Chapter 1
It was some time around noon when the first report was sent in. The word that Konoha's hokage had been killed spread like wildfire between the nations. Konoha was in a state of panic, but what does that really matter to me? Why should I really care, I didn't know the guy, but it somehow touched me anyways. So I leaned over to talk to the guy who happened to be sitting next to me. He was my boyfriend, at the time, he wasn't the best pick out there but I suppose he was better than nothing for that moment in my life. Now a day I look back and think of him, but not fondly… he wasn't exactly polite to me, or anyone for that matter. I leaned over and asked him, "Why do you suppose our village never makes it on the news?"
It was an honest question, and him not really caring about what I was thinking about, took his eyes of his precious T.V. for a moment just to reply with an uncaring, "Well maybe if you go kill someone we'll get on the news." This annoyed me, so I stood up from my seat and walked out of the room to get a glass of water. My boyfriend, thinking that I was leaving, turned to watch me walk out of the room. As he watched me he decided to tell me "Be sure to lock the door behind you when you leave." I had become fed up at this time with him not caring, so I did in fact leave. I opened the door, stepped outside and left the door wide open as I walked down the street not caring where I was headed.
"Any place would be better than here." I said to myself. "I just need to get away for awhile and meet some more people... He just makes me so mad!" I bawled my fists up as I thought about how much I hated him, I was going to make him hurt like he made me hurt. I was going to come up with an awful way to break up with him. "We'll see how much you care then!" I thought to myself as a smirk appeared on my face.
I found joy in plotting my, soon to be ex-boyfriend's demise. I had buried myself in this thought so far that I didn't hear the two people coming down the street towards me; I only noticed them once they had passed me. One of them had yelled "Senpai!" When I heard that I turned around to see who had yelled, it's like a natural reflex for me, I hear a noise and I look to see what it is. Two men dressed in dark black cloaks stood at the end of the street. One was a blond man who kept his bangs over his left eye, the other one had an orange mask on that completely covered his face, except for one hole that was on the right side where an eye would be.
"Senpai, can we take a break already? We've been walking the whole day now! Can't we report back sometime tomorrow?" The man in the orange mask moaned. "No, Tobi, we must get back tonight." The blond man replied. "Come on, please Senpai? Just a little rest then? I just want to sit down for a moment." Tobi pleaded. "Fine, but just long enough to rest you're feet." "Yay!" Tobi cried as he ran over to a bench and plopped himself down onto it.
Tobi kicked his feet in the air like a child would as he sat. The blond man slowly walked over to Tobi and sat next to him, waiting for his partner to get up. He closed his eyes and looked like he was about to fall asleep. I studied the pair, they seamed strange to me. I wondered where they might be off to in such a rush, they seamed harmless enough. Maybe it was a club meeting or something. That would explain the strange cloaks they were wearing. I decided that, if I asked nicely enough that maybe they would allow me to go with them to their club. After all anywhere was better than here.
I became nervous as I walked towards them, my body tensed up and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand and a shock ran threw me. What would I say to them? I became nervous and unsure of myself as I walked closer to them. "Come on, it's just a casual little talk." I told myself. "What am I getting scared of? Rejection, maybe…." I pondered this for a moment. "…Yeah it has to be rejection. Oh it won't be that bad, the worst thing that happens is that I ask to tag along with them and they just say no. Nothing to be afraid of."
"Hey" I said quietly as I stopped in front of the two men. The guy in the orange mask tilted his head toward me and continued to kick his feet. "Umm… Excuse me." I said louder hoping to get the blond man's attention. It worked; he slowly opened his eyes and glanced at me for a second before closing them again. "I happened to overhear that you were going somewhere?" I say shyly. "Yeah, so?" The blond man replied without looking at me. "Well I was wondering if I could go with you." Tobi started laughing. "Senpai, she asks so innocently to go with us, yet she does not know who we are." I stared at the two men, confused.
"Have I done something wrong?" I asked while hoping that I hadn't. "Oh, senpai, can she come with us please?" Tobi asked the blond man. "We don't have a use for her." He replied as he stands up to stretch. "Come on senpai, surely we have room for one more in our team." Tobi insists. "I can cook and help clean some." I say hoping that the blond man will say yes. "Tobi, you can't just go and invite every stray girl that we meet into our group." I frown at this and try to think of a way that I could convince him that I could come along with them. "She said that she could cook though!!" Tobi says as he stands up quickly. "Yes, she did say that and anything is better than Kisamie's cooking."
I got a feeling of hope as the two men debated weather or not I was good enough to join them in their little club. A few moments passed before the blond boy turned to me. "I'll give you a chance, but it's out leader that you'll have to impress." A warm feeling washed over me and a smile came to my face. I had been accepted by the two men, now just to be accepted by their nerdy little guild leader. It shouldn't be too hard to be accepted by a group of club nerds.
Together we walked out of my village and into the forest. Tobi grabbed me by the arm and pointed out all the birds that we passed and which trees were his favorites. I got a feeling that the blond man was happy that I was here so Tobi wouldn't be grabbing his arm and pointing excitedly while babbling to him. Then a thought hit me, I still didn't know the blonde man's name. I looked at the blonde man and slowly eyed him.
His face was focused on the horizon as we walked and his cloak covered his mouth and the sleeves on it went past his hands. "What?" The blond man asked. I caught a tone of annoyance in his voice, so I outright said what I wanted to know. "What's your name?" I asked him. He seamed slightly amused by this. "My name is Deidara." He said. "Deidara." I say quietly to myself. It was an unusual name and I had never heard it before. I started to wonder where he came from but then Tobi pulled on my arm to get my attention. "We still don't know your name." He says to me. "My name?" I say questioningly. That was right; I still hadn't told them my name. I glance at both of the men and decide that they are harmless enough to know my name. "It's Renee." I say to Tobi.
"I hope you stay with us forever Re-Re!" Tobi says happily. "It's Renee." I say a little louder, but it's no good. Tobi had already gone back to his own little world and could only be reached when he decided to come back out of it. I sigh a little sigh of annoyance and look up at the sky.
"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?" I hear Deidara ask me. Without looking at him I reply; "Only on the news once. I think I heard about them killing some guy." "Would you be scared if you ever ran into a group of them?" Deidara asked with a little smile on his face. "I suppose I would be. They are criminals after all." I reply not really caring. "Would you try to fight them?" I think about his question before I reply. "No, I think I would run from them." Deidara smiled as I said that. "That's a smart move. It wouldn't be good for you to fight them." I glance over at Deidara as we walk and wonder why he's asking me all these questions about the Akatsuki. I figured that he might have heard something about them on the news recently. Or maybe he just thought that I was weak and couldn't defend myself.
"Hey Deidara." I ask. "What?" He replies. "What is the name of your group anyways?" He looks over at me and thinks about what he's going to say. "Daybreak." He tells me. "Daybreak?" I reply as I wrinkle my nose up. "It sounds a little girly don't you think?" "We'll see what you think is girly. Just tell the guys that you think their group is girly." I think about this for a moment. "Something tells me that I shouldn't." "And you're right." Deidara says with a smile. "You're not as dumb as you seam."
Embarrassment causes my face to turn red and I become angered by it. "Ha ha, calm down." Deidara says as he stops walking. "You really get worked up over nothing don't you?" Deidara asks with a smile on his face. "That depends on what you think I consider to be nothing, I don't know if you'd want to meet me when I'm angry." I say smugly while feeling a little empowered by it. Deidara doen't say anything.
I look around to try to figure out where we are. Tobi, who had just come out of his world, excitedly grabs my hand and points across a river. "We're almost there!" Tobi says as he pulls me towards the river. "It's just over the bridge now!" Tobi releases my hand as he runs across the bridge. I look at the bridge, eyeing it over to make sure it's safe. "I'll keep that in mind." Deidara says as he quietly appears by my side.
I watch as Deidara walks calmly over the bridge then a small shutter issues threw my body. "That was creepy; I didn't even hear him approach." I mutter as I stare down at the bridge. I take a slow step on to it and stand on the edge of it for a moment before I proceed to the other side of the river.