This is my first fanfic, so I hope you enjoy. Since it's my first one, I hope you give me constructive criticism on how I can improve. Naruto isn't mine, or will it ever be. I just have a weird imagination.
It had been years since then. Since Haruno Sakura disassociated herself from Konoha to join the Akatsuki. It seemed that nothing had changed in coercing Sauske back to the village. The one she had admired for so long was still too self important and arrogant to give her a second glance.
When he was retrieved, though, she no longer cared about that. The thing that struck her was he still thought of her as the weak, shaking little girl gripping onto a kunai for dear life, completely immobilized, that she once was as a child. Everyone knew her for her medical skills, and being Tsunade's apprentice. Yet, no one knew Haruno Sakura. Everyone slipped away from her it had seemed. She was tired of being perceived as weak, and found her way to the Akatsuki.
Now, she was a lot stronger than she used to be. Shattering the earth with one punch was what Tsunade had taught her, but she was the one to improve her overall strength and self in the end. No one in Konoha had given her that, and always thought of her as that same little girl. She
was a woman now, and a traitor. She simply turned her back on the one that betrayed her first.
What she never thought to find in the Akatsuki, however, was a romance. She was baffled to even think it. Love? With an S-ranked criminal? Of course, she was a criminal just like them now. She was still a bit naive back then, however, and didn't quite see it coming. She fell in love and came to embrace it. After awkward silences, stares, and enough tension to make someone want to spontaneously combust, she and a certain blonde who enjoyed art and explosions simply just clicked. Got along. Went together. It was tangled up and confusing in the beginning, but now it just seemed perfect.
Sakura smiles at her reminiscing thoughts and places a hand on her daughter's shoulder, limp from her slumber, and gently shakes her.
"Ayako.." Sakura calls softly.
Ayako's head shifts to the side in complaint.
"You'll be late for school..so hurry up, okay?"
"Ok, mom..." She slowly sits up and watches her mother exit the room. Ayako went to school simply because she had asked what it would be like and her parents allowed her. Her school was prissy, which she didn't really enjoy because the majority of her fellow students were rude and stuck up. She could be rude, but she was never as pompous as they seemed to be. She had made friends though, the few good people there. There were also some nin, like her. People that wanted to be educated academically and worked hard to be strong and fight. She liked that other people cared about those things like she did. She was a girl with strong opinions and she would speak her mind, so the things that mattered to her were never pushed aside for something inadequate.
Ayako quickly showered, put on her uniform and sat at the breakfast table. She wasn't hungry, but, with all of the people she lived with, the spazzes, the freaks, the mysteries, she loved them all, and always liked to say goodbye before leaving. Since she had spent her small amount of time (17 years) with them, she grew to like them all. Aside from her mother and father, she called all of the males "uncle" and Konan-san "aunt". Only her father was sitting down at this point, and Ayako was staring down at her palms.
"You know, dad..." She murmured.
"Hm?" He looked up at her with his non-scoped eye, head cocked slightly to the side as if to say 'I'm listening'
"I'd really like it if I had inherited your kekki genkai.."
Deidara smiled and stood up, walking around the table and stopping to look down at his daughter who had remained seated.
"You can still mold clay pretty effectively, un." "You make wonderful art without it, even though it isn't really your main use of attack..."
"Honestly?" She asked looking up at her father from her hands.
"Of course, un." He said sincerely and patted her on the head, ruffling her hair, which she always thought was strange. Her hair color wasn't blonde like her dad's, or pink like her mom's, but a light orange-ish color. Strawberry blonde with a orange hue kind of. She liked longer hair, so she grew it just past her butt. Little kids liked to pull on it, though, which she wasn't that fond of.
"You and uncle Sasori still disagree about art, huh?" She said smiling at him, and did so on purpose because Sasori-san had just entered the room and it was so fun to see them argue even though neither one was wrong or right.
Deidara smiled at Sasori. "Yeah, un. Art's beauty is that sheer fact that it's fleeting, one moment, and then, bang." He made an explosion hand gesture.
"I believe art is something that can withstand time, and still shine as beautifully as it did when first created." Sasori stated, nearing the table.
"I think you both should just realize that art is whatever the artist perceives it to be." Ayako said, looking at Deidara and Sasori. They both mentored her very much, and she had taken up artistry as well. They looked at her somewhat amused. Another player stepping into the never ending battle. She began to think they just keep this up for the sake of arguing. "You know..neither one of you are wrong."
"I still disagree with Sasori-danna."
"I still disagree with Deidara."
"You two are hopeless.." Ayako said, standing. "..and good morning Uncle Sasori. I have to go to school soon, but I'm waiting for everyone." Ayako walked to Sasori with a somewhat giddy expression on her face and wrapped her arms around him gently hugging him. Sasori had been through hugs with her since she was born, but it was still something to get used to. It was Ayako's way of telling everyone, without a word, and quickly, she cared about all the weirdos. Even if they didn't like it, they'd get hugged anyway. Sasori hugged back, barely making contact with her, the smallest smile on his face as he patted her head and asked:
"Have you been working on anything new?"
"I've got a few more sketches. I'm in the middle of painting something, too. I'll show you when I'm done training after school."
"Alright then." Sasori said, in his seemingly permanently calm voice, sauntering past.
Ayako was more mixed media than the other two artists. She enjoyed sketching and painting, scratch boards, charcoal and so many other things, all the way to glass blowing, which she was still trying to perfect. Ayako turned to see Kisame and Itachi enter the room and smiled.
"Good morning, Uncle Kisame! Uncle Itachi!" She said and ran over to hug them. Itachi was similar to Sasori, having just the tiniest smile on his face and politely saying 'good morning' when she hugged him. Kisame hugged her back more so than the previous two. He gently pushed her back and with a thump put his hand on top of her head and stated with sarcasm:
"So, Ayako-san, when are you going to grow?"
Ayako huffed and looked up at him, pouty-faced.
"So what if I'm short?! You're blue and I still like you!"
He smiled, barring his sharp teeth. "I didn't say I didn't like you, I was just asking a question."
"Well, I don't make fun of you, Kisame-san." She said, glaring up at him, over dramatic, hands on her hips and pouting. "You're mean to me all the time."
"I'll be nice when you get tall." With that, he took his seat at the table.
"I guess that's never." Ayako sighed, but happily at how much she gets along with most of them. She doubted any outsiders could invision the way they interacted with each other, she living with a house bursting at the seams with criminals. She accepted she was short though. She wasn't tall like her dad, and that was okay. Her mother was at least medium height. Maybe she'd grow later.
With the rest of the people crowding the kitchen, she gave her hugs. Zetsu's white side was polite as always and his black side tried to grab her butt. She slapped his hand away and told the white side "I like you better." and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. When he black side began to protest about not being liked, she smiled and said "That doesn't mean I DON'T like you. You just need manners." Kakuzu was nice to her, which he usually was, because she was respectful to him and wouldn't get on his nerves like the others. She had long talks with Kakuzu and some of the other Akatsuki as well, and she knew that it was simply that since they knew her since she was a baby, they had gotten used to her and let her be a "normal", for lack of a better term, kid around them. She hugged Hidan for too long on purpose, which just earned her a playful:
"Get off me, you little heathen. I'm hungry."
Tobi eagerly hugged her back and was very polite as always. Konan hugged her back gently and gave her a motherly smile. Pein-sama knew what to expect, but when she just looked up at him, rocking on the backs of her heels, simply staring with her jade eyes she had obtained from her mother, he let out a not so much impatient, but a curious:
"...What?"
With that she bent down a little and tightly coiled her arms around Pein's waist, moving him around a bit in a giddy motion. He was surprised by the attack, and Ayako swiftly went off to go to school.
School was really boring and uneventful that day. She had to pinch her cheeks to stay awake, and therefore they were red and swollen. When she got home she found her way to her room and decided it best to wear more casual clothes before finding someone to train with. Her uniforms were expensive and she didn't want to tear them up. When she learned the person she wanted to train with wasn't home yet, she put on a black spaghetti strap top with the Cheshire cat on it. (She loved Alice in Wonderland, and had a lot of swag) and a black skirt that went to her mid thigh where every other pleat was a purple plaid to match the top. Since she'd be training later, she decided her little school shoes weren't the best and put on kunoichi sandals that went just below her knee similar to her mother's. Due to the fact she had some time, she plopped down on the couch, her back against the arm of it and legs crossed out in front of her, and cracked open a book.
After a few minuets, she looked up at the clock and decided she needed to go feed her pets. When she stood up, Deidara walked into the living room, and said nonchalantly:
"You're not going out in that, un."
"Huh? I'm staying here. I'm going to feed the animals."
"You know, that skirt's too short, yeah. You shouldn't walk around in a house full of men that way."
"You're too concerned. You scare off all of my boyfriends anyway." Ayako said the last part with a slight hint of sharp venom.
"That's because they're sex-craved predators, un." Deidara said matter-of-factly.
Ayako leaned against the wall casually. "Because you know them personally, right?" She crossed her arms, and wasn't really angry at her father for never letting her have a real boyfriend for more than a month. She just wanted to know why he never approved of anyone.
"I know well enough, okay?" He stepped closer and patted her on the head.
"No. You're just overprotective and turn into a total scrutinizing douche bag every time I bring someone home."
"Hey, don't talk to me like that." He nudged her playfully. "I don't scrutinize THAT much, un."
"Yeah you do." Ayako said, laughing a bit. "Don't just lie."
"Well, I care about you." Deidara said with a nod. "I don't want someone using you like that and hurting you, un. So, if I can stop it, I will, yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, un!"
"Un."
"...You're making fun of me, un."
"Yeah, un."
"Stop it."
"You know, I'm sad that I didn't get your really useful kekki genkai...but I'm a lot more glad I didn't develop your speech pattern, dad." Ayako stated, smiling widely.
"What's wrong with the way I talk, un?!"
"Nothing.." Ayako giggled a bit. "..it's just something to get used to, and I am, but it's still funny."
"Go feed your pets, un! And stop making fun of your father." He shoved her toward the door with his hand on her back.
"Fine, fine."
With that, she went out to the place they let her keep her animals, and smiled at the four of them. Her mother asked her if she wanted to learn to summon slugs once, but Ayako said she would rather learn to summon her favorite animals, wolves. She learned to do so with a lot of practice, and she had befriended powerful allies by doing so. She had found three adult wolves and she just seemed to click with all kinds of animals. She liked animals in general, but wolves were her favorite. She tamed and trained and kept the three, and they are great four-legged ninjas. The other wolf that was mentioned was a pup from two of them. Ayako was allowed to only keep one of the litter.
She had Akina, the only female wolf, and one of the original three she found. She was white with black fur peppered over her back and ears and at the tip of her tail. She had some gray on her snout and chest, and had small pale yellow eyes. She was the mate of Kumo, who was reddish-yellow colored with deep gray and black fur that splayed over his ears and face, and a little on his back. His legs also had some gray and black fur. Where Akina wore her hitai-ate around her neck like a collar, he wore his on his back left ankle. The wolves all had grass hitai-ates because she was staying there at the time when she trained them. Ayako wondered around village to village under assumed names because she wanted real ranking, and so now was a jounin, according to mist. Kumo's eyes were more of a gold color than his significant other's. The third adult was like an uncle type figure. His name was Kinsuke, and he was beautifully adorned with shimmering black fur. His chest had white splayed across it, and his paws had white peppered in as well as his tail. Unfortunately he had an accident a few years ago, leaving his eyes a white blue color from blindness, and his hitai-ate was draped over them. He was the most protective of her wolf nin friends. The last wolf was Akina and Kumo's pup, Niji. He would be an adult in a few more months. He was reddish yellow like his father and had grey and black fur on his back, ears, and face. He was the youngest and so the most rambunctious of all of them, his hitai-ate tied on his head like Ayako's mother wore hers (Sakura's was now slashed, though, obviously).
After feeding them and playing with them outside of the small cave where they lived for a little while, Ayako decided to walk to the house and return to her book. The hideout was huge, and the wolves never needed to stray from the boundaries, so Ayako never tied them up.
After finishing a few more chapters in her book, Kakuzu and Hidan entered the room, Hidan yelling about how Kakuzu was a money-grubbing-heathen or something, and Kakuzu was obviously ignoring him, reading a newspaper to find bounties. Kakuzu sat in the chair on the left side of the room, Hidan still preaching despite the calm "Hidan, shut up"'s he got from Kakuzu-san.
"Hidan-san, I'm trying to read, please quiet down.." Ayako said softly, trying to be polite despite how annoying it was not being able to read in peace.
"AND YOU, TOO, YOU KNOW!" Hidan shouted. "YOU NEED TO FUCKING CONVERT AND STOP BEING SO MATERALISTIC!"
"I'm just reading, you ass!" She retaliated, polite no more.
"You're so young and already a damn sinner." He said, as if preaching to her for the first time about how she was a heretic.
"You know I don't believe in religion, Hidan-san, why do you keep trying to convert me?" She said as if she was tired, and her eyes went back to being trained on her book, stretching out on the couch comfortably.
"I'm just trying to save your fucking SOUL is all." Hidan stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"From my standpoint you're just being annoying." She said, and immediately regretted it because more yelling would come, but then Itachi and Kisame walked in, returning from their mission. "Kisame-san!" Ayako smiled up from her book. "I want to train with you!" She finally got to do her training for today! She liked training with Kisame because he was a large opponent, and she got to learn how to maneuver and overpower people that were larger than her by doing so, which most people were larger than her. She had always been petite, and decided she needed to learn how to use that when fighting. Kisame also had a hard-hitting long ranged weapon, and she knew she would need the knowledge of being able to take an opponent like him down sooner or later. She'd train with Hidan because of the similarities, but rather not hear about needing to convert to Jashin the entire time.
Kisame was almost always polite, but liked picking on Ayako so much he couldn't help but look at her and say something offensive.
"You look like a geeky whore." He declared with a smirk on his face.
Ayako's jaw dropped. "Wh-what?!" She slammed her book onto her lap, looking up at him. "I could understand DAD saying my skirt was short, but come ON! I know and have seen PLENTY of people with shorter skirts and things like that! You think I'm dressing slutty right now?! TRAVEL TO A DOWNTOWN AREA AND SEE ALL OF THOSE SKANKS!" She stood up, blushing from the comment with embarrassment and anger at once.
"I was just speaking my mind." Kisame said, hands held in front of him passively.
She threw her book onto the table. "Are we training or not?!" She crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Fine, fine. It's the least I can do since I'm the meanest person on earth to you." He said smiling.
"You ARE mean." She said, letting her arms drop to her sides, and then pointing a finger. "You're a total douche hammer."
"...Douche..hammer?" Kisame looked at her with a 'what the hell?' expression.
"Yeah, douche hammer!" Ayako threw up her arms as if to say 'duh!'.
Meanwhile, Itachi had maneuvered to another chair and taken the book Ayako had previously and was reading. Just for finality, Ayako turned to him and decided to ask the two people in the room who hadn't been offensive to her a question.
"Itachi-san, Kakuzu-san, do I look like a whore like he says?" She outstretched her arms just slightly to her sides, palms up.
"No, I've seen a lot worse than you, kiddo." Kakuzu said looking at her, and then back at his paper.
"As Kakuzu said.." Itachi began, "I've seen plenty of people and comparing it all, you look like a normal teenager to me.." He returned to the book he swiped from the table.
"Ha!" She said pointing at the shark-man. "Two against one!"
"I think it's a little revealing..." She turned to Hidan's familiar voice, to see him leaning against the wall. "..well, more taunting."
"WHAT?!" She asked loudly.
"Well, I mean, fuck, it's the kind that's like (he made a taunting type of voice) yeah, you can ALMOST see my panties. Wish you could, don't you?" "The sex-starved kids at your school would be sexually assaulting you if they saw you in that ."
"You're just a pervert..and NOBODY ASKED YOU!" 'Besides..' she thought to herself, 'my school uniform skirt isn't that much longer than this one, anyway..but that's not the point!'
Hidan just shrugged with a very smug expression on his face, and apparently Zetsu had been there long enough to here.
"Perhaps you should be a little more conservative, we don't want anything to happen.." began his white side.
"..but you do look good to eat." stated his black side, and then his white side scolded him.
"You guys are gross!" She complained. "Who would sexually assault someone for a SKIRT they were wearing?! Not to mention, who would sexually assault someone with nothing to offer? Duh, look at me!" "Nothing much to see here." Ayako ranted, hands in the air under her chest. She was always short and little in general, so that mean not a very large bust.
"People don't always sexually assault people for the way their body looks, you know." Kisame said as if he was a teacher.
"Seems like YOU would know, Kisame-san." Ayako said mockingly.
"I would never do something like that." He stated plainly. "Why are you so insecure, anyway?"
"I'm not insecure." Ayako looked at the blue man as if he were stupid. "I've got little breasts, so what? I already have some back problems because of mistakes when fighting, I don't need any more." Her statement only seemed half-true. Some of the older people in the room wondered why girls were so touchy or embarrassed when it came to their bodies. It was flesh, what's the big deal? Most people tend to have it.
"There's nothing wrong with your body. It's proportional, at least. Not like those creepy girls who get their breasts inflated like giant balloons." Kakuzu said, looking up for once. He was usually the one to cheer her up with nice, but true words. That's why she confided in him from time to time. He'd be kind and truthful, a quality that was rare in people. He was kind because she was nice to him, too, a mutual respect thing between them. She just smiled at him for standing up for her when Kisame was being mean, Zetsu wanted to "eat her up" (both meanings, most likely), Hidan just wanted to not be of help, and Itachi was simply acting as if he wasn't there.
"Yeah, you're a hot little piece of ass, for a heathen-slut." Hidan smiled smugly, now sitting on the couch, his arm draped over the back. She knew he said that just to make her flustered, but nonetheless, it worked.
"You're such an ass hat!" She said and smacked him over the head, yelling: "ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M GOING TO KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT OF THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD AND STAB YOU IN THE EYES WITH A PENCIL!" Then she grabbed Kisame's wrist and said "LET'S GO TRAIN!".