Summary: Inuzuka Ashi is a missing-nin from the Leaf Village. She was once a member of the Akatsuki, but left when she lost her sight, promissing to return if it returned. In this, she muses on her former life.
This is written in Ashi's POV. Enjoyeth!
I wondered how long it had been since I'd seen the moonlight. Seen anything for that matter. Too long, I decided. Just to torture myself, I remembered the feeling of his long, warm, wet tongue inside my mouth. I remembered the sound of his voice as he said my name. I remembered the evil glint in his eye the last time I saw him. Saw anything for that matter. I wondered why I did this to myself. Was it because I had developed a taste for self-inflicted mental and emotional pain? Yes. That was it. Nezumiromaru agreed with me. I tilted my head in the direction of my foot.
My foot.
My ashi.
My self.
Let me explain.
My name is Inuzuka Ashi. My dog is a Husky named Nezumiromaru. Gray circle. Gray circle and dog illustration foot. Nice names. Itachi always teased me about it. Thinking of Itachi was a mistake. Thinking of Itachi reminded me of them, and remembering them caused me to picture him. I hated him. It was his fault that I was here, yet not able to see what here looked like. Though, according to Nezumiromaru, nothing much had changed since I left. That was a few years ago. Of course no-one knew who I was, so it was safe to wander around without hiding my face.
No. It wasn't his fault, as much as I wanted to believe that. It was mine. It all started a few years ago, when I left the village. No. It was before that. When I failed the Chuunin Exams. Actually, it was even before that. Everything began when I was about five years old. When I was able to walk, talk, eat, and basically take care of myself, which was what my parents had me do; basically take care of myself.
My self.
My ashi.
My foot.
See how it's all connected? Me neither. Come to think of it, it isn't his fault, or even mine. It's theirs. Not theirs, but theirs. I'll explain the difference later.
Anyway, that's when it started. After that, my family pretty much forgot about me. Not quite fully, but pretty much. At least they remembered to enroll me in the Ninja Academy. Those were their two biggest mistakes. Ignoring me, then shoving me in a school where they teach how to become a shinobi. Mhm. They were such geniuses. Note the sarcasm. No-one noticed me. The teacher couldn't even remember my name. I was always known as "The girl in the back. Yes, you. What's your name again? Oh yes, Aki." Then, for my ninth birthday, I got Nezumiromaru. That was the first memorable day of my life. I love him. He's my eyes, as well as my best friend. After that, people began calling me "The girl with the really cute dog".
Eventually, I became a Gennin. That was the second memorable day of my life. That was the turning point. Don't get the wrong idea and think that everything got better after that. It didn't. I simply mean that I learned how to fight. More importantly, how to kill. Next came the Chuunin Exams. As I mentioned, I failed. But not because I wasn't good or anything. No. It was because none of the judges paid any attention to me. Don't ask me how I know. I just do. Call it animal instincts if you want. Animal instincts. I liked the sound of that. They had always said that I was more animal than human.
Humans are such despicable creatures. Even worse than snakes. Even worse than him. That's why I have no problem killing them. Humans, I mean. Why I can't bear to eat meat, I don't know. I just can't. I prefer dogs to humans. But dogs aren't my favorite animals. No. Scorpions are.
Scorpion.
They're small, but deadly. Kind of like me. Not that I'm small or anything. I just look about five years younger than I am. I'm 32. I look 23-ish. At least according to Nezumiromaru. I guess the red nail polish I always wear helps that. At least a little bit. Even though I am blind and no longer one of them, I still wear it. Red has always been my favorite color.
Red.
The color of blood. There was no blood here. Of course there wasn't. Nothing bad ever happened in this Leaf Village. Why was I here? Why wasn't I in the Sand Village? It was my favorite village, after all.
Sand.
Scorpion.
Red.
Sand.
Scorpion of Red Sand.
Akasuna no Sasori.
His partner. No. Bad Ashi. Don't think about him. Don't think about them. No use. I couldn't help it. I missed them. Allot. Not him. Everyone but him. When I was with them, I was the closest to happy that I had ever been. I had been shocked to discover that I had a really good sense of humor. Not anymore. I lost that along with my eye sight. Along with my life.
My life.
My ashi.
My foot.
I have got to stop doing that. I wondered what my parents would say if they knew that this is what neglecting me had led to. Their youngest daughter being an ex-Akatsuki member. I doubted they'd be happy about that. Neither would my siblings have been. But that's what I am. An ex-Akatsuki member. Well, more like an Akatsuki member on a very, very, very, very long vacation. Make that an Akatsuki member out on disability. I swore to Leader-sama that I wouldn't mention the organization to anyone, and I kept my word. The name hadn't crossed my lips in years. When I spoke of them, I always referred to them as the circus. That's pretty much what it was: a circus. Or at least a freak show. I mean, the most normal member -- last time I checked -- was a girl with naturally blue hair, whose name no-one even knew, followed by Itachi -- and he killed his clan when he was 13! The least normal one was either Kisame, the shark-man, or Zetsu, the multiple-personality, half-man half-Venus fly trap, cannibal. Like I said: freak show. And of course, there was him. I was his subordinate. That meant I also worked with Sasori, the living puppet. See what I mean? No normal members. None. Not a single one.
I missed them. I missed making fun of Itachi's name, Kisame's shark-like attributes (mainly by calling him Fish sticks and Sushi), and Hidan's religion. I also missed playing with Itachi's hair, poking Sasori, killing whichever loser Leader-sama had us go after, and mainly being with people who didn't ignore me, and who tended to realize that I was in the same room as them. Usually. They were the closest thing I ever had to a family. It was nice.
A tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of them. Nezumiromaru's nose touched my hand. I scratched his head.
After failing the Chuunin Exams, I killed my parents and my siblings. I didn't care about the rest of my clan. Why should I have? They meant less to me than my memories of him.
I was back now. Back home. I wished. "Home" wasn't this miserable excuse for a village with its third-rate shinobi. "Home" was the Akatsuki hideout with its S-rank criminals. I was here. Here sucked. The people here sucked. At least I didn't need to hide my face. No-one would recognize that I'm Inuzuka Ashi, missing-nin. They would only recognize me as some poor, blind loser with a dog. Too bad for them. They wouldn't realize that I could kill them until it's too late. Could. More like could have. I don't know. I haven't killed in years. Not since I left them. The sun was beginning to rise. Not that I could see it. I simply felt the sun's rays on my skin through the window.
"Another day, another 24 hours of darkness," I murmured.
I smiled as Nezumiromaru suggested that I go back to sleep. Four hours was enough for one night. At least for me. I got up and made my way to the hotel room's bathroom. I got undressed and got into the shower. I yelped in pain and surprise as the boiling hot water touched my skin. Nezumiromaru came rushing in, wanting to know if I was all right. I assured him that I was fine. As I washed my long, peach-ish colored hair, I thought some more about them.
Kisame and I had been really close. After Nezumiromaru, Kisame was my best friend. We had an itomo/nii-san relationship. He had been the one person I could confide in. I could tell him anything. He was the only one I had told about my miserable excuse for a life in Konohagakure. He told no-one. For that I was grateful. Don't ask why I didn't want anyone to know. I just didn't. Not even he knew. An image of Itachi filled my head. It was an image of him pouting. An adorable sight, by the way. I couldn't help but laugh. I was the only on who could make Itachi raise his voice. We argued allot. It usually went something like this:
"Weasel."
"Foot."
"Weasel."
"Foot."
"Weasel."
"Foot."
"Stupid."
"What?"
It was fun. I missed him almost as much as I did Kisame. I think Itachi and I got along so well because we both liked telling people the last thing they want to hear, fact or fiction. Like telling Hidan that Jashin didn't exist, or Kakuzu that he'd been robbed. Good times. I had gotten along with pretty much all of the Akatsuki members. Pretty much. Not all. Almost, but not all. Not Sasori. He had dubbed me a waste of time and space. He did, on the other hand, say that my tracking abilities came in handy. Screw him. I hopped he got turned into chopsticks. Or firewood. I should have used that. If I ever got my sight back, I will. Stupid puppet. I wondered if there was such thing as Spontaneous Marionette Combustion. I hoped so.
Sasori was an ass. A hot ass, but still an ass. That sounded wrong. I respected his opinion of art, though. He said that art should be everlasting. That's why he turned himself into a puppet. I said that murder is art. Murder is my art. Mine and Itachi's. That doesn't mean that I share Hidan's religion. I don't. Hidan's religion is messed up. I'm an Atheist. There is no God. If there was, wouldn't our world be perfect? Of course not. There's no such thing as perfect.
End of one-shot. What do we think?
Opal Crimson