The surrounding sight was dreary. Everything was dry, bright, and hot, the exact opposite of what she was used to and was comfortable with. The young, white-haired woman wasn't even completely sure as to why she was here. She had been distancing herself from the Jashinist priest, whom she followed in search of immortality, as of late. Masato had even told Akiza that he was going away; a mission in which the ex-Mist kunoichi could not partake in.

Of course she had followed him. She was suspicious of what the immortal man did not want her to see, or know about. After making it through the desert, however, Akiza quickly lost interest as the man seemed to just be digging around. So now she was sitting around in what appeared to be a broken down chamber of sorts, waiting for the searing sun to set so she could leave. Making her way through the desert while the sun still sat above the horizon was not how Akiza wanted to travel.

..."You know, walking in the desert during the night can be more harsh than walking during the day."

The random voice seemed to pierce through no-where almost like it came from the Void of space and time. Wherever the Akiza went, no matter, the voice seemed to follow for some of the oddest reasons. Fate perhaps? Akuma the red-haired devil from the Sand seemed not to care that much about the current circumstances...but avoiding a conversation with her was just too good to pass up. Over the time he had been travelling across the Shinobi world, he had grown a bit of humor but in a darker, more sarcastic way.

"It has been a long time Akiza."

Releasing the Genjutsu that turned the man invisible, standing before the white-haired Rogue was the same man that she had encountered again and again. The same hood covering his face, hiding whatever emotions were displayed while giving him this mysterious look.

"Following your so called leader like a lap dog again?"

Akiza was surprised by the man's presence once again. He seemed to follow her everywhere, and she had yet to decide if she was glad of this or not. At the moment, however, she tried to not let her surprise show. Focusing her stunning deep blue eyes on the cloaked figure, Akiza's lips turned in a sneer, his comment raising her shackles in an automatic response. "I'm in no mood for your condescending attitude, Akuma. Once the sun is down, I'm leaving."

The girl had no reason to explain herself to Akuma, yet she did, and that fact alone only further irritated the woman. She had taken in his advice, thought of ways to pacify both of their wants. Wasn't that enough!?

Akuma was surprised by how much she had grown a backbone in the last few months that she had been traveling with the Jashinists. If they did anything right, it was whipping the girl into shape, but poisoning her mind with these fake ideas of immortality kind of ruined that. Seeing the snide comment and sneer take over her facial features he shook his head in disbelieve of how arrogant she sometimes was.

"The desert during the night will drop below freezing at times... It would make more sense to travel during the day instead of risking your life in the night. Not to mention the animals that must wander out at the fall of the Sun..."

Why did he know that there were creatures in the sand? It was as if some deep memory was poking through and allowed him just that tiny amount of information. Turning away for her and looking up towards the blistering Sun that peeked through the skylights, he knew that the Sun wasn't going to drop any time soon, and besides what was she doing out here in the first place?

"You followed him...didn't you? Like a lost puppy attempting to find its owner. What was it he was looking for Akiza? More...immortality? How can you fall for such simple falsehoods and ideals."

"I do much better in the cold than the heat. And beasts will be no problem for me. Do you underestimate me that much?"

His words continued to eat at her, and the white-haired kunoichi, sitting on a broken stone pillar, clutched at her knees, hard and jagged nails digging into skin. "Shut up...You know nothing." She spoke, her voice cold and devoid. Normally she would have lashed out, and it wasn't like she had much patience to begin with; it was taking all her effort to remain sitting.

Yet she remained still. Her last encounter with the very same red-head left her with much to contemplate, and she hadn't wasted it. Whispers of war had not fallen on deaf ears...

"I underestimate you because of what you've shown me in your past decisions. For example, following this sorry excuse of a 'religion' hoping to be granted with the power of immortality." Akuma's words spoke in almost a monotone voice like it had every time the two of them crossed paths. Aching for a spot to sit he made his way to the other side of Akiza where another large and withered pillar laid. When he sat his eyes turned straight to the white-haired vixen that was just across from him, waiting and watching for her next move in silence. A silence that within mere seconds was broken by her harsh voice.

I know nothing? Akuma thought, unable to even process what she even meant by that. Of course he knew a lot of things about her, the Jashinists, and their so-called leader Masato. That none of them have achieved true immortality and that it was all lies. That even Akiza, the strong-willed woman she was, was somehow tricked into believing this all to be true. "So you followed him here...hoping to find out something, didn't you? Have my words finally left some kind of impression? Even if it was just a seed in the back of your mind... I knew it would sprout sooner or later into a blooming flower of wisdom. You want to know more, you must know more, about your leader Masato. Is that it?"

"You know, you're really pissing me off with your self-righteous shit."

Glaring at the man who sat before her, Akiza was still trying to figure out how the infuriating man manage to pop up everywhere she went. Was he following her because of that kiss she had given him previously? Why though? Akuma did not seem the type of man to do such a thing over something so trivial and stupid such as a kiss.

"Congratulations, you've planted your seed. I'll get around to killing the Jashinist. You can leave now." Unlike usual, her retort did not come in a snap. No, it was more monotonous, bored; tired. Turning her blue hued optics from the red-haired wandered, Akiza continued to watch between the cracks as the sun slowly moved across the sky.

Hmph... I could care less if it pissed you off or not. I do it because you need to be told it, otherwise you will fall into a path of darkness... Akuma did not dare say a word for a couple of minutes and allowed silence to fall between the two of them. It was not awkward with the both of them sitting there, but you could almost feel like there was something wrong in the air, like some evil force loomed near them. Yet it had not presented itself.

"I think you are lying. I do not think you would slay another of the Jashinists...you have always been in it for yourself and what could would it do to kill those who promise you some sort of forsaken power?" Scooting off of the pillar he could feel Akiza's eyes focusing onto him as he started to move again. He liked the attention that she gave him, it could not be explained why but...he felt like it had been a long, long time since someone looked at him. "Did you know that Hidan was a special case?"

"Yes. I'm aware.

Akuma's continued use of spouting righteous wisdom was truly irritating her, and the ex-Mist kunoichi was not sure how much longer she could take it. Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, though, she smirked glad to see he was finally wrong for once.

"You doubt your own influence? You were right, I did think on what you said. But you're mistaken if you think I won't kill him. Immortality.... It's a waste of my time. It's cheating. If I'm going to defeat my sister, it'll be because I was stronger than her, not because I cheated death."

It's going all according to plan...

"You say you will slay him? I have my doubts and that is why..."

Akuma pushed himself off the crashed pillar and walked over to Akiza moving in to her face as close as possible, making it clear that the next words that would be mumbled from beneath the breath of his robe were serious. His eyes could be finally seen from behind the darkness of the hood and they could be seen staring into Akiza's bright gaze as he spoke in a low hiss,

"Prove it to me. Prove to me you will and can kill him. In just a few rooms over, he fights with another. Strike when he least suspects it and end his life. Show me your power Akizakura Terumi and prove to me that you can surpass your sister, the Mizukage!!"