Hello previous fans of my work and other new readers :)
This is my 5th Fan Fiction.
I update often, so this and my other stories will be updated often.
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I do not own Naruto or the Akatsuki.
The Bold text is Black Zetsu speaking.
Normal is people talking.
Italics are thoughts.
Bold italics are Black Zetsu's thoughts.
Chapter 1: Trust Me
Azami sighed as she assessed her current situation. The little cave she was spending the night in was now delightfully flooded thanks to the rainstorm that had occurred in the night. Good thing my supplies were not soaked, she thought to herself. She stepped outside and was greeted by a bright sunny morning. Carefully placing her mirror on a branch of a low lying tree, she glanced at her face.
The face that stared back at her was fair, but not deathly pale. Her shoulder length blonde locks were untidy so grumbling, she pulled out a hairbrush to fix that. Her honey colored eyes squinting when the mirror shifted forcing a ray of sunshine into her eyes. Placing the mirror under a shadowed bough, she blew a lock of her hair out of her eyes. I guess it is my birthday… 21 years gone like that… Hmm… If sensei was here, she would take me drinking, but that is not good for medics of our standing to be seen doing.
The sound of clashing blades drew her attention. Quickly glancing over her dark blue yukata with a light blue obi and verifying that all her senbon was still hidden in her sleeves, she quickly grabbed her back pack and headed towards the source of the racket.
She glanced at Anbu of the Grass Country as they surrounded a ninja that likes of which she had not seen before. His bright yellow eyes were the first thing to attract Azami's attention. However, the fly trap around the mysterious ninja did not go unnoticed or the fact that he was divided into a white half and a black half. This ninja is a medical miracle…
The Grass Anbu fell easily before his attacks. Vines appeared out of the ground to strangle the ninja, but one managed to throw a rain of senbon before dying. One struck the mysterious ninja in the shoulder and he groaned with pain. He went over to the offending ninja and slit his throat quickly with a kunai. He delicately touched his shoulder and winced in pain as he fell over.
Azami did not know why she defied the cautious part of her brain, but she dashed towards the injured ninja. Why am I moving towards the ninja that killed two squads of Anbu? The duty of a medic… She reached him and with a grunt of exertion, managed to flip him over so that he was lying on his back.
The mysterious ninja grunted, but remained unconscious. Azami placed her hand on his forehead and tried not to real back from the intense heat radiating from his body. She closed her eyes and forced exploring chakra into his body. After finding the problem, she was about to remove the cloak from the ninja's body when his hand grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself eaten because I'm happy to oblige." He growled at her. She raised her eyebrow at the two different voices, but was unperturbed.
"Wait until your wound is healed and the poison removed if you please." Azami spoke softly. The plant-like ninja did not release her wrist. "Can you let go? Your shoulder wound needs to have the poison out before it spreads and it needs patched up."
He looked at her with confusion, but released her wrist. "Why are you helping me? I did nothing to help you. Do you know how I even am?"
Azami sighed. He simply will not let me heal him… Men just have to be idiots… to proud of their wounds… "You are injured. I am a medic and seeing you injured, I feel I have to heal you. Pure and simple. By the looks of your cloak, you are an Akatsuki member, but you still are an injured patient in my mind. Therefore, I will heal you."
He gave up arguing with her and slipped out of his cloak. She looked up at the ninja and pointed to the fly trap around him. Before she could ask, he carefully removed it also. He reclined on the ground allowed her to probe his shoulder with her chakra. "What's your name girl?"
Azami snorted. "Azami Karada. You?"
"Zetsu. You seem calm…"
She raised her eyebrow as she raised her hand up. Following her hand was a trail of liquid: the poison. "Why should I not be?"
"People don't like being around me. Haven't you noticed my appearance?"
"I have, but what of it? If appearances were the only thing to matter, the world would be shallow and have far less meaning. Please hold still for a moment." She held a vial and the poison flew into there. Corking the vial, she returned her attention to Zetsu and healed the shoulder wound.
Zetsu sat up when she gave a small nod. He moved his shoulder around. Damn, looks like she fixed it good. Her medical skills are impressive; I wonder if Pain could have a use for her… "Are you affiliated with any village or are you a missing nin like me?"
Her eyes hardened for a moment before crumbling. "Neither. I am not a ninja but I know how to use senbon. I was not born in a village so I simply travel around the world healing whenever I can and learning about medicine."
As he was putting his cloak back over the fly trap, Zetsu had an idea. "Will you stay here a moment? I want to reward you for your kindness."
Azami raised her eyebrow wondering if she should trust a reward from a ninja that threatened to eat her. "Sure I suppose. I need to clean my supplies anyways."
Zetsu smirked and disappeared into the ground. She walked to where he was a second ago. "That is a cool technique. I have never seen a ninja do that before…" She sighed and began to set up a pot of water and started to boil the water. Placing her medical instruments in the pot, she began to unwrap the bandages around her back and rewrapped it with fresh bandages. Spotting the blood, she winced and began to clean them.
Zetsu reappeared thirty moments later and walked over to her. Azami had just put away her equipment away and was smiling at him. She's smiling? Or smirking? No, it's a smile. "If you come with me, you can join the Akatsuki as our medic. If you don't, I won't hesitate dragging you by force or eating you."
Azami smirked this time. "I never took you for the type to eat me when I saved you. I will go with you: healing members of the Akatsuki will allow me to see and heal a whole variety of wounds that I otherwise, most likely would not see. So… which way is it?"
Zetsu looked at her with amusement. "We aren't walking. That would take way too damn long. We will travel as I did earlier."
Azami looked at the former Grass ninja. "How…?"
Zetsu got close to her and her breath hitched. "You have to be inside the fly trap so that you aren't injured." He began to unbutton the front of his cloak when Azami stumbled backwards in fear. "I won't hurt you. I promise."
Azami finally asked the question that was burning at her mind. "Multiple personalities?"
Zetsu nodded. "Yes, but we think the same things. They just get interpreted differently. So, are you going to come with us?"
"If you promise to not hurt me…"
Zetsu nodded and she came close to him. The fly trap enveloped her and pressed her against him. She squeaked in surprise, but did not pull away. Zetsu focused his chakra and Azami could feel them traveling. When they stopped, the fly trap opened and Azami carefully emerged. She tripped, but when Zetsu caught her, the look in her eyes was confusing. Was she scared I was going to hurt her? I promised I wasn't going to… even though I still want to eat her… I wonder if she was hurt bad in the past… "We are here Azami-san."
Azami surveyed the area. She saw a boulder blocking the path. She smiled, glad that Zetsu decided to not eat her. "Thanks Zetsu-sama." She said with a smile.
Zetsu shone on the inside when he received that smile. "Sure. Come on, you have to meet the other idiots that I have the misfortune to work with."
Azami giggled and Zetsu smiled a rare smile at her. She'll be an excellent addition to the team. I'm glad she's happy, but I'm still curious as to how she tastes…