46. Heed My Warning

I flip the hood of my Akatsuki cloak over my head to shield myself from the relentless plonking of raindrops. Pain, Konan and I make our way towards the centre of the village. The lights of the tall towers flashed in the near distance and the rain continued to fall as we came closer to the shops.

"Should we stop and grab something to eat?" Pain asked from in between Konan and I.

"If we're going to continue to travel through the night then I think it would be a good idea" Konan reasoned so the three of us kept walking down the centre of the village until she spotted a small deserted dumplings shop. We sat inside the small empty restaurant and ordered a verity of food although Pain did not eat anything so Konan and I happily took our time and enjoyed our meal.

"This village.." I Started to say as Konan and Pain both focused this attention onto me as we say huddled around the table, "It seems that there is a lot of poverty here" I said quietly as I sipped at my cup of tea.

"Indeed," Pain replied, "This village has been riddled with war for a long time.. It's only since Konan and I have taken control that there is now some peace to be had here." I watched as Konan lowered her head slightly and looked down at the table quietly.

"You two have been through a lot, I can't tell" I said softly.

"That is why together we will make this dream of ours a reality.. A peaceful world" Pain rubbed Konan on the back gently. The three of us finished at the restaurant and made our way back out into the village centre, we continued to walk past empty shops and the occasional child sitting in the street begging for money. Eventually we reached what must have been the tallest tower within the village.

I followed closely behind Pain and Konan as we entered the building and started to climb the endless stairs. We continues to climb, higher and higher and I felt myself wonder what I was to see when we reached the top. Finally we ascended the last flight of stares, we walked towards a lone door located at the end of the thin hallway. Pain pushed it open as Konan and I followed in behind him.

As we entered the image I immediately saw was of a gauntly thin pale man with dark red hair who had multiple long black rods sticking out of his back.

"Nagato, I'm so happy to see you," Konan said. I watched as she strode over towards a weak looking Nagato and embraced him into a tight hug. His purple ringed eyes fell onto me as he hugged her. Konan let go of him and turned back around to me then she beckoned for me to come closer. I slowly started to take steps towards the two.

"Tila, I've wanted to meet you for a long time," Nagato's weary voice said to me.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, if I had know earlier than maybe we could have met before now," I said kindly before stopping before Konan and him.

Nagato gave me a small confident smile. I felt a strange feeling of warmth come over me and I decided to do something that my gut was telling me to do.. I gently hugged Nagato.

I felt his arms slowly raise and hug me back. As we let go of each other Konan seemed as though she was glad we were all together. The smile she had and the small sparkle in her eyes told me so.

"Konan, Tila.. I've summoned my six paths and as soon as they get here we may set off for the village hidden in the leaves" Nagato informed us.

"Yes, I think we should ride on Kim the chameleon.. That way we won't be seen," Konan suggested. I watched as Nagato nodded in agreeableness. Suddenly I heard the door creek open and five different people who resembled Pain walked in. I stared at them as they stopped in the middle of the room and stood together in a line.

"Summoning Jutsu," a small girl said, then, before I knew it a large lizard looking thing was standing before us.

"Alright, shall we depart then?" Nagato questioned - Konan nodded and proceeded to help him onto the back of the lizard. All of a sudden a swirling figure started to appear from beside the wall - as the swirl ended Obito was now standing looking over towards us.

"I've come for an update on what's happening" Obito explain as he came a little closer towards us.

"We are just about to leave. Were going to travel by night and hopefully reach the outskirts of the village by daybreak" Konan explained.

"I see. Tila, if you wouldn't mind stepping out into the hall with me for a moment- I have a message to relay from Madara" Obito then said coldly. My chest thumped at the mention of his name. What could he possibly want I say to me..?

I followed behind Obito back out into the corridor and he shut the door firmly behind him.

"What is it?" I asked him curiously as he turns back to face me.

"He wanted me to tell you that he knows about the little conversation you and Sasuke had the other day and that he isn't too pleased. He hopes you haven't forgotten what he said to you before you left and to stay away from Sasuke, or you'll regret it" Obito told me in a hushed deep whisper.

"How .. Does he know?" I stammered in shock.

"I'm not completely sure what's going on here but I suggest you do as Madara says... You know what he is like Tila" Obito warned. I stared at him for a moment but he turned around.

"I'll see you when you return" Obito said and then he started to swirl away again. I quickly went back into the room where Nagato and Konan were waiting for me..

"Over here Tila" Konan called and I hesitantly hopped onto the lizards back with my comrades.

"Is everything.. Alright?" Nagato asked. I nodded dismissing his question slightly - I didn't really know how to feel about this warning and I didn't particularly feel like talking about it. All of a sudden I noticed that we were becoming transparent.

"Well, if we are ready then let us not waste time.. The village hidden in the leaves is still quite a fair way away" Nagato said softly from in between Konan and I as we sat together on the lizards back. The six paths of Pain started walking towards a large window located at the side of the spacious cold room, the lizard also followed until we were all standing on the edge of the high up buildings balcony.

My heart sunk a little as the six paths jumped down straight off the edge and then the lizard we were on did to! The wind blew through my hair as we plummeted down towards the ground but before we hit the floor the lizards legs stuck to the walls and started running. The lizard ran closely behind the six paths as we made our way back out of the village, the rain that was falling had stopped as we travelled further and further Into the forest.

We continued to venture far into the night at full speed, Nagato, Konan and I were completely invisible to the naked eye and all that could be seen was the six paths of Pain running through the forest. During the long trip Konan, Nagato and I talked about their past. What they had been through and all sorts of deep and meaningful topics. I started to understand more about their predicament and to my surprise I felt more comfortable around them. They told me of their lost Comrade and friend Yahiko and how he had died.

I also knew that feeling and it made me want to complete this mission even more than I wanted to before we had left the base. I decided to take a short nap while we travelled although it was hard because I was constantly disrupted by the jolts and bumps of the lizards movements. Eventually, I felt Konan nudge me lightly.

"Tila, we're here" she said. I opened my eyes and saw that the break of daylight was upon us.

The six paths and the lizard we were on had come to a halt and I looked around curiously at our surroundings. The part of the forest we were now in seemed more lush than usual.

"I think we should reside here seeing as this is the highest point beside the village" Konan said as she slid down off the lizards back.

"Alright, we need some sort of cover thought" I replied as I carefully slid off too and stood beside Konan looking around.

"I agree" Konan smiled faintly then started to whirl around a massive amount of paper. After a few minutes she had constructed a massive paper tree which looked very realistic. I brought Nagato inside and helped him to the back wall of the tree - he sat in his bucket contraption with his rods still poking out.

"You two rest for a while, we will need our strength if we are going to accomplish out goal here" Nagato said to Konan and I who were standing before him - the six paths also stood in a line along the wall.

"Alright but only for a short while," Konan agreed then sat down on the ground and crossed her legs.

I sat down beside her and then lied on my back and looked up at the high hollow truck of the paper tree above.. Everything went silent..

"There's no way we can fail.. The three of us are truly a force to be reckoned with" I whispered out-loud. Konan chuckled lightly and I felt her playfully nudge my arm.

"You're so funny sometimes" she sighed as her laughter died.

"Indeed Tila, we shall reach our goal." Nagato's voice trailed off from were he was. Silence filled the room again and I shut my eyes. The fate of our goal highly depended on this missions outcome. If we were to succeed then, maybe we all truly could be happy again.

We could live in a peaceful world.