-J-
-Part 1-
My Worst Enemy is My Memory
1. In Which Our Awakening
Akatsuki's Time: May 16
May's Time: -?-
"Cower In Awe! Recoil In Despair! Cry Your Heart Out!" At last! Deidara could finally prove that his art was better than those damn, irritating Sharingan. He'd won.
The terrorist felt his life ebbing away draining along with the chakra flow into the center of his chest, forming into the ball of life, his life to be exact. It wouldn't be much longer. . till he could finally prove to everyone that had ever called him a fool that his art-in the end-was far more superior. More so than Itachi and his bratty brother's Sharingan and Sasori's so-called eternal art (some immortal he'd turned out to be, un).
Deidara gave a laugh, both life force, and chakra forming at the center of his chest, coming to create a ball of potential life and immediate destruction. It was so close, he was so close. So wonderfully, ecstatically close to the finale in which he'd portray his final explosion to the world. A world that would forever remember such a sensational and astounding performance, one for the history books! The terrorist could see it now, people looking back and reminiscing on how his art had impacted the world itself.
"Because My Art-" The last remains of everything that made Deidara himself sealed itself off, finalizing the ball. Two slivers resembling eyes watched the Uchiha from where it hovered above the ground, radiating its power with a lifeless stare. A bout of tension grew as the black levitating ball began cracking, blue crevices splitting across the surface, the power making the very air shiver in anticipation.
The artist felt himself smile even though his body no longer existed. That look of fear on the Uchiha's face was exactly what he'd wanted to see. A good final image of what his art could do to those he bestowed it on.
Tension rocketed sky high as the chakra ball burst into a powerful form of light, creating a tremendous explosion that shook the entire earth. "-IS AN EXPLOSION!" Arms made of light rose to the sky at this proclamation. One last smile was given as Deidara's mind slowly destroyed itself and all became dark as death came, swallowing the last of his consciousness.
. . .
Deidara woke in an exhausted state, it felt as if he'd been asleep for years. Drowsiness was coated over the entire brain like an everlasting slime.
It took only a twitch from his index for the blonde to realize that everything hurt, it felt as if his entire body had been torn apart and then put back together by a doctor who hadn't had pain medication at the time.
"What, the hell happened?" With a groan Deidara opened an eye.
Being able to see didn't help much because the entire room was black, and the ringing in his ears disabled any possible noises in said darkness.
Spreading out a shaky hand, Deidara took note that the ground was uneven and hard, proving to be a rocky layout. Two feet out was when something wet and sticky met his fingertips, the hand was pulled back to the blonde in curiosity. Trying to see was a desperate act since the blue eyes had yet to adjust to the nonexistent lighted area. Going around the fact that sight was cut off, the sticky residue was brought up to Deidara's nose; based off the smell the liquid was blood and it was still warm.
Where in the world was he? Hadn't he been fighting someone . . .
A youthful face filled the bombers head, two sharingan eyes glared back at him from the image.
Yes, he and Tobi had went to fight Uchiha Sasuke, and in the end he'd used his suicidal jutsu; which meant he and Sasuke had both died! There was a wide grin on Deidara's face at this thought, he'd killed the Sharingan user all on his own, with the use of true art.
A feeling of triumph pumped throughout the bombers veins as he slowly sat himself up, wincing at the stiff feeling that coursed up the limbs in unhappiness at the movement.
But still, the question remained, how was Deidara still alive? The suicidal jutsu was just that, suicidal, there was no returning from that attack, it was an Ace in the hole-only to be used if it was sure you were going to lose.
Sitting up was excruciating when what seemed to be a horrible headache, jabbed the skull; placing a hand to his aching head, Deidara waited for his eyes to get used to the darkness.
Blackness turned fuzzy until one by one, shapes began to emerge from it. What seemed to be a large cave awaited those eyes, along with the massive Gedo statue that loomed up in one end, nearly taking up the entire space of the large area.
Wait, if he was alive.. did that mean that he and Sasuke had both survived? If so, then where was that damn Uchiha? The blood on his hand was cupped into a fist. Was this blood the black haired Uchiha's, or could it be.. from someone else?
Confused at the source of the blood, Deidara looked at the ground where a string of bloody kanji was written, the writings surrounded his body in a circle before branching out; the blood branches curled in opposite directions causing a choice to be made in which to follow. At the end of the one he'd chosen was a body. The collapsed person-who was in another blood circle-had his back facing towards him. The skin was pale in contrast to the black cave surrounding them both. In the dim light the body had eerie shadows that slipped over it, dipping into the spaces between muscles making it seem more dead than alive, but the rise from the shoulders proved life.
At first it wasn't apparent who the naked being was, but when eyes fully adjusted Deidara could just make out the silver hair that outlined the man's skull.
Clueless to what was going on, Deidara unsteadily got onto his knees-swiftly perceiving that he too was naked-before dragging himself in the direction of the silver haired man.
The cold cave floor was cruel to the bomber's legs as he crawled, the rocks tearing into the skin before Deidara finally dropped back into a sitting position next to the body-trying not to touch the aching legs.
Outside the cave, the wind moaned as it thrashed around the walls in an angry dance as if trying to get inside to freeze the bodies of both Akatsuki members in its wake. Even so, a chilly gust managed its way throughout, tickling over their shoulders in excitement.
"Hidan, un?" There was no response from the silver haired man, his arms curled close to his chest almost as if the cold had interrupted present dreams. With goosebumps climbing up the skin, Deidara gently shook the jashinist-when that gave no reaction Deidara frowned and gave a sharp jab to the bare shoulder below him. "Wake up!" The harsh whisper echoed around the cavern prompting Deidara to look around in case he'd just called unneeded attention; anyone could be in these caves, there could be enemies, Uchiha Sasuke might even be somewhere in those shadows.
Waiting for someone to appear was nerve racking, swallowing Deidara turned back towards Hidan who had begun to stir.
"Ugh…" Hidan's purple eyes opened abruptly, swinging out his arm towards Deidara who ducked at the retaliation.
"Hey, un!" Shifting backwards to try and put some space in between them, Deidara glared at the idiot before him.
Hidan turned his neck to look at Deidara, squinting into the darkness. It took a second for Hidan's eyes to adjust before he realized who the person he'd nearly knocked out was. "...Deidara?" Shaggy blonde hair shook every which way as Deidara nodded.
With knowledge that he wasn't alone, Hidan slowly sat up, his body stiff and aching as he did so. The skin felt banged up and the blood from the kanji was spearing onto both the calves and feet. "I can't see shit, where the hell are we?" Even with both eyes adjusted, it was difficult to see anything else but the Gedo statue that seemed to have its own glow.
Circling arms around his chest, Deidara sat there bringing up his knees as a shiver came up once more. "I'm not sure, I just woke up myself. We should be dead." Hidan scoffed at this answer as he cracked his neck left then right with the aid of his hand.
"You died, Deidara?" Deidara blinked, remembering that Hidan had died before him. There was a burning sensation across the kneecaps where the skin had been scratched during Deidara's crawl across the floor, he tiredly wiped at the opened scrapes that dripped blood down the white skin. The blonde felt so small in this area, so open for an attack that was sure to come soon.
"Yes, soon after you did,"
"Tch, I didn't die!" Hidan said angrily, placing a hand to his forehead as he grit his teeth in agony. Deidara's head also pounded slightly with a headache but he ignored it to peer around him, there was another shape in the darkness but it was too dark, it could be a rock for all he knew.
Suddenly the ground vibrated, dust fell from the ceiling in amounts that caught in Hidan and Deidara's eyes. There was nothing to grasp onto as the shaking grew, a loud rumbling noise growled as unexpected light burst into the cave. The light was so blinding to those eyes that had adjusted to blackness, that they were instantly covered, if they'd been open they would have seen a massive rock rising up, having kept the cave closed off to the world.
"Oh, they're finally all here."
"...Took long enough, didn't it?"A small amount of hesitation laced throughout the deep voice. Slowly, the hands were lowered from the blondes face, his eyes still squinting as the light tore at the pupils devoid of mercy.
"You could have fucking warned us, assholes!" Hidan rubbed the eyes with his fists, trying to get rid of the burning sensation that the damn sun had marked into them.
With a few more blinks, Deidara looked down on himself. It really wasn't a dream, he was still alive, the body below proved it. But, he was sure he'd done the suicide jutsu that had destroyed his body, how was it possible for it to still be here? The body was certainly still alive but it looked horrible; the dust from above had coated the white skin with a layer of brown, blood still ran down the legs from the cut up kneecaps, and he was still completely naked. One of the palm mouths opened and spat out some dust in something close to a coughing fit, it gave the skin a lick before closing once more.
One finger came up and traced the extra mouth, it felt like it had been weeks since he'd seen these, the mouth grinned up at him with its teeth on show.
"I don't understand, what happened?" Deidara looked up at the being who had risen the rock and entered the now bright cave. Zetsu stood there, Akatsuki cloak blowing around his being from the wind; to the bombers complete annoyance, his question was ignored.
"Hmm, where's Ob-"
"You mean, where's Pain?" Black Zetsu cut into White Zetsu's question whose one eye widened as if he'd nearly made some grave mistake with his words.
"Yes, yes, of course." In a daze Deidara uncertainly turned around and for the first time had a full view of the cavern where he'd woken up to.
The cave didn't resemble any of the other caves they'd done jinchuriki extractions in before, it was large, the ceiling arching up way above 40 feet. Other tunnels that connected to the main one forked off in various directions, separating into darkness. There was much awe at the structure but that quickly melted away as Deidara's eyes drifted to the cave floor. Blood kanji swirled and twisted across the surface, meeting up with various others circles that curled around six more bodies that lay spread out on the rocky surface.
The entire Akatsuki lay around him like fallen angels. Not everyone, however, was in a circle: one man leaned against a wall, his head bent back as if staring at the ceiling… Deidara wasn't sure if he was awake or sleeping because the man wore a white mask.
"Jashin, where are we?"
Zetsu completely ignored Hidan's comment as he walked past them to gaze at the others in deep thought.
"They don't seem very lively.."
"Of course not, you idiot!" Black Zetsu's voice was hoarse as he insulted his other half, the green eye twitching angrily.
Continuing their walk, Zetsu stopped by each body and tapped them with his shoe-hoping for some reaction that rarely came-before passing. Black Zetsu abused each in turn as if something about the whole situation wasn't his cup of tea.
Because of the dust that had blown into the cuts on his knees, Deidara flinched when he stood up-legs shaking as he did so. When it seemed that the appendages wouldn't give out, Deidara quietly walked over to the nearest Akatsuki member who lay in a similar way that Hidan had been.
"You didn't answer my question, fucker!"
Blue eyes went wide when they peered down at an unclothed Sasori who was plainly human, the curly red hair sprawled around the head in a tangle of knots and dust. The redhead's chest rose and fell with actual breath that blew dirt away from his nose.
"...I could have sworn that Sasori was a puppet..."
"Emphasize that 'was', Deidara." White Zetsu called from his crouched position next to Pain who he was gently shaking in hopes to awaken the Akatsuki leader. Shocked that the being had somehow read his mind, the blonde blinked, what was going on here? Beyond confused Deidara leaned down next to the puppet master.
"Sasori, my man. Ya need to get up, un."
Meanwhile, Hidan had managed to pull himself up from his sitting position-one hand massaging a temple that was pulsing irritably at said movement-and now stood above his past partner: Kakuzu. The much older man was in a fetal position, the familiar kanji was spread around and under the limbs that lay atop the blood writing.
Hidan's purple eyes flicked over the nakedness before sporting an evil smirk, the jashinist leaned down to the tan man's ear that was covered in thick brown hair.
"Come on you damn old man! Get! The! Hell! Up!" The words were spat out with swiftness before the older man lunged his right arm up and crushed Hidan's throat in a vice-like grip before swinging around to crash the silver haired man into the ground with a sickening crack.
Hidan gave a groan when his shoulders hit the ground in a bad way, sharp rocks pierced the skin with jagged teeth as he was continuously held there.
Kakuzu's red and green eyes slid open to glare down at his partner. The stitches across Kakuzu's arms rippled as he detached from Hidan and took a step back to look around. Various body parts pulsed in agony, the masks on the tan man's back seemed to twitch at the pain.
"You haven't changed at all!" Hidan grunted with a sore throat, pushing himself up after a second, the blood crisscrossing down his back.
Deidara gave Kakuzu a nod before giving Sasori one final shake.
Brownish red eyes snapped open as the puppet master came to. The first thing the redhead realized was how warm his body was, the skin actually shifted as Sasori moved an arm; everything was flesh and blood. It would seem that the immortal puppet master was no more.
Sasori was severely irked at the thought of having lost his puppet body, he'd spent so much time in creating that likeness! It was the work of eternal art, now gone forever.
One of his hands ghosted up to touch the fleshy palm in earnest.
"I thought the same thing," Sasori turned to meet his past partner's blue eyes who were staring down at one of the puppet masters hands that had once been wooden and lifeless.
Popping his back muscles, Hidan sat on the ground-one leg spread far out while the other was pulled up closer to allow for an elbow to lean on-left hand massaging his forehead. Purple eyes glinted as they opened a slit to catch sight of Kakuzu who stood watching Zetsu help up an aching Pain to lean up against a wall before going to help the man with the white mask.
Hidan blinked as he stared at his partner who was just as naked as him, he couldn't stop the small chuckle and snicker that filled his lips, quickly catching Kakuzu's attention who glared at him.
"Hey Kakuzu, I didn't know that you had stitches all the way down there!" Hidan laughed, pointing down at the older mans genitals. The jashinist had no time as his partner punched him in the face.
"Will you two stop it over there." Zetsu didn't even have to look to know the commotion was coming from the two immortals, his green eyes focusing on the task at hand.
Zetsu felt for a pulse on the man with the white mask, out of everyone in the room Zetsu was the only one who knew that Obito was the person hiding behind the white casing. White Zetsu sighed happily when a pulse was detected in the wrist, the true leader of the Akatsuki was still alive.
"Come on now."
"Yeah, get up. We're wasting precious time." Obito seemed to stir as Black Zetsu kicked the man's shin, White Zetsu sighed at the tactics but remained quiet on the subject of the black being's violence.
White Zetsu shifted his eye to stare at Kisame and Itachi who had also woken up, the Uchiha was leaning up against the wall, his hands had taken a pair of glasses off his face and was peering at them in curiosity. When had the Uchiha prodigy started to wear glasses?
Catching sight of Itachi, Deidara rose up from Sasori with a frown. His irritation rising at the smug black haired man before him. The desire to tell the raven that he'd killed his younger brother was sincerely tempting, but Deidara didn't even know if he'd actually killed Sasuke. Now that he thought about it, he would not admit to that, his pride might never recover.
"Ugh, I have the worst fucking headache, ever. Did we go drinking last night or something?" Hidan finally rose from the ground where he'd landed after Kakuzu's punch.
"Of course you'd think that, you moron.
We all died." Kakuzu growled, his deep voice echoing as he crossed his large arms over his bare, stitched chest.
Still sitting on the floor, Sasori cocked his head to look over at the two immortals. "So, we all died." However, that did not explain much in the long run. Why had they all been brought back; had something happened? How long had it been since Sasori had died, it could be a hundred years in the future for all he knew.
"Tch, don't pull my damn leg Kakuzu! Just cause I don't remember doesn't mean I'm stupid. I got out of that hole, I'm fucking positive!" There was an angered stare down between the two, both believing themselves to be correct.
Deidara rolled his eyes, bending to sit back down on the softest part of the ground he could find, even so he grunted when the blonde finally plopped down.
"Actually, you didn't make it out of that pit." Black Zetsu stated as Zetsu turned around, the green eye of the dark side glowered down on the silver haired man who snarled back. "It was your grave in the end. So I guess that makes you stupid."
"You Asshole! How the hell do you fuc-"
"Can you please stop the needless swearing, it's quite annoying." They all turned to find a cloaked man with short white hair, his snake like eyes glittered behind round glasses as he stared at the revived Akatsuki members.
"Kabuto, what are you doing here?" Sasori asked with narrowed eyes, his body on alert at the sight of the snake. Amused at the shocked tone, Kabuto's yellow eyes drifted to meet the puppetmaster's gaze with a trademark smirk finding its way across his lips.
"The Akatsuki and I are allies in the war." Having been listening to the snake, Kisame blinked, exchanging looks with Itachi before looking over at Zetsu, asking with his eyes if this was the truth.
"He speaks the truth." White Zetsu responded when Black Zetsu only sighed, bored out of his mind.
Sasori only had eyes for Kabuto, the person he'd spend to spy on Orochimaru so long ago. . .was he really on their side? Could they even trust the snake? He'd betrayed them long ago and certainly wasn't trustworthy in the puppetmaster's book. Just because Kabuto's looks had changed considerably didn't make him any different, he still beheld that smirk that didn't bode well for Sasori who only saw the deceit and the secrets hanging from inside that mouth.
Shaking his head at the distrust radiating from the puppetmaster, Kabuto slid his gaze to White Zetsu who had Pain leaned up against him as he helped the Akatsuki leader stand on trembling legs.
Cupping his head in agony, Pain shook it in hopes to get rid of a massive headache; the piercings on his face felt as if they were conducting the head pains and making them sickeningly worse. Pressing the hand to his brow, ringed purple eyes opened to search out Zetsu, it took him a second to realize that he was being held up by the Zetsu.
"Zetsu, what month is it? What day?" The Akatsuki leader swallowed, trying to take in his bearings and stand on his own shaking legs. Finally, he gave up and just leaned on the other being with a sense of exhaustion.
"It's the 16th of May."
The reaction to those words were immediate.
Black Zetsu closed his eye in bewilderment, why did that name sound so familiar and give him a nausea feeling deep inside?
"May?" Sasori asked, his voice hinting strain, as if a forgotten memory was failing to resurface for the puppet master, his annoyance fluttered across the redheads features.
Kakuzu bunched his eyebrows together in confusion; for a second all seemed to be in a daze before collecting their thoughts on the subject, trying to grasp at straws.
The name of the month was familiar-not just because it was apart of the 12 months of the year-but the Akatsuki members could conclude that they'd never met a May during their lifetimes.
Author: Heyo, dear readers! It's great to be back with you all in this new journey of May and the Akatsuki! Now, if some of you have just read through this chapter and are thinking: "What the hell is this? Who is May and what is going on?" Then I would suggest going back to read Book 1 Kittens:Akatsuki, so that you can thoroughly understand May and the Akatsuki's story. To people who are here straight from Book 1, I do hope you enjoy what more you have to read. Please review when you get a chance, I would love to know your thoughts on what you think or how to make the story even more intriguing!
As usual, have a blessed day. Love ya!
-Jinx of the desert
