But when you told me the whole story I felt like throwing up

5

Valentina's POV

My eyes opened as I gasped for air. My breathing was fast and desperate, ignoring the burning sensation forming in my lungs due to the winter air. It felt as if i had drowned. Perhaps I did. Perhaps I was dead.

My eyes blinked several times to adjust to the the bright light in the sky and pale white surroundings.

I forced myself to my feet, ignoring the pain radiating from my chest to my back and examined my surroundings. Tall pine trees and grass covered in a thick layer of snow.

"Ouch..." my right hand reached to the source of the pain, and I quickly withdrawal as I felt a hot, wet substance.

I was bleeding. Looking down at my chest I could see that I had been stabbed in my chest and was bleeding profusely. The sight of dark and bright red blood on my white, long-sleeve shirt blurred my vision. Soon my back was pressed against the cold snow as I collapsed to the ground.

The cold snow burned my back and arms, but I forced myself to my feet despite my legs trembling and my body feeling extremely cold.

I was in hell. I realized as I began to walk and caught sight of a huge, black mansion that stood tall among all the pine trees. That mansion was one of the Akatsuki's hideouts.

Loud sobs escaped from my lips as the realization that I had travelled back in time to when I was thirteen hit. Back to the day I tried to escaped the Akatsuki and got killed by some ninjas in the woods.

I was in hell and that was not fair.

My cries quiet down as I approached the mansion, as I was scared that any of the members might hear them. The sense of impending dread as I looked up at the enormous building grew more with every step I took. Despite the course of time, I remembered the hideout perfectly.

I was in the depths of torment. I was intended to travel back in time to a time where I was a gifted anbu spy. Returning to the day I murdered Itachi's wife. Not when I was a frightened, weak thirteen-year-old child seeking to get away from the Akatsuki.
Who knew hell would be so cold?

I eagerly, yet reluctantly, opened the mansion's front door and expected to wake up from a dream.

"OH MY JASHIN! FUCK!" Hidan's screams sent shivers down my spine. "What happened to this bitch??!!"

"Hidan, what did you do to her??!" Kakuzu stood from a living room couch and walked closer to examined me.

My eyes searched the dimly lighted room as Kakuzu ushered me inside and placed me in an empty wooden chair in one of the room's corners.

Hidan, Kakuzu, Tobi, and Deidara locked gazes with me. Obito, on the other hand, dashed to the kitchen as my gaze pierced him.

"I SWEAR TO JASHIN THAT I DIDN'T TRY TO SACRIFICE HER!!" Hidan's loud voice could be heard throughout the huge mansion.

"Valentina!" Deidara grabbed me by my arms as my body began to slip from the chair. "What happened to you??"

I opened my mouth to reply to the loud blonde, but came to a stop as I caught a glimpse of myself on the living's room antique mirror.
The white, long-sleeve shirt I had been wearing was covered in dark red blood. My hair was tangled and there was a slight blue tint on my skin.

"I was stabbed." my voice cracked and my throat felt dry.

"Valentina-Chan! You're okay!!" Obito rushed back to the living room upon hearing my voice. He kept his childish demeanor as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug, careful enough to not hurt me.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and smelled his scent. He always smelled so good. I loved him. I still loved him. I loved him, I loved him.

"Masked man." My whispered was low enough for only him to hear. I buried myself in his arms and taking in his scent and holding into both of hands for dear life. His skin felt warm against my freezing skin. "Please don't leave me." It felt like one hundred years, but I was finally in his arms once again.

My whispers seemed to caught Obito off guard, and he couldn't help but break character and stop hugging me.

"Scud over, Tobi," Deidara instructed the masked man as he began to tear my white, long-sleeve to examine my wound.

Obito quickly took advantage of Deidara's proximity to you to let go of my hands.

My eyes were fixated on the masked man who momentarily broke character and became tense. Despite my stare, he refused to turn to look at me, and quickly ran out of the room. Of course nobody noticed his weird behavior, except for Valentina because she knew the truth of his identity.

"What happened oh my god??!"

Valentina stopped looking for the masked man and her attention turned to Kisame, Itachi, and the woman the Uchiha chose as his wife coming inside through the front door.

"What happened?" Itachi sat down next to Valentina and began helping Deidara take off her long-sleeve with a kunai.

"Lilian, please close the door. The wind coming in will freeze her to death," Itachi instructed his future wife.

"Lilian? Your name is Lilian?" Valentina asked her.

"Yeah." Lilian was taken back by Valentina's question, but she still forced a smile as she closed the door of the mansion. "But don't worry about that right now, Valentina."

Valentina looked down pondering on Lilian's response. The whole time her name was Lilian? She always thought it was Lily. She even named her daughter like that thinking that was her name.

"You're shaking from the cold," Itachi noticed Valentina shaking and wrapped his arms around her as an attempt to try to keep her warm.

Valentina looked up from the floor as she felt Obito's burning stare. From her peripheral vision, she could see that Itachi was glaring back at the masked man.

"Kakuzu you old man! Hurry up and ripped her shirt open !" Hidan shouted as Kakuzu began to slowly cut Valentina's shirt trying to locate the wound.

"You know she's a minor. Like 10 years old, right?" Kisame gave Hidan a weirded out stare.

"I'm thirteen." Valentina corrected them.

"Wow thirteen? You're not a little kid anymore." Hidan replied sarcastically as Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

Kakuzu cut the top Valentina's shirt and began stitching the wound on her chest.

Valentina quickly turned to look at the spot where Obito had been standing, but he was nowhere at sight.
Her eyes scanned the sea of faces in front of her looking for Obito, but he was no longer in the room. Like if he had never been there. Like if he had died again.

"Aww don't cry Valentina," Deidara took pity for her as be noticed tears forming in her eyes. "Kakuzu had to stitch my arm. It doesn't hurt that much."

"Hurt that much? It doesn't hurt at all! Stop being a whiny little bitch!" Hidan snapped at her.

Valentina looked down cleaning tears that were meant for Obito's absence. She relaxed as she felt Itachi hugged her a bit tighter.

"Stop being so rude Hidan! She's a little kid!" Lilian snapped at the Jashinist.

"Alright, alright." Hidan raised his hands in surrender motion.

"We're almost done," Kakuzu assured Valentina. "Just hold still a bit longer."

Valentina lowered her gaze to the floor as tears streamed down her cheeks. She wasn't crying because the stitches were painful. She cried because it was hell to be surrounded by people she knew were going to be dead soon.