and more like the 'obsessive doll-boy' every day.

Sakura felt as though that was the best comment she could have ever given her.

"Ramen! Woo-hoo!" Naruto cheered.

"Tomato omelets? It's not breakfast," Sasuke muttered.

"But those are your favorite," Mia said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"This looks quite wonderful," Kakashi said pleasantly. "Thank you for the invitation...?"

"Mia," Mia-sensei chirped. "No need for honorifics on my part, either, Kakashi-san."

"Then you can call me Kakashi," Kakashi replied.

As the four of them filled around the table, Sakura made sure to sit next to Mia.

"Ah, the three of you need to remind me to give you your letters for the day," Mia replied, smiling brightly.

Sakura beamed, her eyes lighting up. "Sasori-kun wrote to me?"

"Of course he did," Mia laughed. "As did Deva and Shi."

Naruto grinned brightly. "Yatta! I can't wait to read Deva's letter."

"Hmph. I bet he's just a nobody loser, unlike Shi," Sasuke scoffed.

Mia rolled her eyes and Sakura's eyes narrowed.

Sasori-kun had always told her that a good shinobi remained quiet, only ever saying the last word and always calculating. Sakura remained a relatively quiet girl, her eyes constantly roaming about as she took in every detail, every action and reaction. Sakura didn't really like doing this, but it was something Sasori-kun did and insisted upon doing and Sakura didn't want to disappoint Sasori-kun. Besides, she knew it was a good habit for a kunoichi to get into, even if she was in a safe environment.

Or what she perceived as safe, at least.

"Letters?" Kakashi echoed, tilting his head curiously.

"PenPals," Naruto chirped, smiling brightly. "We've been doing them for... Well, ever."

"A few years," Sakura explained. "Most of our class stopped doing them, but us three, well, four because of Hinata-chan, quite enjoyed conversing with our PenPals and Mia offered to be the go between."

"Ah, so are they simply shinobi from Konoha?"

The Genin shrugged.

Mia gave a hum. "They're supposed to remain anonymous. Deva and Shi aren't their real names, and Naruto-chan and Sasuke-chan gave them fake names as well."

"I'm Gamma!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Izu," Sasuke muttered.

"Then I take it Sasori isn't his real name either?" Kakashi inquired, glancing over at Sakura.

Sakura had the grace to look sheepish.

"No, no. Those two are on real name basis now," Mia said. "Anyway, Sakura-chan, Anko-chan wanted me to remind you that she still plans on taking you out for dango after this, so try not to eat too much here."

"Hai, thank you Mia," Sakura replied, smiling.

"Anko? Anko as in?"

"Yes," Sakura interrupted, already knowing where this was going. "Yes, that Anko. Yes, she is my first sensei, and yes, I will still remain in contact with her on a daily basis."

Kakashi gave a sort of wince. "I don't know which is worse. Anko taking on an apprentice, or Gai."

Mia snorted quietly at that. Sakura, however, frowned. She wasn't aware the Green Beast had taken on an apprentice, which was not good. Sasori-kun often remarked to her the importance of information and the fact that she had somehow missed something so close to home irked her. She would have to find more on this apprentice later.

"But that doesn't mean you can't eat at all, Sakura-chan," Mia finished, her eyes sparking with mirth.

Sakura gave a sort of grimace. During her musings she hadn't touched her food.

"Sorry, Mia. Was thinking, don't worry, I'll finish my dinner."

"Good, now eat up," Mia said, grinning again. "A pretty girl like you needs all the strength she can get to fend off those horny boys, ne, ne, Sasuke-chan? Naruto-chan?"

Sasuke choked on his omelet while Naruto gave a howl of laughter at the display.

"Screw you, dobe," Sasuke snapped, flushing.

Naruto continued to laugh. "Oh Kami! Your face! Your face!"

Sakura watched the exchange with a curious eye. It had almost seemed so natural, with neither taking real offense to each other's words.

"Naruto-chan, don't laugh with your mouth full," Mia scolded lightly.

Naruto gave Mia a sheepish smile.

Sasuke smirked. "Idiot."

"Oi!"

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

After dinner, Mia pointedly stole Kakashi away and shooed the trio of Genin out into the other room. There, Sasuke had stolen Naruto's bed while Naruto sat on the floor, flipping through channels on the television. Sakura walked around the small apartment, eying how well kept it was. It was then, on a small counter, that she noticed a strange object.

"Naruto-kun, what's that?" Sakura asked, her brow furrowed.

Naruto glanced up, following her gaze. "Oh. That's Kaa-san's laptop."

"Laptop?"

"It's something from her homeland," Sasuke elaborated. "When she brought it here, something went wrong with it, so she's been trying to fix it since."

Naruto nodded sagely. "She's had that thing for years. She said something about the... A brown out on the batteries... uhh... The programming had to be entirely rewritten and the motherboard had to be rebuilt and a new CPU. Whatever that means. But she's had trouble finding all the pieces, because I guess Konoha doesn't sell what she's looking for. Kaa-san said she's getting the last piece she needs soon from some guy named To... Obi or something like that."

"I've never seen anything like it. It looks quite advanced," Sakura observed.

"Mn," Naruto grunted in agreement. "So hey, Sakura-chan? Want to pick out a movie? Kaa-san said that she'd bring out desert in a little bit, so we could all probably watch a movie in the meantime."

"O-Okay. Do either of you have any requests?"

"Action," Sasuke said immediately.

"Don't care," Naruto replied.

"Alright," Sakura said with a smile.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(First Person POV - Mia)

"So did Hokage-sama already talk to you?" I asked the moment the trio of Genin left.

"Not yet, I was supposed to have a meeting with him after this," Kakashi replied.

"Then I'll go ahead and give you the rundown," I said bluntly. "There's a group after Naruto's bijū. We don't know much about them, only that they're comprised of S-Ranked criminals. Hokage-sama knew Naruto wasn't truly the dead-last of the academy, so he knew that the team would be technically over stacked if he allowed the top two graduates on the same team as him. But he needed that to happen for safety purposes. It was one of the reasons why you were chosen as their Jōnin."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi inquired, his posture straightening and his tone holding an edge to it.

"Exactly what it sounds like," I replied. "Right now you need to train that team to the best of your abilities just to survive. At the moment, I'm not sure which is the weakest link. Sakura is a rising prodigy in the poison field, and I believe with the right tutelage, in medical-ninjutsu. She's decent at taijutsu, more than likely at above-average Genin level. Naruto wants to be a front-line fighter and is taking a shine to fūinjutsu. Jiraiya-sensei has already promised to teach Naruto in that area, and wants to take him on as an apprentice. While his genjutsu is below average, his ninjutsu is rather decent. Sasuke wants to be a front-line fighter as well. His taijutsu and ninjutsu are at the same level, slightly above-average Genin. Anyway, the main reason I'm letting you in on this is because the Hokage-sama needs you to train them, all out. "

I shrugged. "That's kind of the gist of it. If you have any questions, ask Hokage-sama. He's kind of in charge of all this."

"Then how do you know about this?"

"Jiraiya-sensei, of course," I snorted.

"He told you?"

More like I told him, as I was the informant.

"Sure."

"Mn."

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say," I said. "That and I do hope you take care of Naruto. If you don't, I swear I will kill you in the most horrendous way imaginable. If not me, then I'm sure a few friends of mine will. Same applies for Sakura and Sasuke, actually."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kakashi replied dryly.

"Good," I replied. "Also, if you need anything, anything at all, you can count on me. You're kind of unofficially part of this family now that you're Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke's teacher."

"I see."

"Mm-hmm."

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The following morning, after I watched Naruto head off, I closed the door with a gentle sigh.

Arms wrapped around me and I gave a startled squeak. Turning around, I found myself staring at Obito.

"Can you ever not give me a heart attack?" I asked incredulously.

"Ah, but it's so much fun. Ready to go?"

"If I must."

Obito gave a snort. "We finally have our last member."

"About friggin' time," I retorted. "I take it you finally had enough of Kakuzu killing off his partners?"

Obito gave a sort of reluctant nod. "I didn't want Hidan in the group in the first place, if he was anywhere near as annoying as you said. Alas, beggars can't be choosers in this case."

"That's true. The gang's all there?"

At Obito's nod, I beamed. "Awesome."

Obito's Sharingan flared to life and soon, I found myself standing in a tall tower in Amegakure.

I stepped away from Obito, eying the tower. "Mm, so Naruto-chan is off on his official mission."

"Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm. Urk. I'm getting nervous about the Wave mission."

"Don't worry," Obito replied. "I've already talked to Nagato, and you can stay in Amegakure while he's at Wave. It wouldn't do for you to have multiple panic-attacks and end up in the Konoha hospital. The Akatsuki will be staying in Amegakure as well, so there should be plenty to keep you and Itachi occupied."

I nodded. "I suppose Itachi has it worse. At least I can directly contact Naruto-chan afterwards."

Obito only shrugged. "Come, everyone should be gathering in the main room soon."

I grinned as Obito offered his hand, slipping his mask on. The moment his mask was on, and his hand in mine, his voice rose to a higher pitch and relaxed to a slower drawl. His 'Tobi' persona.

"Ready to go, Mia-chan?!" Obito chirped, seeming to vibrate with energy.

I snickered at the change in personality, winking. "Why, yes, I am, Tobi-kun!"

"Righteo, this way!"

I laughed as Obito gave a dramatic show of pulling me through the hallways. Our footsteps echoed softly in the empty halls, and comfortable silence fell between us. The silence was only broken when we reached the main hall and found Kakuzu and Hidan waiting for us.

"Hiya, Kakuzu-sempai!" Obito exclaimed, waving his arms in a dramatic manner. "Oh, you must be the new guy, huh? Hi there! I'm Tobi. Tobi's a good boy."

Hidan gave an irritated snort while Kakuzu glanced towards us. He gave us a small nod in return. The Zombie Duo were dressed out in their Akatsuki uniform, and appeared exactly as they did in Shippuden. I leaned around Obito, grinning widely.

"Hey, favorite miser," I said, greeting Kakuzu.

"Hello, adviser-brat," Kakuzu muttered.

Hidan gave me a scrutinizing look. "Wait, you're the adviser?"

"Hi there, Hidan-san-" Hidan snorted in distaste at the honorific, "—I'm Mia. Just Mia. I'm the adviser for the Akatsuki, third in command."

"Why the hell did you suggest him as my partner?" Kakuzu growled, glaring at me.

"Because he's immortal and S-Ranked missing-nin don't grow on trees, and your temper is horrendous."

Kakuzu snorted, glancing away stubbornly. "I can work fine on my own."

I only raised a mocking eyebrow in response.

Obito tilted his head, leaning down towards my ear to whisper, "I'm going to let the others know you're here. Be back soon."

I nodded in response and Obito skipped away. Hidan watched him go, frowning.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll be the first to officially welcome you to the Akatsuki," I said, walking towards the duo. "The others should be arriving shortly. For the most part we're still in the preparation stage of our main plan, however one of our side plans is coming up in a few months. Perhaps if you work well enough with Kakuzu-san, Leader-sama might allow you to come along."

"And what is this plan?" Hidan inquired skeptically.

"Mm. A little murder, more than likely genocide," I admitted.

Now that was a little strange.

In my world, murder was a big no-no. I knew I could never kill, I'd been conditioned too thoroughly and my morals were too strong to ever directly kill anyone. It was something that would be a very big hassle in this world.

People in this world were killed all the time. It was a natural occurrence and the word 'murder' varied depending on the situation. I knew people had to die in order to save the ones I loved. It was unsettling, unnerving and I had spent many sleepless nights agonizing over it. Obito knew how I was conditioned, he knew my resentment and as such he went out of his way to sort of force it out of me. I didn't like it, he knew that, but we knew it was necessary. If I could save my Naruto, keep him alive and safe at only the cost of a few sleepless nights, damn straight, I would, but it was more than that. There was also Sakura, Anko, Obito, Itachi, Kakuzu... I've come to grow fond of so many people since coming here.

If forgoing my own morality was necessary to keep them alive and well, I would do it.

It still upset me. And even after years of Obito's help, I could never directly kill someone. Indirectly, though?

Doable. Painful. Cringing.

But doable.

I could still remember the first time Obito had taken me aside, that night.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(Flashback)

"You want me... to what?"

Obito had a basket of rabbits, and he had picked one of them and set it in my lap.

"Kill it," Obito said flatly.

"But—but—"

"I know your distaste for these kind of things, but it's necessary," Obito said, his eyes and tone brooking no argument. "I know in your world, things were different, safer. But this is my world and you will need to kill someone, either directly or indirectly. It's better to start small. Trust me on this."

"I just... I just..."

"It's always hard at first," Obito said, tone softening a bit. "I know. We'll start small, but I would rather you kill a few animals and be uncomfortable, then have your first kill be human and never move past it."

I looked down at the rabbit, my stomach churning. "I understand..."

Obito held out a kunai. "Just like we practiced before."

"R-right."

I held the kunai in my hands, my heart hammering and stomach dropping. My hands were shaking. Obito released a small sigh, placing his hand over mine and guiding our hands towards the rabbit. "I'll help you for the first one, but you'll need to do it on your own next time."

"H-h-hai."

(End Flashback)

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Hidan's eyes widened and he gave me an eager smile. "Genocide? Really?"

I inwardly grimaced at Hidan's eager smile. The sort of pleasure he and a few of the others achieved from killing was something I would never understand. I could rarely stomach killing animals (which was what Obito had insisted upon doing in order to make killing humans more bearable. It was what he and every other shinobi went through. Hell, Naruto—my boy—already had his first animal kill in the academy. It was a necessary test in order to move up a level).

"If our target flees back to his base, then yes. Kill anyone in our way, more than likely," I said bluntly. "If anyone wants to surrender, you aren't allowed to kill them, but the mass majority of them have been brainwashed by our target so, again, yes, it will more than likely be genocide."

Kakuzu glanced towards me. "Which reminds me, our target's base has acquired multiple bounties on it."

I turned towards Kakuzu. "Oh? Are they from reliable payers?"

"A few of them are," Kakuzu said.

Hidan gave a frown, his brow furrowed. "Not money again."

We ignored