But they all died in that war, fighting to protect people they didn't even know. 
                          
I lean back on my pillow, contemplating. The note is still folded between by fingers, the thick paper a smooth texture on my calloused hands. It's such a strange thing, the way one's mind can drift for hours and never reach any conclusions--just witnessing, observing.
                          
The lantern on the wall flickers, the flame emitting warm heat into the otherwise cold space.
                          
The soothing sound of the breath in my lungs, predictable and constant. In, out. In, out.
                          
Footsteps echoing down the hallway, probably an Akatsuki getting back from a task.
                          
The thumping in my chest, my heart beat quickening as the Akatsuki member gets closer to my door. I still fear they'll kill me, deem me useless. Once I'm no longer useful, they can't just let me go. I know too much. They'll have to kill me--or worse, wipe my mind with some torturous jutsu. They're always coming up with new horrible techniques.
                          
Thump, thump... Thump, thump... Faster as the footsteps pause outside my door. Thump, thump, thump, thump. My worst fears come true as the door creaks open slowly, letting light from the hallway bleed into the shadow on the floor. I have to go, I have to run, but there's no other exit. I'm trapped. 
                          
Without even thinking, there's chakra forming in my hand. I mix in the water and lightning, creating a perfect ball of electrified water. Able to douse and electrocute any person I can hit with it.
                          
Before I can lunge forward, I'm being tackled. There's an arm around my neck, holding me down, and others flood into the room to take hold of my limbs. I struggle against their skilled grasps. 
                          
"Hey, hey, calm down. We're not here to hurt you, we're here to rescue you," a man's voice immediately hushes me and I stop struggling. The storm ball flickers out in my hand.
                          
"Come on," this time, it's a woman. "Stand up, let's get you out of here." All their faces are covered in masks--not the same red-striped masks I remember Leaf ANBU wearing. No, these are definitely not Leaf shinobi. They wear black cloaks over a black jacket with red straps over the shoulders.
                          
What village is this?

                          
I panic for a moment, thinking it might be Dream Village shinobi sent for me by Hiashi-Sama, but then I remember that Dream shinobi don't wear uniforms.
                          
I'm guided out of the hideout by four shinobi. There's nobody guarding the entrance like usual, and I notice it's quieter outside too.
                          
"The Akatsuki," I warn, half-expecting one to jump out of the bush any moment, "They always guard the entrance! And they're strong, you won't be able to fight them!"
                          
I can't see my rescuers' faces under their white animal-like masks but I notice they don't even flinch at the mention of the Akatsuki.
                          
"Yes," one of the men answers, voice calm and collected. "That's why we distracted them, so we could get you and the other hostages out."
                          
Over my shoulder, back in the mountains, an explosion sounds and a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke fills the air. I barely catch a glimpse of red cloud covered cloaks jumping away from the smoke, and other black-cloaked shinobi like the ones rescuing me appearing out of nowhere to fight the Akatsuki.
                          
"They'll fight with purely defense techniques, their specilties," another man says as we jog into the forest. "Distracting the Akatsuki long enough for us to get away."
                          
I don't question it. I just focus on my legs and the ground below me, each long step straining on my muscles as I struggle to keep up with these highly-trained shinobi. Who are they?