I LIVE!
Wow, haven't submitted something to this account for a while. Sorry about that guys! ^^;
This is a story from deviantArt, a collaboration with my friend PEZ-candy1. Her username is exactly that on dA, but mine is SylverXX, so add either in place of the www on the dA home page, and you'll find them. XD
Since I'm lazy and can't get it to work, Imma just going to give you my fav's folder with all of the screenshots in it. SO . . .
http:/ sylverxx. deviantart. com/ favourites/ 41265650
Take out the spaces, people. There are five in all. ;P
So, just to give you a good summary: Natasha is my fancharacter, and Pez is PEZ-candy1's. Pez is happy-go-lucky, and Natasha is a stoic kunoichi. The characters might be SLIGHTLY OOC, but that's only because in this view, they are sort of the protagonists, so they have to be SOMEWHAT human (except Hidan). That's all I can tell you for now . . . seriously.
Not much happens in the next two chapters, but they are significant - more will happen by chapter three.
Here we go!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR NARUTO SHIPPUDEN! I wish I did, though.
1 Meetings
For the first time since joining the Akatsuki, Natasha was bored.
"Don't you find it odd, Itachi?"
"Find what off?"
The pair was sitting in the main area of the base, a room set off from the rooming and statue areas. The walls were a blood red, and two black couches faced each other in the center of the room. A lone, low table stretched between them in black onyx. A door that did not lead to the ritual statue opened normally to a spotless granite kitchen. The door was closed and locked with a sign (aimed at Natasha) to keep out.
Itachi and Natasha sat on opposite couches, each with an open book in hand but not reading. Itachi was looking at the blue-eyed, brown-haired kunoichi before him.
"The lack of activity," she continued. "Nobody's doing anything. No missions, no trouble, not even Hidan's comments! Isn't it weird?"
"I think that everyone's somewhat nervous," he guessed.
"Of Pein's absence?"
"Yes. He should've returned by now from his mission."
"It just means that he's taking longer than normal. He is not a fool."
"It doesn't mean that nobody's worried."
"It's a miracle, then."
Itachi chuckled as Natasha placed her book down and leaned over the table. "You know it's only half a joke," she whispered.
His face was immediately serious, and he mirrored Natasha's movements and leaned forward as well. "I suppose so. There is quite a bit of malice in the group anyway."
"It's not that I don't want to trust them, it's that I can't. They're dangorous people."
Itachi sighed. "This conversation again?"
"You know I can't stop. It's a big issue, where we stand in this group."
"Even so, we're dangorous people too."
"But we're honest, Itachi. I'm not sure you, me, or even-"
Her voice died there as her face went red. Itachi turned an equal shade - their faces were close. He reached forward and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes, and they slowly moved closer to each others' welcoming, warm lips.
The second they heard the door open, they leapt apart like a tensioned rubber band, darting away from each other as they blushed. Pein simply stared at them, not betraying whether he had noticed their doings or not. "Am I . . .interrupting something?"
"No, Leader,"
"No, Pein."
They spoke at the same time, so fast that they were almost inaudible. It took mere moments for the two of them to swallow their embarassment and look up.
Pein stood in the room, but the person with him stayed within the shadow of the door. The most they could tell from the stranger's sillouette was that it was a girl - definitely not Konan, Itachi noticed immediately, seeing as this girl had more curves in her shadow than the stoic, purple-haired partner of Pein's. Natasha was the first to speak up. "Pein, who do you have with you?"
"This," Pein started, gesturing to the girl as she stepped out of the shadows, "Is our newest recruit."
Natasha's eyebrows shot up before narrowing as she scrutinized the newcomer. The girl had electric blue eyes with far less grey than Natasha's, and brown hair that was far thicker. She wore her cloak with a low collar and long sleeves, and her arms were wrapped around her waist. Natasha met the girl's eyes - the girl held it shortly before looking away.
"Her name is Pez - at least, the name she will give us," Pein continued. "I met her in the forest on the way back and she chose to join. Natasha, I was hoping you could -"
"Show her around? I don't have time to babysit." Natasha went, crossing her arms and matching Pein's glare.
That was the first time that Pez spoke up, in a shy, nervous voice. "H-hey, I'm eighteen! I'm not a little kid!"
Natasha turned back to Pez, who had started to glare at Natasha. The latter raised a brow. Something's looking wrong with this picture . . .
"Natasha, that was uncalled for. You will get along with your partners, understood?" Pein demanded, the tone fiercer than Natasha had ever heard. She immediately bit her lip and bowed her head to Pez. "I'm afraid that was uncalled for. I'm sorry for insulting you."
When she looked up again, the abnormality she had seen was gone, and Pez was staring at her again, only with a different look. Peculiarness? Curiosity?
"You're an odd person."
Weirdness. Huh.
A chuckle swept through the room, leading to Natasha sending a peeved glare to her partner. He shrugged back at her. "It's not every day we hear somebody standing up to you."
"Probably because nobody's as much of a fool to do so."
When she turned back, Pein was giving her a look and Pez was looking around the room. She bowed her head to the leader and stood with a sigh. "I suppose, then. What do I need to know right now?"
000
The two stepped out to an empty span of lake. The trees were steady miles out from the water, the gatetops silent. Natasha raised a brow at this; normally there was more noise, but she supposed that was because, as it had started, the day was boring.
Pez stared at the water with wide eyes, stepping onto the surface with ease. Natasha glanced at the new kunoichi. "What? Never seen a lake before?"
Pez jumped before looking at Natasha. "I have! It's just . . .nothing," she looked away. Natasha shrugged. So I'm intimidating now. Whee.
The next moment, a scream penetrated Natasha's thoughts. She looked up - Pez had managed to leap on top of the gate and was clenching it with all the strength she had. Natasha was about to shout up to her when she felt it: something was swimming below her, brushing the bottoms of her feet. She side-stepped and rolled her eyes. "Kisame, it's not going to work!"
Apparently she was wrong, because the next moment found her under the surface.
When she resurfaced and shook her head, Natasha could hear two mingling, laughing tones. One she recognized as Kisame's, but the other's was happy - she only realized moments later that Pez was chortling along with the half-shark. With a sigh, Natasha forced herself onto the water's surface. "Classy," she accused as the shark smirked.
"Well, you DID fall for it," Kisame accused before pointing to the cheerful girl. "Who's she, might I ask?"
The laughter stopped, and a moment later dropped down Pez. "I'm Pez," she said, "You are . . .?"
"Kisame Hoshigaki, a rogue from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Natasha formally introduced. "Kisame, this is a new recruit - Pein returned here with her in tow."
Kisame smirked in his usual way as he shook hands with Pez. "Nice to meet you . . .you'd better hope that you don't become my enemy, now."
Pez hesitated for a mere moment before saying, "Only if I wish to find myself underwater, I guess."
"And that is suppose to imply what?" Natasha accused as the two laughed again. Hmm, she seems different when she's not intimidated. Am I that scary?
"Sorry, Natasha. My bad," Pez smiled slightly at the older girl. Natasha simply shrugged in response.
"So, you're a newbie, huh?" Kisame asked. "Why're you here?"
Pez blinked a few times. "For peace?"
"No, he means why did you join as in what drove you to become . . .well, one of our rank."
Pez lifted a brow. "What do you . . .?"
Natasha realized with a jolt what it meant, and placed a hand on Kisame's mouth before he could speak. "Oh, i-it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Crap! How does she not know that we're all S-rank criminals? Pez was looking at her oddly, and Natasha tried to her best to keep natural. Might as well mention it later. "A-anyways, we have more people to meet! Nice to see you, Kisame!" She released Kisame quickly and started to drag Pez away.
"Oh, see you later Kisame!" Pez went with a wave, trying to match her stride to Natasha's quick steps. Eventually Pez broke free and walked besides the nervous Natasha as they made onto land again. "What's wrong? Don't you like him?"
"It's nothing, he just unnerves me a bit." Natasha said, more focused on her own thoughts than what was ahead of her.
Which is why the second scream of the day stopped her so suddenly.
"What the heck is that?" Pez pointed to the ground behind them, getting up from the ground. Natasha turned and saw the green pincers sticking up from the ground. When she turned back, Pez was brushing herself off with wide eyes.
Natasha bit her lip. "Well, that's Zetsu."
"What kind of a plant is a Zetsu?" Pez asked in a high voice.
Natasha sighed. "No, it's not a plant, it's another member of the Akatsuki."
Silence.
"The Akatsuki recruits plants?"
Natasha brought a hand to her face. "N-no, he's not a plant exactly, he's a-"
"AH! IT'S MOVING!" Pez stepped back as the earth near the pincers shook, breaking as Zetsu broke out from under.
"Ahh, what a nice nap," the white-sided Zetsu said. "I love a good meal of sun too."
"Hey, who're you?" the black half asked.
Pez blinked in shock as Natasha hurridly explained. "Zetsu, this is a new recruit, Pez. Pez, Zetsu is the spy of the group - he has a split personality, so he's a solo team."
"So not food?"
"Not from the looks of it," the white half sighed. "Aw well, we'll find something."
Pez managed to recover and laughed. "If you're a split personality, are you one person or two?"
"One,"
"Two."
Natasha stepped away, sensing an oncoming arguement. "Well, now that that's done . . .see you, Zetsu!" Natasha walked back in the direction of the base, Pez in tow.
000
"What's wrong? Don't you like those two?" Pez asked. "I thought they were nice."
"I don't talk much with Zetsu, but Kisame's my other partner. I assume he'll be your partner now, though."
"How come?"
"Technically, we're only suppose to have two-man teams so as to not cause suspicion. Kisame and I are part of the only three man team, but now that you're here, that'll change."
"Who's the other guy?"
"Itachi Uchiha, a friend of mine - he was in the room with me when we first met," Natasha sighed, seeing that Pez was looking at her with interest. "He's an old friend that I followed into the Akatsuki, and my oldest friend at that. We used to be in Konoha before we came here - he graduated at seven from the Ninja Academy there - he's really smart. Not only that, he has spot on aim better than I do," she smiled slightly. "He has a perfect command of the Sharingan, his clan's Kekkei Genkai. He's a fairly nice guy, I think you'll like him - he's pretty easy to get along with if you can get over first impressions, that's what I've heard at least. He's nice, though, so you shouldn't have a problem getting along-"
Natasha stopped, both in footsteps and voice. Pez had stopped mere steps behind, staring at Natasha as if she had thrown a brick into the young girl's face. "What?" Natasha raised a brow.
"In the fifteen minutes I have known you, you have never talked that much. Not everything before this combined," she gestured with her hands as she spoke, "Has told this much about you."
Natasha placed a fist on her hip, putting weigh on her other leg. "What do you mean?"
Pez's face suddenly lit up as if she had an epiphany as she jumped. "You like him, don't you!"
All of Natasha's composure disappeared in a moment. "W-what?" she blushed and looked away. "W-what a r-ridiculous assumption. Like him! W-we're just friends!" She turned back to Pez, who was hiding a smile behind a too-small hand. "A-and that's all! Like him? That's s-s-silly!"
"Your actions don't say that!" Pez smirked.
Natasha stepped up to Pez with an angry look. "D-Don't dare tell anyone about this! N-nobody! Right?"
For the first time, Pez looked at Natasha's eyes and held. Was it just her, or was there a trace of fear in them? "Okay okay," she went, stepping back with a goofy expression and a waving-away. "I won't tell! Promise!"
Natasha sighed, slowly taking deep breaths as if she would burst apart. She turned back around, hiding a red face. "L-let's just go, alright?"
"Right-o!" Pez went, following Natasha with a slightly harsher pace.
000
The rest of the meetings went without much hassle. Sure, Hidan almost attempted to make the two of them Jashin's lunch, but that was atypical to the older kunoichi. Other than that and a strained conversation with a nervous Sasori (Am I really THAT intimidating?), every meeting went like normal.
At least, most of them.
"Where ARE they?" Natasha closed the door on Itachi's room, leaning on it and taking a breath before looking at Pez. "I'm sorry - normally I can find the last two easily."
"Who are the last two?" Pez asked.
"Itachi - I-I told you about him," she blushed and looked away for just a moment before continuing, "And Deidara. Normally I can find them pretty easily, but not today . . ."
"Say, isn't this Deidara guy the one who you said had mouths on his palms?"
"Yep. He's an artist - I think you'll like him. He's pretty funny too," she added. "Anyways, the only place I can think of would be the living area - but that's assuming Itachi hasn't moved. We might as well go look," she pushed herself off the door and started to lead the way out of the living area into the statue room. Pez walked beside her, looking at her oddly once more. Natasha looked at Pez out of the corner of her eye and asked, "What are you looking at me for?"
"It sounds like you like Deidara and Itachi more than the rest of the group," Pez pointed out. "But I can't understand why."
"It's too long a story to explain, but not one that you'll understand. Here," she stopped before the door. "Keep your voice down - the room echos sometimes, and then EVERYONE will know."
She opened the door, and the creak made both figures in the room turn. Pez gasped as she looked over Natasha's shoulder - a certain blond guy stared back at her with a dropped jaw as Natasha moved away to lean against the wall.
"Here you are," Natasha said, aimed at the other man in the room. "Itachi, you're not teaching him poker again, are you?"
"No," he shrugged, "Deidara just came in here to play Go Fish. He won," he added sheepily.
"As always, he always beats us. Deidara, meet Pez," she said as she turned, only to find that Deidara was already staring to the latter's face. "Dei," she went forcefully, enough to make him turn to her. "That's Pez. Introduce yourself."
"S-sorry, nee-san," Deidara turned to Pez and said, "I-I'm Deidara, un. Nice to meet you . . ."
"Pez," she went nervously, "It's Pez."
The two stared at each other more, until Natasha's sigh cut through their trances. "Deidara, you're turning red."
"Oh!" he turned away with a harsher blush, Pez mimicing. Natasha raised a brow. Curious . . .
"S-so . . .you're siblings?" Pez asked. Natasha looked at Pez oddly. "Well," she explained, "he called you nee-san, isn't that an honorary title for sis?"
"Oh, that," Natasha shrugged. "He just likes to call me that."
"I have a heritage that uses those honorifics, although I don't use them often enough," Deidara looked at Pez again, this time with more control. "I call her nee-san because . . ."
"Enough," Natasha sighed. "In any case, if that's all . . ."
"You brought her here," Itachi pointed out.
For the first time since entering the room, Natasha turned red. "O-oh, sorry. . ."
"That's all, then?" Pez asked. "All the members?"
"Yes, the last of them. These are the main members, at least," Natasha told her. "You might meet more on the way."
"Oh . . ."
They were quiet for a few moments. A grumble echoed through the room, and in a moment, the group was chuckling, "S-sorry, that was me," Pez went with a laugh. "I haven't eaten much in a while . . ."
Deidara jumped up. "I-I could make something for you, if you'd like," he offered. "I don't mind!"
"S-sure!" Pez smiled at him with a slight blush. "Show the way."
The two left through the door to the kitchen, closing behind them. Natasha stared after them, worry in her brow as she sat next to Itachi. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"N-nothing . . ." Natasha went before shaking her head, "No, that's not right. There is something wrong. I just don't know what to do about it."
Itachi chuckled. "Trying to look after the world?"
She shrugged. "If I don't, who will?"